by indivisibletacoma | Mar 28, 2019 | Actions, Events, News
Summary of Meeting with Rep. Denny Heck’s Staff on March 28, 2019, in Lakewood
12 members of Indivisible Tacoma gathered to meet with Rep. Denny Heck’s staff at his Lakewood office on March 28, 2019. We had different people present our agenda items to District Director Phil Gardner. Each of our speakers brought their own stories, information, or passion to their talks and made a strong impact.
Back in January, when the Democrats took back the House, we met with Gardner with a short wish list. We asked Heck to support HR 1 for electoral reform, a Green New Deal, Single Payer, and more White House investigations.
Now, we’ve added a few things to our list, including:
- Investigations and Mueller Report
- Disaster Relief for Puerto Rico and California
- Now War in Yemen
- Healthcare: Single Payer
- Cannabis Reform
We also planned on asking for a Town Hall, but Phil Gardner says there’s one coming up on April 17th. We’ll tell you the exact time and place when we learn more.
Congrats on Your League of Conservation Voters Rating on Environmental Issues. Now, How About a Green New Deal?
IT members thanked Rep. Denny Heck’s staff for his work and his voting record on environmental issues. He received a high rating from the League of Conservation Voters on a variety of environmental issues. In 2018, he scored 94 percent and his overall score is 97 percent.
IT members told Phil we’d like him to support The Green New Deal.
We mentioned that he had not signed on to the Save the Internet, net neutrality bill, which apparently is an oversight because he supports it. Phil said he’d contact the DC office to make sure Denny gets signed on to the bill.
No War in Yemen
With regard to U.S. involvement in Yemen, we asked that Denny reject Republicans’ procedural maneuvers using MITs to keep it from passing. Phil explained what they had done and assured us it will pass the House again.
Thanks for Supporting Medicare Buy-In at 50. Now, How About Single Payer?
As usual, we brought up our support of universal healthcare and urged him to sign on to Rep. Jamila Jayapal (D-7)’s single-payer health care bill. Phil explained (again) that Denny has some concerns about that particular bill, but has co-sponsored a Medicare buy-in at 50 bill. He is also looking closely at another bill called Medicare for America. We talked about the awfulness of the possibility of the court overturning the ACA and the Republican’s “astounding lack of a plan.” Phil told us that the two Democratic caucuses all want to head in the direction of healthcare for all.
We asked if the House has any ability to do anything about the tax bill passed last year. Sadly, Phil told us that at this point there’s not much we can do. At least not until we elect a new president and put Democrats in control of the U.S. Senate.
Release the Mueller Report
We discussed the work of the House Intelligence Committee which Denny is on. Phil told us about the attack on Adam Schiff and outlined what they believe Barr and the Republican’s strategy regarding Mueller’s report is, which is to leak it out over long periods so the total impact of it is minimized. It will most likely end up in a court fight.
Thanks for Supporting Cannabis Reform
Phil Gardner told us the Cannabis Reform bill just moved out of Congress and has support from both parties. Denny supported it and also eventually getting cannabis moved to a schedule 1 drug and eliminating problems for people in states where it is legal but get into trouble due to federal law. One of our members told a story about a woman losing refugee status because of this issue.
Disaster Relief for Puerto Rico and California
We asked what recourse Congress has for money allocated for the disaster relief funds Individual #1 has refused to send for Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and the wildfires in California. Phil told us that during Nixon’s reign the “Impoundment Act” passed which made it illegal for the administration to not spend money allocated by Congress. However, as with many things, this administration is ignoring the law. Again, this will probably end up in the courts.
Special Education and the Special Olympics
We asked about the latest budget issues, i.e. DeVos’ cutting of special education and the Special Olympics. Phil assured us that DeVos and the administration can only put forward budget requests but it is Congress that makes the decision. He indicated that Congress is fairly bipartisan regarding education and he thinks more money will actually be allocated for Special Olympics than in the past.
Rep. Denny Heck’s Staff: Town Hall on April 17
Phil affirmed that Denny will be holding a Town Hall in the evening of April 17 in Pierce County, but an exact time and venue has not been confirmed. He will let us know as soon as it is and we will put that on the Events Calendar. We asked about having Denny speak to IT during the summer recess and he said Denny will be home for 6 weeks starting in August, so we can try to plan for that. We also asked what we can do to help and he said emailing and calling about what we agree (or disagree) with and right now personal stories about the ACA or other healthcare issues.
We left Phil with a letter signed by all present which highlighted what we discussed as well as additional topics. The letter requests a written response.
by Julie Andrzejewski | Mar 26, 2019 | Actions, Events, News
On March 26th, 10 of us from Indivisible Tacoma met with Rosa McLeod from Sen. Maria Cantwell’s office. She shared some amazing news with us: SR 47 passed.
SR 47’s Something to Brag About
Who can blame Cantwell’s South Sound & Olympia Peninsula Outreach Director for bragging a little? Getting SR 47 passed is an amazing achievement. Better known as the Natural Resources Management Act, this massive package of over 130 bills creates over 100 public lands.
Maria Cantwell’s been working on this for years. When you consider the U.S. Senate’s pro-Trump GOP majority, this is nothing less than a miracle.
Rosa McLeod then explained the details. SR 47 sets aside 1,340,000 acres of new wilderness, 367 miles of new Wild and Scenic Rivers, and 2,600 miles of new trails. It also creates four new National Monuments.
But wait. There’s more good news.
The bill provides for updates for our early warning and monitoring system for volcanoes. Plus, there’s the latest tech for managing wildfires. These and other provisions help keep people here in Washington state safer.
So… How About Blocking Yemen and Trump’s Nominees, Saving the Internet and Endangered Species, and Ending Family Separations?
IT expressed our appreciation for Cantwell’s work. SR 47 is an enormous accomplishment.
We then went on to grill Rosa McLeod on our senator’s specific votes on the following:
- Stop US involvement in Yemen
- Oppose Donald Trump’s nominees.
- Support the Save the Internet Act
- Support the Endangered Species Act
- End family separations.
We thanked her for her high progressive scorecard ratings from many groups who advocate for human rights and the environment.
IT then asked her specifically to sponsor a Senate Companion bill to the House bill by Rep. Jayapal on Single-payer universal healthcare, especially now that the ACA is under attack again by the President and his minions. We asked her to step up and become a leader for a Green New Deal in the Senate. We asked her to support a Senate version of HR1, the Anti-corruption and Democracy bill passed by the House. We also asked her to sign the Defund Hate Letter opposing the detention of Immigrants and requesting cuts to ICE and CBP.
IT members felt the meeting was productive and beneficial!
Featured image: CC by 2.0 Phil Venditti via Flickr.
by indivisibletacoma | Mar 26, 2019 | Actions, Events, News
Hello everyone! This week’s jam-packed with ways to make your voice heard through actions and events. Tonight we’ve got a Town Hall with state Sen. Steve O’Ban (R-28) and this afternoon, our Legislative Action Committee meets with Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray. But if you can’t make it to those, we’ve got some national and state actions that require just a quick email or phone call. You don’t even need to wait for an action to come along. We’ve got all of our lawmakers’ phone numbers right here.
Also in This Email:
Last Wednesday we had our first general meeting for 2019, and it went swimmingly. Evan Koepfler, field organizer for Pierce County Democrats gave a presentation on Rise and Run. This exciting new program provides tools, resources, and training for progressives like you who are thinking of running for political office. For more information, visit the Rise and Run website. Members of our steering team then gave their reports and we then adjourned fo break into smaller groups and to enjoy cake in honor of Indivisible Tacoma’s second anniversary.
Evan Koepfler presents Rise and Run for the Indivisible Tacoma General meeting on March 20, 2019.
This past weekend was also action-packed. On Friday, Louisa, Ellen, and Damita joined Tacoma’s kids and local activists at Wright Park for the Global Youth Climate Strike (shown in the featured image above). Our state lawmakers also held Town Hall meetings over the weekend. If you went to any of them, we’d love it if you could send us a brief report via email (IndivisibleTacomaChapter @ gmail.com) or our contact form. If you attend any events for Indivisible Tacoma, local lawmakers, local progressive allies, etc. please send photos to our Facebook, Twitter (@IndivisibleTac), Instagram (@IndivisibleTacoma), or email.
Town Hall Meeting with State Sen. Steve O’Ban (R-28) TONIGHT
Rep. Steve O’Ban (R-28) is holding a town hall meeting on State Initiative 1000, the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Act which is currently before the State Legislature. This is a rare thing for him when it comes to diversity issues! Your conservatives neighbors are going, are you? Make your voice heard!
Tuesday March 26, 2019. 6:30 p.m.
University Place Branch Library 2609 Market Place West
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Upcoming Indivisible Tacoma Meetings & Events
Members of Congress (MoCs) Meeting with Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell
Tuesday March 26 (tonight), 4:00 p.m.
950 Pacific Ave, Tacoma, WA, 98402
Legislative Action Team Meeting
Tuesday, April 2, 2019
6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
University Place Pierce County Library
3609 Market Pl W, University Place, WA 98466
Meeting Room
Steering Team Meeting
Monday, April 22, 2019
University Place Pierce County Library
3609 Market Pl W, University Place, WA 98466
Conference Room
General Meeting: Voter Registration 2.0: New technology, new laws!
Featured Speaker: Julie Anderson, Pierce County Auditor,
Wednesday, May 1, 2019
6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Tahoma Unitarian Universalist Congregation
1115 S 56th St, Tacoma, WA 98408
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This Week’s National Action
Ask Our Reps to Subpoena White House Documents — and the Mueller Report! — to Expose Corruption
Call your rep. Ask them to support having the House leadership subpoena all documents needed to investigate the corruption of the Trump White House.
SCRIPT: Hello. My name is ____________ from (address or zip code), a constituent and a member of Indivisible Tacoma. I’m calling to ask Rep. _______________ to join with the Democratic leadership to urge the House Oversight and Reform Committee to subpoena all documents needed to expose all corruption on the part of any and all members of the Trump administration and White House Staff. This includes the Mueller Report.
Here are our reps’ phone numbers.
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This Week’s State House Actions (Do By Thursday)
This looks like a lot, but not all of these are for all districts. Here’s the breakdown:
- 28th District: Two action emails.
- 25th and 29th districts: One action email.
- 27th District: One phone call.
LGBT (28th District ONLY)
ACTION EMAIL! Send an email to Christine Kilduff (D-28) Christine.Kilduff@leg.wa.gov. a member of the House Education Committee. Urge her to vote to support this bill and pass it out of committee. This bill will be heard in Executive Session on March 28th!ov,
Healthcare (25th, 28th, and 29th Districts)
SB 5822 would create a workgroup for a broad range of health care stakeholders to study and make recommendations to the legislature on a universal health care system that is sustainable and affordable for all Washington state residents.
Script: Hello. I’m ___________________ from (zip code or address). I’m one of your constituents and a member of Indivisible Tacoma. Please support SB 6822 to create a workgroup that includes a broad range of health care stakeholders who will study and make recommendations to the state leg. for a statewide universal health care system that is sustainable and affordable for all Washington state residents.
Immigration: Policies to protect all Washington residents (27th District)
E2SSB 5497 Establishing a statewide policy supporting Washington State’s economy and immigrants’ role in the workplace. Since the bill has been scheduled for executive sessions in the House Civil Rights & Judiciary Committee, urge the Committee Chair Rep. Laurie Jinkins to push this bill to the floor for action and to vote yes for E2SSB 5497.
ACTION: Call Rep. Laurie Jinkins (D) 360-786-7930
SCRIPT: Hello. I’m ___________________ from (zip code or address). I’m one of your constituents and a member of Indivisible Tacoma. We urge you, as House Civil Rights & Judiciary Committee, to push E2SSB 5497 bill to the floor for action and to vote yes for protecting immigrants and all Washington state residents.
Thank you, Olympia Indivisible, for all your helpful information on this week’s actions in drawing up this list.
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Help Wanted!
We need help for lots of things, including
- A secretary to record minutes for our Steering Committee meetings. update member list, and other organizational tasks
- Posting updates and announcements to our events calendar, blog, and social media channels
- Greeting people, setting up, and breaking down for Indivisible Tacoma’s meetings and events
- Brief reports on photos and videos for local political events and actions with Indivisible Tacoma, our lawmakers, our public officials, our City Council, and our allies.
- Someone who attends lots of local politics events and a visual arts/graphics person to post memes, photos, and videos on our Facebook, Twitter (@IndivisibleTac), and especially our Instagram
Please get in touch with us via email (IndivisibleTacomaChapter @ gmail.com) or our Contact Us page. Also, if you aren’t already on our email list, sign up here!
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by indivisibletacoma | Mar 20, 2019 | Actions, Events, News
Greetings, Indivisibles. We’ve got a full week ahead with our General Meeting (and second birthday celebration), a website update, town hall meetings with our state legislators, this week’s actions, and upcoming meetings with our members of Congress (MoCs).
In This Post…
- Indivisible Tacoma – General Meeting and 2nd Birthday Celebration
- Where’d Our Website Go?
- Town Hall Meetings with Our State Legislators
- This Week’s Actions
- Upcoming Meetings with Our Members of Congress (MoCs)
Indivisible Tacoma General Meeting TODAY (Weds.)
- Reports from our team leads on all the great stuff we’re doing.
- Upcoming meetings with our members of Congress
- Info on Rise and Run! An exciting new program for progressives who want to run for public office.
- 2nd birthday celebration with cake.
Weds. March 20, 2019 at 6:30 p.m. at the Tahoma Unitarian Universalist Congregation. 1115 South 56th Street, Tacoma.
Reserve Your Free Ticket!
Tickets are free, but we need to know how many are coming, so please reserve your free ticket!
We’re Having Technical Difficulties: Please Stand By
In case you’re wondering why our website has vanished… We are having some technical difficulties, so please stand by. But we’ll be back soon with a new look, a new URL, and we’ll be gradually adding new features.
We’ll also be making it easier for non-techies to post on the site. Hopefully, that’ll mean more volunteers contributing, and more news, updates, and actions as we get ready to take back the White House and the U.S. Senate in 2020.
We also want to thank Justin Haight for building the old site and keeping it running perfectly for the past two years.
Our new address is: IndivisibleTacoma.Net.
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Actions for this Week
Calling District 28!
It’s important because O’Ban is on the Senate Committee on Health and Long-term Care. Here’s the script.
“Hi, I am calling to ask Senator________ to please prioritize the passage of 2SHB1039, out of the Senate Health Long Term Care Committee with a do pass recommendation. 1039 is a direct response to the opioid overdose epidemic in our state. The antidote, when administered in time, saves lives. The availability of this antidote in our schools, from Kindergarten all the way through and our institutions of higher learning, is essential to prevent death in the precious moments after an overdose. Thank you.”
Please also ask him to pass SHB1870 so provisions of the Affordable Care Act become state law.
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Call Your Members of Congress!
Ask your members of Congress to stand firm on ending Trump’s fake emergency, protect Dreamers, reject our illegal war in Yemen, support a Green New Deal and hold a markup on the Paycheck Fairness Act, and reject any Motions to Recommit.
Call the Capitol Hill Switchboard to get connected to your members of Congress! (202) 224-3121
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Townhall Meetings with Your State Reps & Senators
27th District
Rep. Laurie Jinkins, Rep. Jake Fey, Sen. Jeannie Darneille
Sat. March 23, 10:00 a.m. – Noon
Eastside Community Center
1721 E. 56th St. Tacoma
28th District
Rep. Mari Leavitt
Rep. Christine Kilduff
Sat. March 23, 10:00 a.m. – Noon
Dupont Civic Center
1700 Civic Drive, Dupont
Call State Sen. Steve O’Ban and say you’d love to see him at the town hall meeting (253) 358-9283
29th District
Rep. Melanie Morgan
Sen. Steve Conway
Saturday, March 23, 10:00 a.m. – Noon
Bates S. Campus Auditorium
2201 S. 78th St. Tacoma
Call State Rep. Steve Kirby and say you’d love to see him at the town hall meeting (360) 786-7996.
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Upcoming Meetings with Our Members of Congress (MoCs)
If you’d like to receive updates and/or more information from the Legislative Action Committee, please email us at indivisbletacomachapter@gmail.com.
- Meetings with Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray: Thursday
March 26, 4:00 p.m. at 950 Pacific Ave # 615, Tacoma. Please arrive at 3:45 p.m. so we can sign letters and go over the agenda.
- Meeting with Rep. Denny Heck (10th District): Thursday, March 28, 3:45 p.m. at Lakewood City Hall on Main Street. First, we’ll meet in the downstairs lobby to sign letters. Then we’ll go upstairs and meet with Denny Heck’s staff.
- Rep. Derek Kilmer (6th District): We don’t have a date yet, but it’ll likely be in April. In the meantime, please email or call him with the script below.
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by indivisibletacoma | Mar 12, 2019 | Actions, Events, News
We’ve Turned Two! You’re Invited to Indivisible Tacoma’s Birthday Party and General Meeting.
Wednesday, March 20, 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Tahoma Unitarian Universalist Congregation
1115 S 56th St, Tacoma, WA 98408
Get your free ticket with EventBrite!
Two years ago, we came together to fight the cruel and destructive Trump agenda. Across the country, the hard work and positive energy of Indivisible chapters like ours won back the House.
Now, we need to keep up the good work! That means getting more voters registered for 2020. We also need to hold our members of Congress (MoCs) accountable and urge them to support progressive bills. These include Single Payer, a Green New Deal, more investigations of the Trump administration, and H.R. 1 for Electoral Reform. And, as 2020 draws closer, we’ll need to do more postcards, phone calls, and door knocking to get out the vote.
We are also now working with the newly-created Washington State Indivisible Coalition (WASIC) to do more with our reps and senators at the state level.
But first…
Image: CC by ND 2.0 Cristina Carvalho via Flickr.
Come Celebrate!
Join the fun and get ready for #BlueWave2020! First, we’ll have updates from Indivisible Tacoma’s team leaders followed by our featured speaker. Then we’ll celebrate our two-year anniversary with a special birthday cake.
Also Featuring Rise and Run!
Thinking of running for office? Great candidates with progressive ideas are needed! Evan Koepfler, Democratic Field Organizer, will explain this exciting new program.
RSVP!
RSVP for a free ticket with EventBrite
Please let us know you’re coming so we can make sure we have enough birthday cake for everyone! We look forward to seeing you.
by indivisibletacoma | Mar 11, 2019 | Actions, Events, News
This week we have three phone calls we need everyone to make. We also have our General Meeting and 2nd Birthday party coming up, plus several great events via our progressive allies in and around Tacoma.
Indivisible Tacoma Phone Calls
- Call your House Rep. and urge them to keep H.R. 1 (electoral reform) strong & reject all “Motions to Recommit” from the GOP.
- Call our senators and tell them to support Sens. Udall’s (D-NM) and Collins’ (R-ME) resolution to end Trump’s fake emergency.
- Please call your state senator & state reps and ask them to support SB 5116 for 100% Clean Electricity by 2045. If you’re in the 27th District, at least call Jake Fey, since he’s on the House Environment & Energy Committee.
Phone Numbers
- US Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121
- State of Washington Legislative Hotline: (800) 562-6000
- List of federal and state lawmakers: https://indivisibletacoma.org/legislators-phone-numbers
Sample script: Hi, I’m _________________, a constituent with Indivisible Tacoma in zip code ____________________. I’m calling to ask you to [Keep H.R.1 strong and reject any GOP Motions to Recommit / Support Sens. Udall’s and Collins’ resolution to end Trump’s fake emergency / support State Bill 5116 for 100% clean electricity by 2045. Thank you!
Events and Actions for March 11-17, 2019 (from our Progressive Allies)
Gaining Ground Documentary Screening
Hosted by 350 Tacoma Monday, March 11 at 5pm Rausch Auditorium, McIntyre Hall, Lower Level (#27 on campus map) University of Puget Sound 1500 N Warner St, Tacoma Gaining Ground is a documentary about growing food as a vehicle to empower communities and change lives. The film shows the connection between family farmers rejecting big ag and urban activists defying the control of big oil in their community. The film will be followed by a Q&A session. https://events.time.ly/9xi2qhl?event=26964522
Stop the Privatization of Click Network
TPU Board Meeting Weds. March 13, 2019, 6:30 pm 3628 S 35th St, Tacoma, WA 98409 Or email public comments to: utilityboard@cityoftacoma.org https://www.facebook.com/events/487685631764223/
Sunrise Movement Tacoma General Hub Meeting
Weds. March 13 at 7pm-9pm University of Puget Sound, Wyatt Hall 204 “Join us Wednesday evening to talk Green New Deal, Youth Climate Strike, and more! Bring your friends, your family, and friendly faces- we welcome everyone no matter if you’ve come once or 100 times. Agenda to be posted soon.” https://www.facebook.com/events/78447262859376/
Tacoma Roots Summit, no. 4: Transit-Oriented Development
Thurs. March 14 6pm-8pm Evergreen Tacoma 1210 6th Ave, Tacoma Once a season, Tacoma Roots: Environmental Justice Forum hosts a summit to bring together folks in Pierce County and beyond to discuss environmental justice issues we face here, especially as they disproportionately impact people of color. This fourth Tacoma Roots Summit will focus on opportunities to advocate for transit-oriented development, looking at which policies could be put in place to best address housing costs and environmental concerns. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tacoma-roots-summit-no4-transit-oriented-development-tickets-55660706672
Tacoma Youth Climate
Fri 12pm-2pm Wright Park, 501 S I St, Tacoma My name is Theo Sullivan and I go to Washington elementary in Tacoma, Washington. on march 15 kids around the world are striking from school and asking their political leaders to take a stand, to do what they need to do to protect our environment from serious irreversible damage. I’m inviting kids from the tacoma region to ask, no demand that adults find real changes! This is a kid-organized event and we want you kids to write an essay about how you feel about climate change and what you want adults to do about it because we want a chance to live in a healthy world as adults. SEND YOUR ESSAYS TO: theoclimatestrike@gmail.com We will select the winning essays to read at the strike. Maybe you will get to read yours to everyone! Or we can read it for you if you feel shy. https://actionnetwork.org/events/tacoma-climate-strike
Tacoma Democratic Socialists of America Happy Hour!
Saturday March 16. 2-4pm Parkway Tavern 313 N I St #1, Tacoma No agenda, just drinkin’ with the local reds. (Marx was co-president of his local tavern club, you know.) https://events.time.ly/9xi2qhl?event=25705012
Tacoma Homeless Outreach
Sat. March 16, 9:30am-12:30pm pin Evergreen Tacoma 1210 6th Ave, Tacoma Nativity House 702 S 14th St, Tacoma https://www.facebook.com/events/307411680128991/
Indivisible Tacoma Birthday Party & General Meeting
Wednesday, March 20, 6:30-8:00 p.m. Tahoma Unitarian Universalist Congregation 1115 S 56th St, Tacoma, WA 98408 Reserve a free ticket https://www.eventbrite.com/e/indivisible-tacoma-2nd-birthday-party-general-meeting-tickets-58515930724
