CNY Solidarity Action Alerts (Week of April 24)

Monday (April 24): 2 actions today—1 phone call and 1 local educational opportunity

Support tax transparency and justice

If you marched for tax transparency and justice on April 15 (or even if you didn’t!), please call Rep. Katko and urge him to sign the discharge petition for HR 305: The Presidential Tax Transparency Act. A discharge petition, if signed by a majority of members of the House, forces the Majority Leader to schedule a bill for a vote. More details on the discharge petition process here; and recommended phone script on the tax transparency act here. Katko’s numbers are 315-423-5657 (Syracuse), 315-253-4068 (Auburn), or 202-225-3701 (DC). As always, identify yourself as a constituent, tell a personal story if you have one, and be polite to congressional staff.

Teach-in on health care and immigration policy

From 7-8:30pm, University United Methodist Church, 1085 E. Genesee St. in Syracuse, will host a Roving University Teach-In on What to Expect in Trump’s America. Led by several professors from SU’s Maxwell School, the teach-in will focus on health care and immigration policy.

Tuesday (April 25): 2 phone-calls today—1 state, 1 federal

Support Reproductive Health Care in NYS

Today, please call your NYS Senator and demand that he/she support the Reproductive Health Act (RHA). If your senator already supports this bill, ask him/her to co-sponsor & push for it to be brought to the floor for a vote. Most of us are represented in the State Senate by David Valesky (315-478-8745), John DeFrancisco (315-428-7632), or James Seward (607-432-5524), but if you’re not sure whose district you’re in, click here and enter your address to find out.

Stand Strong Against the Trump/Pence/Ryan Budget

Now that Congress is back in session, one of the top items on their agenda this week is to pass a stopgap funding bill to avert a government shutdown by Friday. (As of now, federal government agencies are funded only through April 28.) The stopgap funding bill is known as a Continuing Resolution, and we anticipate that congressional Republicans will try to attach a number of unpopular policy riders, such as:

Defunding of ACA cost-sharing subsidies that millions of Americans rely on to keep coverage affordable
Defunding Planned Parenthood and other family planning initiatives
Additional funding for Trump’s mass deportation force, including his border wall, detention facilities, and more ICE agents
Restricting federal funding for cities that take up sanctuary policies
Defunding the EPA and other climate protection programs

So today, please call Rep. Katko and ask him not to risk a shutdown and to oppose any of these policy riders in any funding bill. Katko’s numbers are 315-423-5657 (Syracuse), 315-253-4068 (Auburn), or 202-225-3701 (DC).

Wednesday (April 26): 2 actions—1 letter to the editor and 1 phone call

Continue to support tax transparency and justice

We’re focusing again on this issue today because President Trump is planning to announce a major “tax reform” plan (aka, tax cuts for the rich). If you’ve already called Rep. Katko on this issue this week, please draft and submit a brief letter to the editor today—again, demanding a vote on the Presidential Tax Transparency Act. Click here for our tips on drafting and submitting letters to the editor.

Support Universal Health Care

Our health care action team has been working closely with the Campaign for New York Health to support the NY Health Act. Call the relevant Senate Committee Chairs, asking them to support the New York Health Act (S4840): Health Committee Chair Kemp Hannon: 516-739-1700 and Insurance Committee Chair James Seward: (607) 432-5524. If you live in Sen. Valesky’s district, you can say that your Senator has co-sponsored the bill, and you want to make sure that it comes to the floor for a vote.

Thursday (April 27): 1 phone call and 1 local educational opportunity

Support immigrant rights in New York

Please call your NYS Senator and urge his/her support for the Liberty Act. The Liberty Act would make NYS a sanctuary state. Undocumented Immigrants now have access to legal counsel in NYS, but why not reduce the number of times this is needed by protecting them from being detained in the first place? Most of us are represented in the State Senate by David Valesky (315-478-8745), John DeFrancisco (315-428-7632), or James Seward (607-432-5524), but if you’re not sure whose district you’re in, click here and enter your address to find out.

De-Mystifying the 2017 Constitutional Convention Ballot Proposal

6:30-8:30 pm, Recital Hall of Academic II at Onondaga Community College, Syracuse, NY

The League of Women Voters of NYS presents a panel on the Constitutional Convention referendum which will be on the ballot statewide on Nov. 7. A Constitutional Convention would cost the state at least $50 million & it is important to know about its possible risks & benefits. Learn all you can before you vote on this referendum on the 2017 November ballot.

Friday (April 28)

Workers Memorial Day 2017–Syracuse

To honor and remember more than 40 CNY-area workers killed on the job in 2016, along with many others who were killed, injured, or made sick by their jobs.

12-1pm, Clinton Square in downtown Syracuse. In case of rain: 1199 SEIU office, 250 S. Clinton St.

Sponsored by 1199 SEIU, Greater Syracuse Council on Occupational Safety and Health, Occupational Health Clinical Center, CNY Area Labor Federation, and others.

Saturday (April 29)

People’s Climate March—CNY

In solidarity with today’s marches in Washington, DC and throughout the country. The Syracuse march, hosted by Climate Change Awareness & Action, will start in Franklin Square at 11am, and follow the creek walk to the inner Harbor, where a rally will be held from 12-2pm. The rally will feature music by Colleen Kattau and the Riverstone Trio, and a wide range of speakers, with signing for the hearing impaired. Food will be available from the Salt City Food Truck and That’s What’s Up! Parking is available at both the Franklin Square site and the Inner Harbor, and the march is handicapped accessible. CNY Solidarity and a number of other organizations will have informational tables, and there will be a variety of electric vehicles on display. We hope you will join us as we march to send a message to Washington that our climate must be saved!

Sunday (April 30)

Back by popular demand, CNY Solidarity training & education meeting

From 3-5pm, CNY Solidarity will meet at the Bishop Harrison Center, 1342 Lancaster Ave. in Syracuse. The meeting will be devoted to a series of training & education workshops. More details later in the week.

Save the date for these upcoming events:

May 1: Strike – Huelga Primero Mayo: To honor International Workers Day and say no to detentions and deportations, we will march from Perseverance Park in downtown Syracuse.

Today and every day, be sure to follow us online and on social media!

Check out our website: www.cnysolidarity.org