March 16, 2023
Presidential tax returns, Haitian asylum seekers, corporate money, plus more ways to work for progress!
Contact all members of Congress:
By phone: (202) 224-3121
By email: democracy.io
By US mail: Representatives / Senators
By fax: Representatives / Senators
By Resistbot: Resist.bot
Contact White House or other federal agencies:
PRESIDENTIAL TAX RETURNS
The Presidential Tax Transparency Act filed by Representative Anna Eshoo (D-CA-16) would, if passed, require presidents, vice presidents, and major party candidates for both offices to turn over ten years’ worth of individual tax returns to the Federal Election Commission. This mandated disclosure would help Americans judge whether those seeking or holding these high offices are working in the public interest as opposed to their own financial gain. Let’s tell our Representatives to co-sponsor H.R.908.
HELP SPONSOR A HAITIAN ASYLUM SEEKER
A new U.S. program is allowing 30,000 refugees from Haiti (as well as 30,000 each from Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua) to apply for humanitarian parole. Immigrant Family Services Institute (IFSI) needs people to fill out the paperwork to serve as official sponsors for arriving Haitians. They will coordinate housing and assistance, so sponsors won’t have to physically house people. We can find out more in their virtual information sessions, which are held several times each week. Let’s contact IFSI here and see if we can help.
GET DARK CORPORATE MONEY OUT OF POLITICS—AND THE JUDICIARY
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Representative David Cicilline (D-RI) have re-introduced the DISCLOSE Act. If this bill passes, it will require super PACS, 501(c)(4) dark money groups, and other organizations spending money in elections to disclose donors who have given more than $10,000 in an election cycle. It will also require groups that spend money on ads supporting or opposing judicial nominees to disclose their donors. Let’s tell our Senators to co-sponsor S.512 and our Representatives to co-sponsor H.R.1118 so that Americans can see exactly who is trying to influence their votes and the government officials who are supposed to be working for them.
UPDATING U.S. RACIAL AND ETHNIC CATEGORIES
As our country becomes more diverse, it is important that the racial and ethnic categories better reflect who we are. The Biden administration has taken on the updating of those categories. In the 2020 Census, “some other race” category ranked as the second largest racial group in the US. Those who choose that category want to see a greater diversity of options. “The idea of revising categories for ethnic and racial identities, both in the census and in gathering demographic information between head counts, have fueled editorials and think-tank essays as well as thousands of written comments by individuals in what is almost a Rorschach test for how Americans identify themselves.” The comment period ends in 30 days. Let’s add our own comments here.
TELL WALMART EXEC TO DEFEND BLACK HISTORY
In the wake of Ron DeSantis’ attack on the new Advanced Placement African-American Studies course, four more states are reporting they will look into the watered-down course to see whether it violates their state laws. The anti-accurate history movement is spreading, and we need to stay in the fight. Walmart’s director of public affairs and government relations, Monesia Brown, serves on the board of the Florida Department of Education, and Color of Change is asking folks to call Walmart executives to push that the company speak out against the FLDOE’s decision. Let’s join them in making the call and keeping up the pressure on corporate America to pick a side.
STATE-SPECIFIC ACTIONS
CA - LEARN HOW TO REGISTER CALIFORNIA VOTERS WITH FIELD TEAM 6
We can fight voter suppression by learning how to register California voters the Field Team 6 way. Registering more Democratic voters can help us swing elections, and we can have some fun along the way. By joining a call with Field Team 6, held on Tuesdays and Wednesdays 6pm PDT, we’ll learn the secrets of successful voter registration and get our questions answered, leaving us motivated and equipped to lead our own voter drives. We can sign up for Field Team 6’s Voter Registration Training here. We’ll get trained on Zoom to lead in person voting drives.