Worried about national and state events? Concerned about the chaos of executive actions and a silent legislature? Want to do something but can’t figure out how?

The League of Women Voters of Alachua County is preparing a series of action plans. They are intended to encourage you to respond to the daily breach of the rule of law and the separation of powers. That separation has nourished and guarded this nation since its inception. We are calling this the What You Can Do (WYCD) campaign.

These WYCD Action Items will appear regularly. They will be designed to provide concrete actions to give you a mechanism for doing something.

Daily assaults on personal freedoms and institutions meant to serve American citizens can be
overwhelming. Ignoring the worst and retreating inward can seem like the only response. Fear is
understandable. But fear contributes to the dismantling. Action, because it is the right thing to do, helps us sleep at night. Action, regardless of outcome, makes a pillow softer.

The League suggests that you post each message in your kitchen. Grab your morning beverage, grab your phone, and take action.

To receive the What You Can Do actions directly, please email info [at] lwv-alachua.org (subject: What%20You%20Can%20Do)  with "What You Can Do" in the subject line. Request to be added to the email list. Messages come out about once a week. 

CURRENT ACTION TOPICS: 1) July 4th Independence from Kings Rally, 2) GRU referendum campaign, 3) Attack on Iran, 4) Budget bill, 5) NPR 

California senator Alex Padilla, the senior Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on immigration, citizenship and border safety said (after being taken to the floor and handcuffed at a news conference): “If the Trump administration was this afraid of one senator with a question,” he wrote, “imagine what the voices of tens of millions of Americans organizing will do.” (Heather Cox Richardson substack)

LOCAL

1) Action Item: Rally: July 4, beginning at 9 a.m., at the circle at Depot Ave and Main Street there will be an Independence from Kings rally. Bring your signs, be visible, make noise, energize!

2) Action Item: Remain vigilant and informed: A(nother) campaign to get a GRU referendum passed is unfolding. The referendum has been modified to satisfy the concerns of Judge George Wright who confirmed that the city of Gainesville has the right to put a referendum on the ballot, but he objected to a modifier in a phrase. The election will be in November. Funds and volunteers will be needed. Stay tuned.

NATIONAL

Action Items: Call your legislators and ask for answers. Some suggestions follow. We want our messages to be laser focused, please feel free to use some or all these questions or any others of your own choosing. Choose a couple questions for today, use others in the next couple days. Or, call them about a topic of your choosing and interest. Just call!

National Legislators:
Senator Rick Scott: (202) 224-5274
Senator Ashley Moody: (202) 224-3041
Representative Kat Cammack: (202) 225-5744

1) Action Item: Call your Lawmakers: Last night the U.S. bombed three Iranian nuclear sites. Per various news sources, retaliation could include cyber attacks, attacks on other American military sites and U.S. networks.

Questions for legislators, suggested verbiage:

*On Saturday night the U.S. attacked three Iranian nuclear sites. It was done without
Congressional knowledge or approval by a president who campaigned on not starting wars.
Retaliation could take many forms and make Americans and our troops less safe. The attack
seems to be a breach of the Congressional War Powers Act. What are you (name of legislator)
doing to investigate if this was a breach and to rein in an executive branch that frequently takes
actions that are questionably legal?

Or

*The executive branch has fired thousands of federal staff who provided fundamental services such as health care, care for vets, food, extreme weather forecasting and support for farmers. The executive branch supported access to secure information about Americans by people who were not vetted. Now the executive branch has thrown our country into the Middle East morass
by bombing Iran. What are you doing (name of legislator) to exert your authority by an
executive branch that has overstepped congress?

2) Action Item: Call your Senators: The House of Representatives has passed a reconciliation (budget) bill that would cut important programs and services in order to preserve tax breaks for the wealthy. These questions are for Senators Moody and Scott, since the bill will head to the senate soon.

*The reconciliation bill passed by the House is a step backward for US energy production. It
would take away clean energy tax credits that would incentivize cheaper, more modern
forms of energy. While the rest of the world is moving forward, the US is falling behind. I
urge you to vote no on the reconciliation bill as passed by the House. It makes no sense to
cut new energy sources, food and health care for Americans to pay for tax breaks for the
wealthy. (New York Times Opinion, Robinson Meyer)

3) Action Item: Call your Senators: Congress appropriated funds for NPR. The executive branch transmitted a request to cancel those funds and the House approved it. This question is for senators Moody and Scott:

*NPR not only provides educational programs for people across this country, in many cases it
provides the only resource for local information and extreme weather reporting, especially
in rural areas. Staff at the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have been
fired. Florida meteorologists are saying they are unprepared for hurricane reporting. Now
extreme weather reporting by NPR is threatened. I urge you to vote no on eliminating
funding for NPR.