Produced by Democrats of the Red Rocks and Coconino County Democratic Party
THIS WEEK’S ALERTS: Confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court; restore funding for COVID-19 response and pandemic prevention efforts; support the Rural Prosperity Act; make plans for the nationwide Election Heroes Day of Action; petition US companies to cut their business ties with Russia; and support legislative and regulatory Climate Change measures.
- PUSH SENATORS FOR RAPID CONFIRMATION OF PRESIDENT BIDEN’S SUPREME COURT NOMINEE, JUDGE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON. President Biden has nominated an exceptional and experienced, thoughtful juror to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court, in the process fulfilling his promise to nominate a Black woman – the first in the Court’s long history. While our Senators have been supportive of the President’s nominees for other court positions, it is crucial that this nomination be swiftly confirmed by the Senate. Hearings this past week show that many GOP Senators are willing to distort the public record and throw out dog whistles to their own supporters rather than carry out any serious assessment of the nominee.
Sample voice or email to our people: “My name is xxx and I’m a voter and constituent in YYY, Arizona. I’m calling to urge you to support the confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as our newest Supreme Court Justice. Her credentials and experience are outstanding – and her nomination is also an exciting chance to continue bringing more diversity of backgrounds and perspectives to the Supreme Court. I know and appreciate that you’ve been supportive of the President’s judicial nominees over this past year – but I wanted to let you know that I really hope this nomination will move swiftly from the Judiciary Committee to the Senate floor, and I hope you will help complete her confirmation as soon as possible. Thank you.”
Sen. Sinema: Call (202) 224-4521 (DC) or (602) 598-7327. Email via her website at “http://www.sinema.senate.gov” Tag the Senator at @senatorsinema.
Sen. Kelly: Call (202) 224-2235 (DC). Email via website at Home » Senator Mark Kelly (senate.gov) Tag the Senator @SenMarkKelly
- ENCOURAGE CONTINUED ATTENTION TO COVID PANDEMIC AND TO PREVENTING FUTURE PANDEMICS. Congress has not approved any additional funding for COVID-19 measures – the free testing, vaccination and boosters, and treatments that have been made available the past two years. So now the effects of infection, illness, and potential long COVID disabilities will be even more inequitable – hitting lower-income and under- or uninsured people much harder. Yet hundreds of people in the US are still dying each day. Meanwhile, proposals to learn as much as possible from the past couple of years and to invest in preparing for future epidemics are languishing. We need to remind our representatives that we haven’t forgotten about this global pandemic, even as people seek to return to their previous habits.
Sample voice or email: “My name is XXX and I’m a voter and constituent in YYY, Arizona. I’m horrified that the federal government has not renewed financial support for COVID testing, vaccination, and treatment. Though of course people want to return to their pre-pandemic habits, we can’t forget that thousands of people are still falling ill and hundreds are dying daily. And without continued support for free testing, vaccination, and treatments, the effects of COVID and of long COVID disabilities will be even more unfairly distributed than they already are. Please do all you can to move renewed funding for COVID through Congress. And thank you, Congressman O’Halleran, for cosponsoring the Preventing Future Pandemics Act. It’s crucial that we learn from the tragedy of these past two years and invest in stronger preparation for the next emerging disease. [For our Senators: And I hope that you will cosponsor and work to pass legislation similar to the PREVENT Pandemics Act. It’s crucial that we learn from these past two years and invest in stronger preparation for the next emerging disease.]”
Rep. Tom O’Halleran: Call (202) 225-3361 (DC) or email via website at https://ohalleran.house.gov/contact Tag the Congressman @RepOHalleran
Sen. Sinema: Call (202) 224-4521 (DC) or (602) 598-7327. Email via her website at “http://www.sinema.senate.gov” Tag the Senator at @senatorsinema.
Sen. Kelly: Call (202) 224-2235 (DC). Email via website at Home » Senator Mark Kelly (senate.gov) Tag the Senator @SenMarkKelly
- THANK SENATOR KELLY AND REP. O’HALLERAN FOR THEIR LEADERSHIP IN SPONSORING/COSPONSORING THE RURAL PROSPERITY ACT, AND ENCOURAGE SENATOR SINEMA TO SUPPORT IT. Rural areas in Arizona, including much of Coconino County, share many of the constraints and frustrations of rural regions across the country – from lack of communication infrastructure to historic and current disadvantages in economic investments. Senator Kelly introduced the Rural Prosperity Act (S 3803), to focus attention on the unique attributes of rural areas and to coordinate and leverage federal investments in ways that benefit the social, economic, and environmental well-being of rural communities and people. Rep. O’Halleran is an early co-sponsor of the House version of the bill (HR 7019).
Sample voice or email: “My name is XXX and I am a constituent and voter in YYY. I have been encouraged to see dollars coming to our region, and to nearby tribal communities, from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act. But it is also incredibly frustrating to see how much still remains to be done to help our rural regions “catch up” in terms of communication, public health, education, and other foundations of healthy and economically viable communities.
- Senator Kelly: Thank you for introducing the Rural Prosperity Act. Greater coordination of federal investments and more formal tracking of community metrics should indeed provide greater leveraging and better outcomes for rural regions like ours. I appreciate your leadership and hope that the Senate soon passes this important legislation.”
- Senator Sinema: I’ve been pleased to see that Senator Kelly introduced the Rural Prosperity Act, which would provide greater coordination and leveraging of federal investments in rural regions. I urge you to sign on as a co-sponsor for this legislation and to use your influence with other senators to provide bipartisan support for our rural communities.”
- Congressman O’Halleran: Thank you for being an early cosponsor of HR 7019, the Rural Prosperity Act. Greater coordination of federal investments and more formal tracking of community metrics should indeed provide greater leveraging and better outcomes for rural regions like ours. I appreciate your leadership and hope that the House soon passes this important legislation.”
D. THANK ELECTION HEROES DAY OF ACTION – April 12
Without election workers, our democracy cannot function. Join pro-democracy organizations and activists nationwide on Tuesday, April 12, by taking action to thank the poll workers, election monitors, ballot counters, administrative officials, and volunteers who kept our 2020 General Elections safe, healthy, and secure. Find tips and toolkits for social media posts, letters to the editor, and other expressions of gratitude here: 2022 Thank Election Heroes Day of Action Host Toolkit – Google Docs
E. PETITION US BUSINESSES TO STOP DOING BUSINESS WITH RUSSIA
While most US corporations have pulled out of Russia in response to its unjustified war in Ukraine, Burger King and Subway are still conducting business there. The Care2 Executive Team (responsible for directing a social enterprise working with over 2500 nonprofits and socially-conscious brands) has created an online petition asking these companies to halt their business activities in Russia. Sign the petition here: petition: Some Companies Refuse to Stop Doing Business in Russia. They Must Cut Ties, Now! (thepetitionsite.com)
F. CLIMATE ACTION ALERT No. 1 – US Postal Service Vehicle Fleet
While the Trump-appointed US Postmaster General Louis DeJoy barges ahead with his environmentally-unsound and fiscally-unwise plans to lock-in a gas-guzzling motor vehicle fleet for the US Postal Service for the foreseeable future, the USPS Office of the Inspector General released a white paper on March 17, 2022, finding that the Postal Service could service nearly all of its routes with electrical trucks, with 99% of those routes serviceable on one charge. Not only would transitioning to an electric fleet save money over time, but it would allow the Postal Service to meet its sustainability goals of a 25% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2030. Read the USPS OIG report here: Electric Delivery Vehicles and the Postal Service, Report Number RISC-WP-22-003. (uspsoig.gov)
H.R. 7018, the Green Postal Service Fleet Act of 2022, would prohibit the Postal Service from carrying out a contract for the procurement of next generation vehicle fleet unless the fleet is at least 75% electric or zero emission vehicles, and help support President Joe Biden’s policies calling for the Postal Service to go all-electric.
Call Rep. Tom O’Halleran and ask him to co-sponsor H.R. 7018: Call (202) 225-3361 (DC) or email via website Contact | Congressman Tom O´Halleran (house.gov) Tag the Congressman @RepOHalleran
G. CLIMATE ACTION ALERT No. 2 – Corporate Climate-Related Financial Disclosures
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is proposing new rules under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that would require domestic and foreign companies offering publicly-traded stocks and bonds to include certain climate-related information in their securities registration statements and reports, including in their annual Form 10-K reports. The rules would require registrants to report climate-related risks and their actual or likely material impacts on the registrant’s business, strategy, and outlook; corporate governance of climate-related risks and relevant risk management processes; green-house gas emissions; climate-related financial statement metrics and related disclosures in a note to their audited financial statements; and information about climate-related targets and goals. The proposed disclosures are similar to those that many companies already provide based upon broadly accepted disclosure frameworks, including the international Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (the world’s most widely-used greenhouse gas accounting standards). Read more about the proposed rule here: SEC.gov | SEC Proposes Rules to Enhance and Standardize Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors
To support this rulemaking, submit comments to the SEC before May 22, 2022 (or 60 days after publication in the Federal Register, whichever is later): Submit Comments on S7-10-22 – The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors (sec.gov)
Share this: