Category: What You Can Do Now - PACG - Progressive Action for the Common Good

Contact Iowa Governor Reynolds Regarding Voter Suppression - What You Can Do Now

3/2/2021

Contact the Iowa Governor

Voting Rights and Civil Rights

Legislation has been introduced in the Iowa Legislature that affects progressive values.

House File 222 proposes that information found in the “1619 Project” regarding the history of slavery in America be banished from public school's curriculum:
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/publications/search/document?fq=id:1210570&q=HF+222

House File 590 impacts the ability of Iowans to vote:
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/publications/search/document?fq=id:1213531&q=HF+590

House File 590 has passed both the Iowa House and Senate and is waiting for Kim Reynolds signature. Please contact The Governor and Lt. Governor welcome your comments and concerns.

You can Register an Opinion by clicking this link.

If you would prefer to speak with a member of the Governor's staff, please call their office at 515-281-5211 (press 5 to go directly to voicemail), Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm.

If you prefer to send your thoughts in writing, address them to:

Office of the Governor
Iowa State Capitol
1007 East Grand Avenue
Des Moines, IA 50319

Allison Ambrose

Letters to the Editor Re: Health Care - What You Can Do Now

2/23/2021

Letters to the Editors for Health Care
(and other issues affecting the common good)

Health Care Reform Forum

Health Care Reform Forum is working to keep affordable and accessible care in the forefront of legislators and the public. One of the most effective ways to do this is to write a letter to the editor.

To submit letters by email:

QCTimes and Bettendorf News: https://qctimes.com/forms/contact/letter_to_the_editor/

North Scott Press: https://www.northscottpress.com/forms/letters/

Dispatch/Argus: https://qconline.com/forms/contact/letter_to_the_editor/

Tips for Effective Letters to the Editor:

Keep it short (200 words or fewer).
Respond directly to something that's been published in the paper.
Include points about your personal experience.
You are most likely to get published in publications where you live.
If possible, mention the name of your specific legislator.

Themes specific to health care issues:

Everyone needs access to affordable prescriptions when they are sick.
President Biden and the new Congress must make lowering drug prices a top priority as part of their "building back better" efforts.
Without measures to make medicines more affordable, millions here and abroad won’t have access to affordable COVID vaccines and medicines.
To make prescriptions affordable, lawmakers must step in to end the drug corporations’ monopoly control to set prices high and charge us more.
Pandemic Treatment Access & Affordability Act (HR 597)
Lower Drug Costs Now Act (HR 3) - Passed House in November of 2019.

If you'd like more specific letter templates, contact office manager Julie Ross.

Contact Iowa State Legislators Regarding Progressive Values - What You Can Do Now

2/23/2021

Contact your Iowa State Legislators
Iowa State House

Voting Rights and Civil Rights

Legislation has been introduced in the Iowa Legislature that affects progressive values.

House File 590 impacts the ability of Iowans to vote:
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/publications/search/document?fq=id:1213531&q=HF+590

House File 222 proposes that information found in the “1619 Project” regarding the history of slavery in America be banished from public school's curriculum:
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/publications/search/document?fq=id:1210570&q=HF+222

Contact your Iowa State Legislators to express your views on both of these bills by visiting the links above. Legislators have indicated that contact by email is the most effective way to reach them.

Allison Ambrose

What You Can Do Now - Enrollment in the ACA Opened

2/16/2021

New Opportunity For ACA Health Insurance!

The Biden Administration is offering a new enrollment opportunity for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act (the ACA or Obamacare) from February 15th through May 15th.

An estimated 9 million Americans may be eligible for low- or no-cost insurance from the ACA. Log on to Healthcare.gov or call 1-800-318-2596 to explore your options.

If you have lost your health insurance during the pandemic, or for any other reason are uninsured, you may qualify for coverage. If you know someone who may be uninsured, encourage them to check out their options on the ACA.

Please help share this good news by reprinting the flier and posting it at your church, on community bulletin boards, or wherever it may be seen.

Thank you!

The PACG Health Care Reform Forum

Julie Ross

Environmental Forum Monthly Focus - What You Can Do Now

2/2/2021

Environmental Monthly Celebrations

This year the Environmental Forum is focusing on a conservation topic each month, selecting from varied national or international themes. We will be providing a description of the theme each month, with specific action steps to work on this issue at home or in our community. For example, January’s theme was National Bird Day, and February’s will be National Wetlands Day. You will learn a great deal in 2021 about these various topics! If any members are aware of local organizations or speakers who could share additional information about these celebration topics, please forward those names to our Forum.

Lori McCollum

Contact Scott County Regarding Solar Power - What You Can Do Now

2/2/2021

Solar Receives Cold Shoulder from Scott County Planning and Zoning Commission

Environmental Forum

The Scott County’s Planning and Zoning Commission had a somewhat negative response to the initial discussion of solar farms at their recent meeting. However, they did indicate a willingness to gather more input. While there may be some legitimate concerns about solar farms, I think there are also some misconceptions.

Solar is a cheaper energy source than fossil fuels and releases no atmospheric emissions. It can offer continuous energy when combined with wind and hydro-electric, and there are developments in storage battery systems. Many farms combine solar arrays with native prairie that supports endangered pollinator species, and rebuilds soil naturally. When built on less-productive land, or land prone to drought, it can also provide farmers with a more reliable source of income.

Solar requires a high up-front investment, but there are tax incentives, and minimal maintenance for panels that are guaranteed for 20-25 years. Renewable energy is also the fastest growing job sector, nationwide—plus these are good-paying jobs. Building solar installations can be good for the local economy.

Scott County residents can strongly encourage their commissioners to gather more input and look at how this could benefit local farmers and the community. You can also attend meetings virtually. Call 563-326-8632 by noon of the meeting date to verify meeting time and location.

https://www.scottcountyiowa.gov/planning/planning-zoning-commission/meetings

Lori McCollum

What You Can Do Now - National Bird Day

1/5/2021

National Bird Day
Tuesday, January 5th

Environmental Forum

The Environmental Forum is highlighting one or more conservation holidays each month in 2021. January 5th is National Bird Day, so we will focus on our aviary friends this month. Nearly 3 billion adult breeding birds have been lost since 1970 due to habitat loss and degradation, pesticides, pollution, and climate change. We also lose birds to neighborhood and feral cats, power lines and windows. To date we have lost about one third of forest birds and on half of grassland birds. Thirteen percent of bird species are threatened with extinction.

How can you help protect birds?

Make your windows safer by installing screens and reducing reflections.
Keep your cats indoors.
Reduce turf grasses and plant native plants to increase food sources and shelter.
Avoid pesticides.
Encourage your cities to plant more trees, especially in lower income areas that may have less green space.
Join organizations such as the National Audubon Society, the Nature Conservancy and the American Birding Association (ABA), Nahant Marsh, offers in-person and virtual programs on birds.
Visit bird sanctuaries and wildlife refuges and learn more at 3billionbirds.org, #BringBirdsBack, audubon.org, natureconservancy.org, aba.org.
Did you know that birds eat 4/5 of their weight each day? Feed the birds! The flyer below shows a simple recipe that you can use to make a bird feeder at home!

Take Action to Save the ANWR! - What You Can Do Now

12/9/2020

Take Action by December 13th to Save the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)

Environmental Forum

The Trump administration has entered the last phase of their rush to lease oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). This particular area is one of the last pristine wilderness areas in the world, and is sacred to the Gwich'in people.

Under normal circumstances the public would have 30 days to make comments about this proposal, and comments via email or US mail would be permitted. But because the administration is trying to push this through before the Biden administration takes over, they are placing as many roadblocks as possible in the way. Comments from the public must be my mail. The Sierra Club believes that the deadline for our feedback could be cut to seven days! With the usual slowdown of USPS due to holiday mail there is grave concern that our voices could be silenced and this pristine wilderness will be lost forever. The Sierra Club has asked that all comments be postmarked no later than Thursday, December 10th. That doesn't give our members much time, so we are encouraging you to write a note by then if you can, but not later than December 13th. The sooner the better!

Your message can be very simple: "Drilling in the ANWR is fundamentally incompatible with any climate justice agenda. The health of the landscape is vital to the subsistence way of life of Alaska Native communities. Do not allow drilling in this pristine area!"

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will only accept comments from the public that are physically mailed to their Alaska office at:

State Director, BLM - Alaska State Office
222 W. 7th Avenue
Mailstop 13
Anchorage, AK 99513-7504

Please take a few minutes to write a letter or postcard in protest. Let's inundate them with public comments! The DEADLINE is DECEMBER 13TH! Put your note in the mail TODAY!

Lori McCollum

"The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America" Webinar

12/5/2020

What is the white power movement and why should you care?
Free webinar offers insight
Wednesday, December 16th via Zoom

Register on Eventbrite: www.eventbrite.com/e/130318194227 and please share this!

Did you know there is a common thread between the mass shooting at the Walmart in El Paso, Texas, the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the distribution of hate literature here in the Quad-Cities by a chapter of the National Alliance? All the individuals involved share an ideology that is tied to the white power movement.
Learn what the white power movement is and the threat it poses.

What: FREE Zoom webinar, “The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America”

When: 7-8:30 p.m. (Central Time) on Wednesday, December 16th

Presenter: Dr. Kathleen Belew, assistant professor of U.S. history at the University of Chicago and the author of “Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America”

Offered by: One Human Family of the Quad-Cities Area, along with the Davenport-Bettendorf American Association of University Women, the Metrocom NAACP of Davenport, Metropolitan Community Church of the Quad Cities, One Human Family Macomb, Progressive Action for the Common Good, Quad Cities Interfaith, Temple Beth El of Dubuque and Temple Emanuel of Davenport. It also is made possible in part by grants from the Doris & Victor Day Foundation, the Joyce and Tony Singh Family Foundation, the Goldstein Family, and the Puffin Foundation.

Allison Ambrose

Register on Eventbrite: www.eventbrite.com/e/130318194227 and please share this! A pdf of this flyer is downloadable below.

whitepowermovementwebinar.pdf
File Size:	2323 kb
File Type:	pdf

Inaguration Celebration Help Needed! - What You Can Do Now

11/26/2020

2021 Presidential Inaguration Celebration Planning - Volunteers Needed!

A Message from the President

Hello Progressives!

Interested in ways to get involved? I am looking for a few volunteers to help plan a fun and interactive virtual Inaugural Celebration! Young people, we could really use your perspectives!

This commitment will involve a few idea-sharing meetings and tasks to complete independently, and then meetings to work on the implementation plan. We always have a lot of fun planning events so please JOIN US!

If you are interested or have questions please email me at ambroseallisons@sau.edu.

Allison Ambrose