The failure of politicians and energy providers caused immeasurable suffering for millions of Texans in this recent winter storm and resultant power outages. Do not allow energy providers to shift their costs to already suffering Texan consumers by raising rates or charging excess fees. Texans deserve reliable service and should not bear the costs incurred by multimillion dollar companies who prioritized profits over preparedness. Use the rainy day funds to offset costs and provide relief to already suffering Texans.

Agriculture Committee Members, I oppose bill A04611. This bill has broad sweeping negative impacts on many animal interest groups including farmers, bird breeders, reptile keepers, mammal breeders, and more. New York Assembly Bill 4611 (A04611) was introduced on February 4. This bill seeks to ban the shipping of all mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. This included shipments within, into and from the state (both import and export). Per the bill, shipping via any “mail carrier” will be banned so that includes the commonly utilized overnight services from major carriers such as FedEx and UPS (for verified shippers). A04611 was assigned to the Assembly Agriculture Committee. Fines can be $1,000 per violation. Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal introduced the bill and she sits on the assigned Agriculture Committee. The Committee members must be made aware of the broad sweeping repercussions of this bill and informed of the many shipping regulations, restrictions, and safeguards already in place. Please allow me to inform you regarding the many regulations already in place to protect animals. Stringent policies are already in place by shipping companies, as well as various federal and state animal welfare laws. First, mail carriers already prohibit the shipment of many animals. The United States Postal Services (USPS) prohibits the shipping of mammals, most birds, turtles, and snakes. The United Parcel Service (UPS) does not allow shipments of mammals, birds, or snakes. Other companies have various restrictions and certifications. For example, FedEx requires that you have a Live Reptile Certification in order to ship live reptiles. If a carrier does allow for the shipment of certain live animals, there are stringent policies and laws in place. These include but are not limited to: Containers must meet construction standards; Proper ventilation; Veterinary health certificates and inspections; Use of heat/cold packs during certain weather conditions; International Air Transport Association (IATA) standards; International Safe Transit Association (ISTA) standards; Labeling requirements; Internal packaging requirements; The federal Lacey Act. Not only are all of these regulations already in place, but shipments are required to be done as timely as possible. When reptiles are shipped, they are delivered to the carrier or picked up late in the day and then delivered early the following day. The travel time is always less than 24 hours, and typically closer to 12 hours. Animals also are not shipped during temperature extremes as various thresholds for animal safety are applicable (too hot/too cold). The shipping of live animals is a serious matter, is not unregulated, and is not taken lightly by either the shippers or the carriers. For those who do ship animals, protections and safeguards for those animals are numerous. I hope you oppose and stop A04611. It is a misguided bill attempting to fix a problem that does not exist due to so many protections already existing. A04611 is bad for New York, the residents, and the animals. Thank you for your time and consideration on this matter. Have a good day. Bill Text February 4, 2021 Introduced by M. of A. L. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Agriculture AN ACT to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to prohibiting the shipment of certain live animals by postal mail The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The agriculture and markets law is amended by adding a new 2 section 382 to read as follows: 3 § 382. Prohibition of the shipping of live animals by postal mail. 1. 4 It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, partnership or corporation to 5 mail or offer for mailing a live animal by postal mail into or within 6 the state of New York or from the state of New York to points outside 7 the state of New York. As used in this section, "live animal" shall 8 mean any mammal, bird, reptile, or amphibian. "Postal mail" shall mean 9 mail that is processed and delivered by the United States postal service 10 or other mail carrier. A person, firm, partnership or corporation shall 11 be considered to have mailed or offered for mailing a live animal in 12 violation of this section when such person, firm, partnership or corpo- 13 ration causes such live animal and applicable postage or shipping fee to 14 be physically placed in the possession of the United States postal 15 service or other mail carrier. 16 2. A violation of this section shall be punishable by a civil penalty 17 not to exceed one thousand dollars. Each such violation shall be deemed 18 a separate violation with respect to each animal mailed or offered for 19 mailing. 20 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately Sincerely,

As someone who has seen the rise of Fox News lead to the decline of this country I feel that it's come time that this is investigated. I watched the Trump speech on Fox News on January 6th and feel that there is some culpability on their part for the events which took place following that speech. Likewise, they added to the division in this country with their coverage of the election and false reports of election fraud. They've also caused issues with biased coverage of the racial tensions of this past summer.

White nationalists and conspiracy theorists already attempted a failed coup on our government because they believe the election was stolen from Trump. After they overwhelmed law enforcement, they went back into our communities to stay at rental properties after some hotels closed ahead of their arrival. Now they are coming back. Vrbo should provide incentives for people to not rent out their properties in the DC metro area from Jan. 16th-Jan. 21st in order to keep our communities safe. Vrbo should follow the lead of Airbnb and provide funding to help those who are struggling and not rely on individual Vrbo hosts to cancel or block out reservations. Many Vrbo hosts rely on renting their space in order to make monthly rent or obtain another source of income as a result of the unemployment or underemployment during the pandemic. Also, many local DC Vrbo guests are don't have stable housing or are unhoused. Let's hold corporations accountable in actively fighting against white supremacy. Words are empty with action!

Back in June, an OAN host suggested that “traitors" who "stole" the election should be executed. OAN spreads dangerous messages like these every single day, powered by the income from AT&T.  And court records show that not only does AT&T provide tens of millions of dollars in revenue for OAN, AT&T allegedly proposed the idea of a right-wing show for its satellite service, DirecTV, the only cable provider that gives OAN a platform to spread its dangerous messages. Even OAN lawyer Patrick Nellies acknowledged that if OAN loses or isn’t renewed by AT&T's DirecTV, the company would “go out of business tomorrow,” which shows just how much power AT&T has to stop OAN. And AT&T isn’t just giving a platform and singlehandedly bankrolling conspiracy theory network OAN, it also donated almost $300,000 to the Texas lawmakers who sponsored or co-sponsored the horrible abortion ban. Unfortunately, that’s not all. AT&T was also among the corporations that committed to stop donating PAC money to Republicans who voted to overturn the results of the 2020 election and fueled the insurrection, but it broke that commitment and has since donated thousands, hoping we wouldn't notice. AT&T is fueling attacks on our democracy by propping up and enabling white supremacy propaganda and conspiracy theory network OAN and by funneling PAC donations to insurrectionists. AT&T must drop OAN from DirecTV now.

A 16-year-old girl working on palm oil plantations in Indonesia told the Associated Press that her boss took her to a remote part of the estate and suddenly grabbed her arm and started pawing her breasts, throwing her to the jungle floor. Then he held the ax to her throat, spit on her, and raped her. “He threatened to kill me,” she said softly. “He threatened to kill my whole family.” This story is just one of many -- women working on palm oil plantations are enduring horrific working conditions: From free labor to exposure to toxic pesticides to rape. And Procter & Gamble, like many other beauty brands, have blood on their hands as they source from producers that operate like modern-day slavery. Rainforest Action Network (RAN) investigations found that labor abuses regularly occur even on plantations that supply mills bearing the green palm stamp for sustainable palm oil. Procter & Gamble is one of the world’s biggest palm oil users, and despite year after year of its palm oil suppliers being exposed for labor abuses, it has failed to ensure palm oil workers are protected. We ask P&G to: 1) Enforce and monitor the worker protection standards for all its palm oil suppliers 2) Apply full transparency and proof that workers rights are being respected instead of relying on inadequate; certification schemes and allowing offenders to hide from public scrutiny If we expose a global giant like Procter & Gamble and make them shift big time, it will send ripple effects through the industry and all the others might follow suit.

Rahm Emanuel‘s decisions and policies as mayor had a disproportionate and racist impact on Black communities, and his agenda aided corporations and the wealthy at the expense of working Chicagoans. To aid his re-election campaign in 2015, he suppressed video footage of the 2014 murder of a 17-year-old Black child, Laquan McDonald, by Chicago police. He made history by closing 50 public schools across Chicago, primarily in the majority-Black South and West Side communities of the city—the most school closures at one time in any school districts in the nation. During his first year in office, his administration shut down half of the public mental health clinics across Chicago. Soon after taking office, he eliminated the city’s Department of Environment, and as a result, environmental regulation dropped considerably. Communities of color throughout Chicago have borne the brunt of this decision, and thousands of people (primarily Black families) have been exposed to chemical hazards and irritants as a result. And while his administration was consistently slashing public services and utilities, the city funded the construction of a brand-new, $95-million police academy on Chicago’s West Side. The Department of Transportation has unions representing over 38,000 employees at the federal and national level. As mayor of Chicago, in addition to closing 50 schools, Emanuel repeatedly attacked public unions by supporting legislation that would make it harder for teachers to strike, laid off hundreds of school staff, and threatened to lay off hundreds of city employees in order to privatize some city services. Emanuel served big business and corporate interests throughout his time as mayor, and his decisions disproportionately harmed working families and communities of color. We have no reason to believe that he’d act any differently as a member of President-elect Biden’s Cabinet. President-elect Biden is taking office during a time of deep, overlapping crises. His administration will need to be bold, ambitious, and transformative and will need to speak to the needs of everyday people, and he needs to stand up for Black communities, as he said he would last month. His appointees must reflect that vision. Rahm Emanuel's track record is an affront to everything we voted for—especially to Black Americans—and he should have no place in the new administration.

Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has been named Ambassador to Japan, but he hasn't yet been confirmed for the position. Emanuel had an absolutely disastrous record as mayor between 2011 and 2019. His decisions and policies had a disproportionate and racist impact on Black communities, and his agenda aided corporations and the wealthy at the expense of working Chicagoans. To aid his re-election campaign in 2015, he suppressed video footage of the 2014 murder of a 17-year-old Black child, Laquan McDonald, by Chicago police. He made history by closing 50 public schools across Chicago, primarily in the majority-Black South Side and West Side communities of the city—the most school closures at one time in any school districts in the nation. During his first year in office, his administration shut down half of the public mental health clinics across Chicago. Soon after taking office, he eliminated the city’s Department of Environment, and as a result, environmental regulation dropped considerably. Communities of color throughout Chicago have borne the brunt of this decision, and thousands of people (primarily Black and Latinx families) have been exposed to chemical hazards and irritants as a result. And while his administration was consistently slashing public services and utilities, the city funded the construction of a brand-new, $95-million police academy on Chicago’s West Side. As mayor of Chicago, in addition to closing 50 schools, Emanuel repeatedly attacked public unions by supporting legislation that would make it harder for teachers to strike, laid off hundreds of school staff, and threatened to lay off hundreds of city employees in order to privatize some city services. Emanuel served big business and corporate interests throughout his time as mayor, and his decisions disproportionately harmed working families and communities of color. There's no reason why he should be rewarded with a public office, especially one in which he is representing the United States on a global stage. We are asking that President Biden withdraws Emanuel's nomination—and we're also calling on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to vote to oppose it.

This is very important because our loved ones are possibly going to get sick and not make it home to their families, wife’s and children by the prison spreading the virus and treating them as if they are not human.

The Climate Justice Committee calls on Biden to turn back Trump's Executive Orders that exacerbate climate change and environmental damage to the world. We call on Biden to sign Executive Orders overturning the damage done by Trump. These are by no means the only Executive Orders that need to go, but this would be a good start for Biden to show the climate justice movement that he takes climate change seriously. To do so requires nothing more than the signing of his pen, which is all it took for Trump to enact them in the first place. We know that is a drop in the bucket for what needs to be done to fight climate change and environmental destruction, so we hope you join the Climate Justice Committee in demanding these Executive Orders are rolled back, and also for real and meaningful action to save our planet. If you would like to co-sponsor this, please do so here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1qk0h4W7FWcu9H_HUFMCLVAaLQRDncWxCXbNpmxMOmyY/edit

We, the people of Ulster County, are facing unprecedented economic challenges in the wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic.The systems we have operated within have been catastrophically disrupted and, in the process, we’ve seen just how tragically broken they were. Returning to the pre-COVID version of “normal” is not an option. In our society, electricity and internet access are basic needs, especially with many working from and schooling from home. Individuals and families are suffering from the impacts of Coronavirus—lost income, added expenses from being home, and stress from a global pandemic. COVID has hurt small businesses in dire ways. Business has slowed due to life-saving safety measures and illness, which has caused small businesses all across Ulster County to close their doors. Particularly, utility costs are crushing small businesses, causing them to make the horrible decision between making payroll for Ulster County residents and keeping the lights on. Meanwhile, Spectrum and Central Hudson are shutting down people’s service for non-payment. For Spectrum, First-quarter revenues increased to $11.7 billion. Profits reached about $396 million and their CEO made 98 million in 2016 while we struggle. Central Hudson’s parent company Fortis had 2019 revenue of $8.8 billion and total assets of $57 billion as of March 31, 2020. In the first two months of the pandemic, community members rallied around their neighbors experiencing financial hardship, by supporting the Radio Kingston Community Fund and raising over $400,000 to provide emergency financial support. Of these donations, $107,000 went directly to Central Hudson & Spectrum to thwart shut-offs. The people of Kingston cannot allow corporations to profit off our pain. We demand a cancellation of all internet and electric charges for Kingston residents.

There can be no true justice in America until there is actions coupled with the apologies for the North America slave trade.