Action Alerts – Week of Feb 26 – CNY Solidarity Coalition

CNY Solidarity members and supporters:

Please find below the weekly ACTION ALERTS from Indivisible NY24 and our legislative action teams.

Today (Feb 26)

One phone call today, plus a school budget hearing this afternoon and an I-81 meeting tonight

Support renewable energy

Last year, many of us took action in support of the Climate and Community Protection Act (CCPA)–a landmark bill that would commit New York State to reaching 100% renewable energy by the year 2050, while ensuring that transition creates good, family-supporting jobs, and protecting those communities most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and environmental pollution. In 2017, State Senator Valesky cosponsored this critical bill, but together with his colleagues in the Independent Democratic Conference (IDC), he failed to push for it to come to the floor for a vote. With drought and hurricanes wreaking havoc everywhere from Puerto Rico to Cape Town to the L Train in Brooklyn, climate change is too critical an issue for this kind of delay. If you live in Senator Valesky’s district, please call him today at 315-478-8745 and urge him to tell IDC leader Jeff Klein to include the CCPA in the IDC’s 2018 budget proposal and ensure that it comes to the floor for a vote.

School budget hearing

The Syracuse Board of Education will conduct two public hearings this week regarding the proposed SCSD Budget: Monday February 26th at 4:30 PM and Thursday March 1 at 4:30 PM. All meetings are open to the public and located at the Board Room of District Central Offices 725 Harrison Street.

Uplift Syracuse I-81 Community Grid Coalition Meeting

5:30-7pm, 500 W. Genesee St. Doors open at 5:30; event starts at 6pm. More details here.

Tuesday (Feb 27)

One phone call today, and a school funding meeting tonight

Support early voting in NYS

The good news is that Gov. Cuomo allocated $7M in his proposed budget to pay for NY counties to implement 12 days of early voting. This has never happened before, and many voting rights advocates statewide worked tirelessly to make it happen. The bad news is that rumors are coming out of Albany that this and other voting reforms will get CUT from the final budget in April. That would be devastating. To make sure that money stays in the budget, we’re joining with voting rights advocates statewide in calling our state senators today to demand that these funds be retained. When you call, say something along these lines if possible: “Early voting will help me because [I have young kids; I am the primary caregiver for a disabled family member; I’m a nurse and I work long hours; I have a long commute; etc.]. This issue is very important to me and I am following it closely.”

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.

Uplift Syracuse SCSD Funding and Advocacy Meeting

5:30-7pm, 500 W. Genesee St. Join our friends at Uplift to discuss fair and equitable funding for Syracuse City schools. Doors open at 5:30; event starts at 6:00. More details here.

Wednesday (Feb 28)

Support the boycott of the NRA

If you’re a regular Amazon user (and esp. if you have an Amazon Prime account), please call Amazon customer service today at 1-888-280-4331 and tell them that if they don’t drop NRAtv from their streaming services, you’ll be taking your business elsewhere. Many corporations have cut ties with the NRA over the past week, but Amazon has not. (Nor have Apple, Google, and FedEx.) More details here, and you can sign a petition on this front here. If you have a Twitter account, you can also contact Amazon by clicking here.

Thursday (Mar 1)

A school budget hearing this afternoon and two meetings tonight, plus a postcard writing action on gun control

School budget hearing

Support local gun control organizing

Our friends at Moms Demand Action are having a meeting at 6:30pm at Nottingham High School. Details here. They are also sending postcards to NY lawmakers in support of a Red Flag Law in New York which would allow family members and law enforcement officers to request temporary protection orders when warning signs indicate that a particular individual should not have access to guns. If you’d like a postcard sent on your behalf, click here.

Meet with your state Representative

At 6:30pm at the Cecile Center, State Assemblymember Bill Magnarelli is holding a Community Information Night. If you live in his district, please consider attending. As far as we can tell, he intentionally provides very little public notice of these events, so it would be great if a few of us could make it out to express support for the I-81 Community Grid, among other issues.

Friday (Mar 2)

No actions today (until further notice!). Enjoy the time with family and friends.

Saturday (Mar 3)

Central New York Says No to Katko

This morning at 11am, and every Saturday until November, we’re partnering with Indivisible Syracuse, Knit the 24^th, and others to say NO to Katko. We’ll be on the sidewalk outside Wegmans Dewitt, near the traffic light, across from Talbots. More details here.

Sunday (Mar 4)

Flip NY24 training

From 3-5pm, location TBD, our friends at FlipNY24 are holding a training focused on their precinct-level canvassing strategy. More details here.

I-81 & the Common Good: Dismantling Racism in the I-81 Replacement Process

Panel discussion from 4-6pm at May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society, 3800 E. Genesee St. For more info: 315-396-7070.

Save the date for these upcoming events:

Thur., Mar. 8, 6:30pm: Assemblymember Magnarelli is holding a Community Information Night at Henninger High School.

Sat., Mar. 10, 11am: Central New York Says No to Katko, sidewalk outside Wegmans Dewitt.

Sun., Mar. 11, 3-5 pm: CNY Solidarity Coalition meeting, Bishop Harrison.

Sat., Mar. 17, 11am: We’ll hold an abbreviated Say No to Katko demo, on the sidewalk outside Wegmans Dewitt, before heading downtown for the St. Patrick’s Day parade.

Sat., Mar. 17, 12 noon: Mark your calendars for the St. Patrick’s Day parade, as some of us will be marching. More details soon.

Sat., Mar. 24, 11am: We’ll hold an abbreviated Say No to Katko demo, on the sidewalk outside Wegmans Dewitt, before heading downtown for the March for Our Lives.

Sat., Mar 24, 12 noon: March for Our Lives in Clinton Square. Planned in solidarity with students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, who have called a nationwide march for gun control today. More details on the local action here.

Sun., Mar. 25, 3-5 pm: CNY Solidarity Coalition meeting, Boys & Girls Clubs of Syracuse, 212 Van Buren St. Note corrected address.

Sun., Apr. 8, 3-5 pm: CNY Solidarity Coalition meeting, location TBD.

Sat., Apr. 14, 10am: Our friends at Flip NY24 are hosting a fundraiser featuring speaker John Pavlovitz. Tickets available here.

Fri., Apr. 20: Some national gun control advocates have called for a nationwide high school student walkout today. If anyone is aware of local organizing on this front, please let us know.

Sun., Apr. 22, 3-5 pm: CNY Solidarity Coalition meeting, location TBD.

Mon., Apr. 23: Plans are in the works for a climate march in Albany, with possible buses from Syracuse.

Mon., May 14: Plans are in the works for Poor People’s Campaign direct actions in Albany.

Jun. 1: NYS voter registration deadline for federal primary.

Jun. 19: Deadline to request absentee ballot by mail for federal primary.

Jun. 26: Election day (primaries for federal offices).

Aug. 17: NYS voter registration deadline for state primary.

Sept. 4: Deadline to request absentee ballot by mail for state primary.

Sept. 11: Election day (primaries for state offices).

Oct. 12: NYS voter registration deadline for general election.

Oct. 30: Deadline to request absentee ballot by mail for general election.

Nov. 6: Election day (general election for all offices). Click here to add it to your FB calendar.