Happy Tuesday, Activists!
First up – THANK YOU to everyone who braved the heat and came out to last week’s rally at Independence Mall. It was brutally hot so we surely understand if you couldn’t make it. About 200 folks came out, and we had some great speakers. A highlight was State Rep. Brian Sims, one of our speakers, telling "Senator Toomey" a thing or two!
So where do we stand in the process to get the For the People Act (S.1) passed? I’ll give you the timeline and strategy straight from Indivisible: “We know the bill has come a long way – from a set of pro-democracy proposals, to an aspirational piece of legislation during the Trump era, to an honest-to-goodness legislative fight today. We know the substance we want in the bill. We know that filibuster reform is necessary to begin debate on this bill. We know we need to get this done before August recess.
And we know one more thing: it’s up to the senators to pass the bill, and it’s up to us to make them do it. Politicians will always rely on obscure processes and behind-closed door meetings to claim credit they don’t deserve or avoid blame when things go south. But by paying attention, focusing pressure, and never letting them off the hook, we can change how they act – and that changes what’s politically possible.”
And finally, as Ezra Levin says: “Congress comes back to work on 7/12. Then they've got 3 weeks to amend the filibuster & pass S.1 before the August recess. It's their job to pass it. It's our job to make them do it."
Fortunately we have one good Democratic senator, but we need to keep the pressure on Senator Casey to make him an active advocate. And we have one miserable Republican senator, and we need to make Senator Toomey famous for supporting voter suppression.
So one prong – last week’s rally – of our three-pronged push to get S.1 over the finish line has been completed. We still have the other two – Constituent Comment Cards and phone calls!
LAST CHANCE TO FILL OUT A CONSTITUENT COMMENT CARD!
They’ll be delivered to the senate offices tomorrow (Wednesday).
This is where you can make your voice heard directly. Check out the instructions below to fill out and email us two cards--one each for Senators Casey and Toomey. We'll print them all out and deliver them to the Senate offices--having a big stack of cards from their constituents can have a big impact.
The instructions:
Click on the image above to download the Word document.
Open the document, which has one page to be filled out for each Senator.
Save the document. Fill it out with your comments and information.
Email it back to us at this link (or just reply to this email with it).
We’ll print it out and deliver them all to the offices with a cover letter.
Want to deliver them with us? We'll deliver them to Senator Casey's staffer at his office lobby at 2000 Market Street tomorrow (Wednesday) at 2:00 pm. It will be a quick drop-off visit but we'd love to have you join us! You will need to wear a mask in the building.
PHONE CALLS -- EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
Sen. Toomey – Phila office 215-241-1090; D.C. 202-224-4254; email link
Sen. Casey – Phila office 215-405-9660; D.C. 202-224-6324; email link
For outside PA: Find your Senators’ phone numbers and emails at this link.
Here’s your script (use different parts of it each day – doesn’t need to be a long call):
The Senate must pass the For The People Act – this summer. There’s no time to lose. Whatever it takes, Senate Democrats must come out now publicly and firmly that they insist that this democracy reform pass because it is essential to our country’s success. Manchin is not the king and Democrats need to put the right pressure on to make him realize this. We worked hard to get the Democratic Trifecta and now our senators need to do their hard work and get this done. Statements on Twitter are not enough – go on TV, to the press, wherever you’ll be heard, and tell the public (and Manchin) that you want and expect the bill to pass. Also, please tell President Biden to use his bully pulpit to put pressure on the holdout senators.
OUR NEXT MEETING
This is your chance to learn everything about what’s been happening in this year's state legislative term. Rep. Jordan Harris is the Minority Whip in the State House, so he’s in the know. We’ll ask him about the status of the Republicans’ nefarious plans to gerrymander, reduce voting rights in Pennsylvania, and other anti-democracy efforts. We’ll also ask about the process itself and what we can do to fight back against the forces that leave our state behind the curve. And bring your questions!
When: July 27, 4:30 pm Where: on Zoom. We’ll send the link closer to the meeting date. Sign up here.
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