Please veto HB77 which is clearly written to be pro-landlord and anti-tenant. Protect Florida residents from unscrupulous Landlords and launch a review and investigation on current Statutes that already leave Florida tenants vulnerable. HB77 makes the assumption that the Landlord is always right, and tenants have no worth. Tenants who cannot afford counsel are especially at risk. To provide Landlords with even more protection without an honest, in depth look at what is happening to many Florida tenants would be irresponsible lawmaking. Florida Landlords already have limited responsibility and there are few if any real regulatory agencies to force Landlords to maintain their properties or provide proper accounting to their tenants who pay the mortgages on their income producing properties. There is no aid for tenants who fall victim to these bad Landlords. If a tenant complains to a Landlord for lack of maintenance for instance, a Landlord can at any time, file retaliatory and fraudulent lawsuits against tenants and virtually force tenants and families into homelessness. Statistics would probably show that single women, the elderly and women with children and minorities would be particularly vulnerable.

Santa Fe, NM workers have no rights period. No Breaks. No Parking. No lunch, at the employers discretion. No Nothing! I was mortified when I received my employee handbook...and guess what, She's getting away with it:(

REPRESENT THE MIDDLE CLASS PROGRESSIVE PLATFORMS.

TransPacific Partnership (TPP) is a super--sized NAFTA, TPP is a Free-trade agreement whereby countries give foreign corporations rights and privileges to encourage investment and global business. The corporate powers granted in the TPP can override domestic laws on environmental health and safety, and labor and citizens' rights. Not only that, but multinationals can claim that those domestic laws hamper free trade and sue member countries for millions of dollars. The current TPP talks include 12 Pacific Rim countries: Canada, the United States, Mexico, Peru, Chili, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, and Japan. Other countries would be allowed to join the TPP at any time. The TPP negotiations are being held in secret between unelected government officials and representatives from more than 600 of the world's most powerful corporations. The implications for labor and human rights are HUGH. The talks are scheduled to finish by October of this year. Meanwhile, negotiators are lobbying Congress to grant "Fast Track" authority for the TPP. That would mean Congress couldn't revise the agreements and could only vote "yes" or "no" to the United States joining the TPP. This is shaping up as a further takeover of public policy that would impact safe food, sustainable jobs, clean water and air, access to life-saving medicines, education, even our very democracy. In March, Citizens Trade campaign organized a letter to Congress signed by 400 U.S. organizations outlining expectations for public involvement and calling for an end to Fast track. It was signed by, among others, the Sierra Club, Doctors Without Borders, Public Citizen, the National Family Farm Coalition, and state trade justice groups such as the Washington Fair Trade Coalition. American citizens would probably oppose the TPP if they knew more about it. Move-On could join the efforts to let people know about the TPP. Visit TPPxBorder.org to find out how the TPP will impact you -- and then join the effort.

This is an issue of corporations bankrolling government officials to keep workers wages lower than local boards want and take away basic workers rights like paid sick days. If local governments are stripped of control to help workers get basic rights, it means corporations can simply bankroll politicians at the state level and strip workers of basic protections and the right to earn a livable wage, having to surive on government programs to make up the difference

Our government is coming unglued. Congress is wasting time and money without accomplishing anything. Money is the new master, with all the laws written to overpower the people.

Corporations have vast resources way beyond those of individual human citizens. This puts U.S. human citizens totally out of the sphere of influence over our own government. This imbalance is unacceptable because it kills DEMOCRACY!

The Monsanto GMO tainting of the Oregon wheat crop due to field testing a decade ago requires the following actions by the State of Oregon: 1. Call an immediate moratorium on field testing of any GMO crop in Oregon; 2. Reaffirm the 110-year-old mission of the Oregon State Land Grant University to conduct practical agricultural research and offer it free to farmers; and 3. Seek legal remedy from Monsanto for economic damages to the Oregon economy due to its proprietary GMO seed.

The Children’s Place produced apparel at Rana Plaza in Bangladesh before the factory collapsed in a horrific industrial homicide, killing over 1,100 garment workers and leaving children bereft of a parent, grandparent, brother, or sister. And yet, the company still refuses to compensate the families of the victims and to sign the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, a binding agreement that would prevent tragedies like this and save countless lives. The Children’s Place has blood on its hands, and the Accord is the only credible way for the company to begin to make it right. It’s no surprise that brands like Gap and Walmart are still refusing to fix their deathtrap factories by signing the Accord — after all, they’re the ringleaders of the failed approach to worker safety that led to over 1,100 deaths at Rana Plaza, and they’re deeply committed to keeping their public images clean through massive expenditures on public relations and lobbying instead of investment in meaningful factory safety. The Children’s Place, on the other hand, has no excuse. This little-known brand, a New Jersey-based retailer of children’s apparel, has mostly flown under the radar since it was discovered that in the eight months leading up to the Rana Plaza industrial homicide, a factory in the building produced over 120,000 pounds of clothing for The Children’s Place. It’s long overdue for The Children’s Place to start to make amends to the thousands of children who were orphaned by the Rana Plaza collapse. We’ve tried repeatedly to communicate with the company to give them a chance to do the right thing, but they’ve ignored us. Apparently they’d rather put their heads in the sand and hope we don’t notice that they have the blood of hundreds of garment workers on their hands. But we will never forget, and we will never go away until they do the right thing.

If the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners approves the future land-use amendment for Briarwood, many people will become homeless and many species will be destroyed, including bald eagles.

The California State Senate has passed the DISCLOSE Act. Now it is time for the State Assembly to act. The Assembly Elections Committee will take this up as early as June 18. DISCLOSE stands for "Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections". The California DISCLOSE Act would bring transparency to California elections by requiring clear identification of the top three funders of tv, radio, print and online political ads, as well as billboards and websites. Monsanto, DuPont, Dow and other corporations spent $47 million to defeat GMO labeling in California last year. Chevron, Occidental Oil and Aera Energy spent $94 million to defeat a tax to pay for alternative energy under the name of "Californians Against Higher Taxes". Voters need to know who is really behind campaigns ads.

I can’t survive on the wages I make. So today, I and dozens of others who work in Seattle's fast food restaurants walked off our jobs. Most of us make close to minimum wage, and while the top tier of Seattle's economy is booming, we're getting left behind – unable to support our families, unable to build a better future, and unable to even make ends meet. It’s downright shameful that someone who works full time is forced to rely on public assistance because their employers aren't paying them enough. Paying us a livable wage will not only help us to support our families, but it will also help strengthen the entire economy. We'd be able to buy the everyday items we need, keeping the money in our community and making our neighborhoods safer. I've had it with food and coffee chains who are not paying workers in Seattle enough to survive. I hope that you are also outraged that full-time workers can’t afford rent, food, transportation, or health care. When I go back to work tomorrow, I want to know that Seattle has my back in my fight to be able to work hard and pay my rent. Please sign your name in solidarity.