Blog Archives - PACG - Progressive Action for the Common Good

Message from Our President

4/29/2019

Hello Progressives!

Message from the President

I wanted to give a huge THANK YOU to the Environmental Forum for the very successful Earth Day event that was held a week ago Saturday! This group of people worked hard to make sure that our messages about the environment were heard. I hear plans are underway for next year's event. We can all be proud of this event!

I also wanted to let you all know that we have two new board members: Deb Sperry and Glenda Guster. Both of these women are hard working progressives. We are lucky to have them join our board!

Keep up the good fight everyone, Allison.

Candidate Questions - Drug Policy Reform

4/23/2019

Candidate Questions - Drug Policy Reform

Let’s get organized before the next presidential candidates come to town! It’s hard to know what questions to ask, but here is a list that we have created. If you have additional questions you think should be asked, please contact our Office Manager, Amber Bordolo and we will add to this list.

If you attend a candidate’s event, print off this list (see the download link below) and have it handy in case you have an opportunity to ask questions. Listen carefully to the answers on the topics below. Take notes if you can, and report back to us in the Blog Comments below.

These are also good questions that should be addressed to your State legislatures when they hold legislative sessions or campaign for re-election.

1. What is your stance on the federal expansion of access to medical cannabis?

2. What is your stance on federal legalization of marijuana?

3. In Iowa, a black person is six times more likely to be arrested for a non-violent marijuana-related offense than a white person, despite equal patterns of use. What is your stance on decriminalizing marijuana and instead allowing opportunities of record expungement for formerly convicted non-violent marijuana offenders?

5. In Iowa, we are working to expand access to clean needle syringes. Data has proven that safe needle access plays a profound role in reducing overdose and death rates. Do you support increased syringe access on a federal level?

4. What is your stance on the decriminalization of larger categories of drugs as a measure to keep fewer non-violent offenders out of jail?

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Candidate Questions - Civil Rights

4/22/2019

Candidate Questions - Civil Rights

Immigration/Refugee Policy

Let’s get organized before the next presidential candidates come to town! It’s hard to know what questions to ask, but here is a list that Quad Cities Interfaith created. If you have additional questions you think should be asked, please contact our Office Manager, Amber Bordolo and we will add to this list.

If you attend a candidate’s event, print off this list (see the download link below) and have it handy in case you get a chance to ask a question. Listen carefully to the answers on the topics below. Take notes if you can, and report back to us in the Blog Comments below. We want to know what you hear and think!

These are also good questions that should be addressed to your State legislatures when they hold legislative sessions or campaign for re-election.

1. As President, will you work to re-unite families separated at the border and change this policy so that future children and families are not separated while their legal status is in limbo?

2. What is your position on the Central American migrant caravan asylum-seekers at the border?

3. As President, will you work to ensure that tear gas is not employed against any persons at the border, like that which took place in November of this last year?

4. In Iowa, legislators have passed a state bill to prohibit local municipalities from establishing local sanctuary laws. Are you willing to speak out against these efforts at outlawing city and county rights to establish local sanctuary status?

5. We are against ICE workplace and community raids that unnecessarily terrorize, and often separate, families. A prominent example took place in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa in the past year. What is your stance on the role of ICE in our local communities?

6. We are against laws that put undue burdens on local police forces to do the work of area ICE agents. We don’t think these measures make our communities more safe; in fact, they make people less likely to report crime for fear of retaliation or deportation. What is your stance on the role of local police in matters pertaining to immigration enforcement?

7. Do you support driver’s licenses for immigrants and other local efforts such as Community ID programs?

8. Do you support efforts toward providing a path to citizenship for the 11 million immigrants in the United States?

9. There has been a call to overhaul our immigration policies. What provisions do you think should be a part of revising and changing our nation’s immigration laws?

10. As President, will you take leadership in permanently eliminating “The Muslim ban?” Will you support policies that increase the numbers of refugees the U.S. accepts?

11. What role do you think the U.S. has in accepting refugees from countries where we currently or have previously actively supported or engaged in military conflict in those countries?

12. Given that the policies and actions of our government have helped to create the conditions which people in the Migrant Caravan are fleeing, what are our responsibilities to these asylum seekers? How should they be treated at the border?

13. We stand strongly against the profit incentive behind incarceration of immigrants and citizens promoted by the prison industrial complex. Will you reject campaign contributions from banks and corporations that have a profit incentive in the building of private prisons and immigrant detention centers?

Mass Incarceration and Restorative Justice

1. Our groups in the Quad Cities are dealing with racial disparities in rates of out-of-school suspensions. As President, what will you do to address these and other racial inequities in our nation’s public school systems?

2. There our racial inequities across the board in our public schools here locally, and throughout the nation. What will you do to close the opportunity and achievement gap in public education between low-income and students of color, relative to their more affluent white peers?

3. What is your take on the recent bi-partisan criminal justice changes at the federal level? What do you think is the next step towards improving our current criminal justice system?

4. As president, what will you do to provide opportunities for criminal ex-offender re-entry programs and to create employment opportunities for formerly incarcerated persons to reduce recidivism?

5. Do you support “banning the box” policies that require ex-offenders to disclose their felony history in job applications?

6. The U.S. remains the most over-incarcerated nation on the planet. What steps will you take as President to decrease the numbers and reduce racial disparities in populations of offenders behind bars?

7. We stand strongly against the profit incentive behind incarceration of immigrants and citizens promoted by the prison industrial complex. Will you reject campaign contributions from banks and corporations that have a profit incentive in the building of private prisons and immigrant detention centers?

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Candidate Questions - Health Care Reform

4/22/2019

Candidate Questions - Health Care Reform

Let’s get organized before the next presidential candidates come to town! It’s hard to know what questions to ask, but here is a list that we have created. If you have additional questions you think should be asked, please contact our Office Manager, Amber Bordolo and we will add to this list.

If you attend a candidate’s event, print off this list (see the download link below) and have it handy in case you have an opportunity to ask questions. Listen carefully to the answers on the topics below. Take notes if you can, and report back to us in the Blog Comments below.

These are also good questions that should be addressed to your State legislatures when they hold legislative sessions or campaign for re-election.

1. How will you protect the progress made thanks to the Affordable Care Act? (more people insured, children insured on parent’s programs until age 26, protection for pre-existing conditions, etc)

2. The Medicare program is vital to the health of millions of people. Will you protect Medicare for cuts planned by some members of Congress?

3. There are efforts underway to cut Medicaid funding and turn it into individual state grants. How will you fight to keep Medicaid strong and protect it from future cuts?

4. If you favor health care expansion, could you describe your vision? What would be the key points? (Single payer? Incremental stages of expansion?)

5. How will you provide healthcare to low-income people in states that did not expand Medicaid?

6. How will you push pharmaceutical companies to reduce Hight prescription drug prices?

a. Do you support letting Medicare negotiate with prescription drug companies? If so, why?

b. Would you support a bill to allow lower priced generic drugs to access the market more quickly?

c. What efforts will you take to require drug companies to explain large price increases?

d. Would you require drug companies to give a two-month notice when they plan to significantly increase prices?

e. Should Americans be allowed to buy lower priced drugs from other countries or should the U.S. government regulate drug prices?

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Candidate Questions - Environmental Issues

4/22/2019

Candidate Questions - Environmental Issues

Let’s get organized before the next presidential candidates come to town! It’s hard to know what questions to ask, but here is a list that we have created. If you have additional questions you think should be asked, please contact our Office Manager, Amber Bordolo and we will add to this list.

If you attend a candidate’s event, print off this list (see the download link below) and have it handy in case you have an opportunity to ask questions. Listen carefully to the answers on the topics below. Take notes if you can, and report back to us in the Blog Comments below.

These are also good questions that should be addressed to your State legislatures when they hold legislative sessions or campaign for re-election.

1. Will you support the only current proposal that addresses the climate crisis, the Green New Deal?

2. Are you aware that the EPA had the lowest number of environmental fines in 2018 in decades? What will you do about the EPA’s substandard implementation of their own regulations?

3. Do you support protecting National Parks from drilling and exploration/extractive industries?

4. What is your plan to address this administration’s rollbacks on environmental protections on clean air and water, pollution and the use of clean energy?

5. What is your plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing our use of renewable energy?

6. What is your position on our country’s commitment to the Paris Climate Accord, and would you continue our planned withdrawal from that commitment?

7. Currently, corporate interests are prioritized over public health risks. What specifically will you do to change that?

8. What is your plan to invest in renewable energy and what is your timeline for doing so?

9. Are you in favor of carbon and other user taxes to address business’s negative environmental impacts?

10. Are you in favor of enforcing stricter federal regulations on companies who are out of compliance with environmental (EPA) regulations, regardless of their containment area?

11. Would you extend the current rebates on solar which are set to gradually fade starting in 2020?

Our Environmental Forum suggests the following questions for our Illinois and Iowa State legislators:

1. What are your specific plans to reduce our state’s carbon footprint, and what are your target dates and measurement tools?

2. Would you support implementing the current laws and standards of the EPA for each industry/company operating in the State?

3. Is there a state target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and, if so, what are the timelines?

4. Currently, corporate interests are prioritized over public health risks. What specifically will you do to change that?

5. What is your plan to invest in renewable energy, and what is your timeline?

6. Are you in favor of carbon and other user taxes to address business’s negative environmental impacts?

7. Are you in favor of enforcing stricter federal regulations for companies who are out of compliance with environmental (EPA) regulations, regardless of their containment area?

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Restorative Justice in Car Theft Accountability Program

4/20/2019

Car Theft Accountability Program Recruiting Volunteers for Restorative Justice

A program started by Jeremy Kaiser, Director of the Juvenile Detention Center, will bring restorative justice to the Quad Cities! Many PACG members are involved in the Juvenile Justice Working Group, and we were already interested in restorative justice. (The first book we read in the PACG Book Club was The Little Book of Restorative Justice, which we highly recommend to you!) After speaking with Jeremy about the new Car Theft Accountability Program, we believe this new program will use restorative justice to address this difficult problem in our community.

The restorative justice process brings offenders (and their families) and victims together in a restorative justice circle to try to repair the harm that has been done to the community. By repairing the harm to the relationships between offenders and victims, and offenders and the community that resulted from the crime, restorative justice seeks to understand and address the circumstances which contributed to the crime. In addition to trained staff from the Juvenile Detention Center, community volunteers are needed to participate in the circle to represent the community.

The Juvenile Justice Working Group has agreed to help recruit the community volunteers. Ideally we will include a diverse cross-section of the community, including people of color. Please email Alta Price if you want to volunteer, including your name, email address, and phone number.

Some initial information for potential community volunteers from Jeremy Kaiser, Director of the Juvenile Detention Center:

Volunteers Needed for Car Theft Accountability Program:
All volunteers will need to pass a child abuse/criminal background check and possess the right frame of mind to help restore relationships and repair harms that have been done in the community.

Volunteer training has not been scheduled yet. We will most likely wait until May or June to schedule volunteer training. We will bring in a consultant from a company out of Boulder, Colorado named Restorative Solutions. [Visit the Restorative Solutions website to learn more about restorative justice, especially as used in schools.] Catherine Childs is the name of our consultant who provided our facilitator training and will also provide our volunteer training. That initial training will last approximately 3-4 hours. We will also provide on-going skills training for all volunteers.

The volunteer’s role will be to sit in on restorative community conferences and provide the community perspective to the circle. They also help problem solve ideas to repair harm and provide support to victims, offenders, and families during and possibly after the conference.

Ideally we will have a pool of volunteers (5-10) that we can train to be available for conferences. We will likely only have 1-2 volunteers at each conference. The amount of time committed will be based on availability. Conferences will last between 1-2 hours at the most. We are going to try to schedule most conferences on Tuesday and Thursday nights, so availability on those nights will be crucial.

Community Volunteer Information Session:
Although not required, Jeremy Kaiser will be at an information session for potential community volunteers on Tuesday, May 7th at 6:30 pm at the Scott County Juvenile Detention Center Program Space, 500 W 4th St, Davenport. It is in the building connected to detention, but it is the entrance near the southeast corner of the building.

Celebrate Earth Day in Davenport

4/15/2019

Earth Day Celebration - Saturday, April 20th at 9:00 am

Freight House
421 W River DR, Davenport, IA (map)

Environmental Forum

Join us in celebrating Earth Day on Saturday, April 20th from 9-1. There will be mini TED talks throughout the day, live music, 20 demonstration tables, and a full activity tent for kids with reptiles from Nahant Marsh and birds from the raptor center. And there will be door prizes! Food will be available at the adjacent restaurants. The interior portions of the Farmer's Market are up and running. The flood has not defeated us, but it does remind us that Climate Change is real.

Lori McCollum

Paris to Pittsburgh Film on Climate Change

4/15/2019

Paris to Pittsburgh Film - Wednesday, April 17th at 7:00 pm

Rogalski Center
St. Ambrose University
W High ST, Davenport, IA
(the parking lot is at Lombard ST and Ripley ST) (map)

Environmental Forum

Join us in viewing Paris to Pittsburgh, a free screening of the film produced by Bloomberg Philanthropies and RadicalMedia in 2018. We are co-sponsoring this event with the Green Life Environmental Club of St. Ambrose University to kick off the Earth Day weekend. There will be a panel presentation after the screening to discuss climate change and ways you can personally address this issue.

Author Jason Reynolds to Visit the Quad Cities - Book Club

4/8/2019

Author Visit: Jason Reynolds - Thursday, May 2nd at 6:00 pm

Davenport Main Public Library
321 N Main St, Davenport, IA (map)

PACG Book Club

The PACG Book Club is excited about having a chance to meet prize-winning author of Young Adult fiction, Jason Reynolds. We read and enjoyed many of his works, which we discussed at our April Book Club meeting.

Read more at the Davenport Library website. Note: you are requested to register for the event.

There are also two presentations at the Rock Island High School auditorium (map) on Tuesday, May 3rd, one at 9:30 am and one at 1 pm. Both are open to the public. To reserve a seat for either presentation, visit rockislandlibrary.org, and select the online calendar at "find events" or call 309-732-7341.

Alta Price

UPDATE - Race: Are We So Different Tour and Discussion

4/8/2019

Sign up for the “Race: Are We So Different?” Tour and Discussion - Update

Tuesday, April 23rd at 4:00 pm (full)
Monday, May 13th at 4:00 pm (new)

Putnam Museum
1717 W 12th St, Davenport, IA (map)

Civil Rights Forum

The Civil Rights Forum is arranging two tours followed by a guided discussion of Race: Are We So Different? at the Putnam Museum. Only 15 people can attend each discussion, and you MUST register to attend. Our April 23rd tour is full.

To register for the May 13th event, click here.

Attendees must pay their own admission to the Putnam, but PACG will pay the fee for the guided discussion.

Alta Price