THE HIDDEN RISKS OF HB5511 (The “Safety Paradox”) Lawmakers are presenting HB5511 as a way to protect children from the harmful parts of the internet. But by moving age verification into your phone’s software and app stores, this bill creates a dangerous paradox: The “safety” system itself may put your family at risk. 1. Why this is a major change for your family Right now, you access the internet directly. Under HB5511, your phone or computer becomes a digital checkpoint. Companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft become the gatekeepers. Access to apps and some websites would increasingly depend on your device confirming your age. If the system fails, or if a website can’t support it, access may be restricted or blocked. 2. Your identity becomes a target This system depends on tying age verification to your device or account. That could involve sharing sensitive information such as government ID, financial data, or other personal details. That creates new risks: ● Identity Theft Concentrating sensitive data across large platforms increases the potential impact of breaches and leaks. ● Sophisticated Scams As identity checks become more common, it becomes easier for criminals to imitate them and trick people into handing over personal information. 3. How this could put children at risk This system is meant to protect children, but it may also expose them to new risks. ● More data about children Children may need accounts tied to their age, creating larger digital footprints earlier in life. ● Connected systems When devices, accounts, and users are linked, it creates the potential to connect activity across home devices, school-issued laptops, and shared computers. ● Not fully effective At the same time, experience shows that age checks are often bypassed—meaning more data is collected without fully solving the problem. 4. The shift away from an open internet The internet today is open by default. Under this model, access increasingly depends on verification through corporate-controlled systems. That is a fundamental shift. From open access → to permission-based access. And once built into devices and law, it becomes very difficult to reverse. ⚠️ URGENCY: WHY THIS MATTERS NOW Current Status: HB5511 has passed the Illinois House and is now moving to the Illinois Senate for consideration. This is the moment when changes can still be made. Once systems like this are written into law and built into technology, they are extremely difficult to undo. If the device-level requirements are not addressed now, they may become permanent.

While sales continue, Caltrans is still able to proceed with suspicious pricing, aggressive contract negotiations, and a myriad of building code and health and safety code violations. Without intervention, these serious problems will be inherited by disadvantaged home buyers, and the costs and risks ultimately transferred to the cities and districts in which these homes are located.  Caltrans tenants feel that they are under duress. There is widespread confusion about the manner in which the law and the regulations are being applied by Caltrans and their real estate contractor, Veterans Realty Group. There is a lack of uniform, accurate information, and an immediate need for advocacy and legal aid. 

Many CSRS retirees leave Virginia because other states do not discriminate against CSRS employees. Why does Virginia discriminate against us?  Please consider changing this tax code, allowing CSRS retirees to enjoy the same benefits that every other retiree in Virginia is afforded.

It protects children from harm and unnecessary separation Children need safety—but they also need love, stability, and connection to their family. When kids are removed without clear danger or placed with strangers instead of relatives, it can cause emotional trauma. This act makes sure removal only happens when truly necessary. 👨‍👩‍👧 It keeps families together when it’s safe By requiring kinship placement first, the act helps children stay with grandparents, aunts, uncles, or close family friends instead of entering foster care with strangers. That means less trauma and stronger emotional support. ⚖️ It gives parents basic fairness and rights Many parents feel shut out of the process. This act ensures they: • Know what they’re being accused of • Can see the evidence • Can attend hearings and defend themselves That’s not extra—it’s basic due process. 🎥 It brings transparency to the system With recordings and documentation, there is: • Less room for false claims or misunderstandings • More accountability for caseworkers • Clear evidence for courts When systems are transparent, they are more fair. 🏠 It makes foster care safer Not every foster placement is equal. This act strengthens: • Background checks • Drug screening • Mental health evaluations • Ongoing monitoring So children are placed in safe, stable homes. 🩺 It prevents unqualified decisions about children Decisions about a child’s mental or physical health can shape their entire future. This act ensures only licensed professionals can make those calls—protecting children from harmful or incorrect evaluations. 🔍 It holds the system accountable Without oversight, mistakes can go unchecked. This act creates independent review, so: • Complaints are investigated • Wrong decisions can be corrected • Families have a voice ❤️ It restores trust Right now, many families don’t trust the system meant to help them. This act sends a message: “The system should protect children and respect families—not work against them.”

Background The growth of artificial intelligence (AI) is driving rapid expansion of in data infrastructures, including hyperscale data centers and data center campuses, fossil fuel power plants, and transmission lines. Data centers consume vast amounts of water and power and are expected to cost Georgia residents $2.5 billion in tax breaks in 2027 alone. The Public Service Commission (PSC) recently approved Georgia Power's request for 10GW of additional natural gas power generation, despite data centers only having made 3GW worth of power commitments. In fact, Georgia Power's demand estimates only have a 1 in 500 chance of realizing, almost guaranteeing that Georgia residents will bear the cost of power expansions via rate increases down the road. Adding insult to injury, long-term job creation is limited at best and one of the major AI companies driving data center expansion says a white-collar Great Recession is not off the table. Recent research suggests that data centers create miles-wide heat islands and emit dangerous levels of infrasound, sound waves that fall below the range of human hearing but have a broad range of health impacts. Research on potential health and environmental effects is often overlooked, begging the question: What other harms of data center development will we discover after it's too late?

People living with severe mental illness (SMI) and the families who love them are already heavily impacted by criminalization, as well as overrepresented in jails and prisons. SB1055 Arizona is a proposed legislation that exposes the intersection of disability in/justice, criminalization, failed mental health systems and racial profiling. SB1055 would isolate, humiliate, and control people into walking around with multiple forms of ID to either prove "we are not them" or to limit people's movements, erode their peace of mind, and terrorize all SMI families wherever they go (school, work, etc.) Justice-minded SMI caregivers in Arizona know that legislation like SB1055 is not only bad for Arizona, it's also bad for the rest of the country. Please sign our petition to stand in solidarity with SMI caregivers in Arizona!

The district Camp Chloe resides in, is currently overseen by councilman Mark Squilla, who has maintained councilmanic prerogative to the detriment of the residents. Meaning, he will continually back property owners, shareholders and developers needs over the needs of a vulnerable community of his constituents.  When asked to stop the most recent sweep, Mark Squilla told organizers that 'he doesn't have councilmanic prerogative over this land' which is absolutely not true. He has not been available for further comment, though the sweep was deterred by on the ground efforts of supporters and organizers.    Cherelle Parker has not made any comment about Camp Chloe, but we have heard from her office, that the needs and demands of the residents have been 'noted'.  As of 3/23, Cherelle Parker and Mark Squilla held a press conference announcing a new shelter opening up in the city, calling it a 'solution, not a shelter'.  But a solution for whom?  Funding for housing has been cut across the country. Abandoned houses rot throughout Philadelphia, seldom being repurposed into affordable housing. Rent is skyrocketing. Federal funding for social security, food stamps, and general assistance is being cut.  When this happens, the homeless population grows. Is the Mayor suggesting, with Mark Squilla standing directly behind her, that the 'solution' to losing your house, is to be indefinitely admitted into a shelter?  Is the suggestion that shelters offer more stability? Instead of curbing autonomy as we know them to do?  It is odd to offer shelters as a 'solution', to 'solve homelessness', in a city where the amount of vacant houses more than TRIPLES the amount of residents it has experiencing homelessness.  Without investing in more permanent, supportive housing, WHEN are you supposed to leave the shelter? WHERE are you supposed to go once you're out if there's no voucher and you can't afford rent? Philadelphia has more expensive transportation, groceries, and utilities than the national average. HOW are shelter systems helping offset these expenses for individuals who hope to graduate from them? HOW can one meaningfully save for an affordable future when the funding is only being spent on interim shelters?  Now you're starting to see what the residents of Camp Chloe have seen for a long time.  We demand a stop to the forced removal of the residents of Camp Chloe.  We demand negotiations instead of coercion into shelters. 

Stephen Miller wants Congress to quietly extend the government’s warrantless spying powers, calling the law that the FBI and NSA abuse to surveil Americans “critical.” At the same time, Trump and Pete Hegseth are demanding that tech companies give the government unrestricted use of their powerful AI programs for warmaking AND domestic surveillance of Americans. Federal law enforcement routinely abuses Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to search through the electronic communications of Americans without a warrant. A recent report shows that these searches rose by a whopping 35% at Kash Patel’s FBI. It would get even worse with the help of AI. Congress must halt this potential explosion of domestic spying under Trump! Sign the petition: Block the Trump administration from AI-supercharging warrantless government surveillance of Americans! Demand Progress led more than 90 organizations in a letter to Congressional leaders urging them to reject Stephen Miller’s push for a simple reauthorization of Section 702 before it expires on April 20. It’s critical for Congress to use its leverage to close glaring surveillance loopholes. Law enforcement and intelligence agencies spy on Americans by abusing the data broker loophole, bypassing privacy rights by purchasing our sensitive information from data brokers. The backdoor search loophole allows law enforcement agencies to circumvent court orders and search through billions of communications for information about people in the United States. AI tools will give Trump, Miller, Patel, and Hegseth unprecedented capabilities to use these loopholes to violate the privacy of Americans. Congress must stop this supercharged authoritarian surveillance regime. Sign the petition: No warrantless AI surveillance in America! Block reauthorization of FISA unless it includes protections for our privacy.

Dolores Huerta is a towering figure in American labor and civil rights history and has been a relentless champion for the rights of farm workers. She played a pivotal role in labor protests throughout the 60s and 70s, including the Delano Grape Strike, a protest of more than 2 million Mexican and Filipino farm workers who fought against exploitation. She co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) an organization that eventually became what is known today as United Farm Workers (UFW). She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award, the Hispanic Heritage Award, the Puffin/Nation Prize for Creative Citizenship, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She also coined the iconic motto, "Sí se puede," a phrase now synonymous with workers' rights, civil rights, and immigration reform, that across the world is recognized as a call to action and a reminder that the impossible is possible. As March 31st is currently a federally recognized holiday known as Cesar Chavez Day, recent investigations allege that Cesar Chavez engaged in sexual abuse of minors Ana Murguía and Debra Rojas, in addition to Dolores Huerta herself. While Cesar Chavez has been widely recognized as the face of the farm workers' movement, Dolores Huerta's essential role as a co-founder, lead negotiator, and strategist to the movement has frequently been overshadowed in historical narratives. We should address the harm done, honor the survivors, and recognize the leader who Dolores Huerta continues to be today by honoring her monumental efforts which have bent the arc of history towards justice. This petition calls for the following legislation: • The creation of a federal holiday called Dolores Huerta Day on the civil rights leader's birthday, April 10th • To rescind the federally recognized holiday Cesar Chavez Day on March 31st • For all federal buildings and national sites named after Cesar Chavez to be renamed after either Dolores Huerta or to otherwise recognize other leaders of the farmworkers' movement, such as labor leader and NFWA co-founder, Gilbert Padilla. Such sites include but are not limited to: • Cesar E. Chavez National Monument (Keene, CA) • Cesar E. Chavez Memorial Building (Denver, CO) • National Chavez Center (Keene, CA) Tell Congress to do the right thing and recognize the lifetime achievements of a Chicana who dedicated her entire life to the advancement of farm workers and civil rights across this country. ¡Sí se puede!

Because it’s about **equal protection + safety with standards**: - **Equal rights:** lawful self‑defense shouldn’t depend on race, zip code, or who gets “approved.”   - **Deterrence:** trained, lawful carry can discourage opportunistic violence against vulnerable communities.   - **Training reduces accidents:** a basic safety standard lowers negligent discharges and misuse.   - **Clear rules = less abuse:** standardized requirements reduce arbitrary enforcement and discrimination.   - **Shared safety burden:** when communities are trained and lawful, it can reduce reliance on emergency response alone.

It’s important because it shifts public safety from **reaction** to **prevention**, and it creates measurable outcomes instead of slogans. - **Lives:** early intervention + de‑escalation reduces shootings, retaliation, and victimization.   - **Jobs:** it funds paid roles, training, and pathways so people aren’t forced into survival economies.   - **Trust:** communities cooperate more when they see accountable, local solutions—not just after-the-fact punishment.   - **Cost:** prevention is cheaper than incarceration, ER trauma care, and long-term instability.   - **National impact:** safer communities strengthen the whole country—economically, socially, and politically.

This legislation in Kansas is just another example of how states, empowered by Trump’s federal rollbacks, are introducing policies that compromise our civil rights. And the people most impacted by these hostile environments are vulnerable communities like immigrants and LGBTQ+ folks. People are already challenging this unconstitutional legislation, with one attorney calling it a “state-sanctioned attack on transgender people aimed at silencing, dehumanizing, and alienating Kansans whose gender identity does not conform to the state legislature’s preferences.” The courts must strike down this legislation as unconstitutional—and set a precedent that no one be discriminated against for their gender identity.