Representatives from ARC-SouthWest and South first were requested to stay at home until further notice. We were not offered to work from home, just like we have been doing since Covid started. This time, we were not offered any type of solution besides staying at home. On 2/22/21, we were ask to either use PTO or not get paid. There is a third option that upper management decided to ignore "reserved PTO" which is used for "emergencies". However, this option was never offered. This is hurtful, as an ARC employee I feel used. We have been working throughout Covid19 since March of 2020. We never complained about not getting hazardous pay or a raise. This is completely unfair and it should be illegal to steal PTO from employees. Upper management has been stepping all over us, as employee appreciation we got 1 canned water container from Rainwater... Why not using that money and give us at least a .5 raise? In the meantime we are opening 2 new clinics in Austin Texas. Please look into this, is not only ARC, other companies are following the steps of ARC. To top the cherry, most of our spouses are getting covered by "hazardous weather" and they get to keep their hard earned PTO. ARC needs to be brought to light and exposed their unfair treatment to their employees. I know we are not HEB but they should act better than this. Thank you for your time and consideration. Att: Really pissed off ARC employee

Democrats are in charge of the Senate -- and they’re vowing to use their majority to make cannabis legal.1 When Mitch McConnell was Senate Majority Leader any cannabis legalization bill was dead on arrival. But guess who’s not running the Senate anymore? Now we have a clear and urgent pathway to legalize cannabis and pass restorative justice reforms to address the millions of people harmed by the disastrous “War on Drugs.” Sign the petition: Tell Congress to repeal the cannabis ban and pass restorative justice reforms now! Back in November, along with electing President Joe Biden, every cannabis legalization or decriminalization initiative won at the ballot box.2 That’s a clear mandate. Of course, legalization is only part of the process. Right now, even though cannabis is legal in 15 states and DC, an estimated 40,000 people are still in jail for cannabis offenses.3 Democrats in Congress have been introducing bills to legalize cannabis and restore justice for low-level drug offenders for years. But Senator Mitch McConnell blocked cannabis legalization in the Senate. But McConnell no longer runs the Senate, and Democrats control Congress and the White House -- for now. If we want to see an end to the “War on Drugs,” then Democrats need to act now. Sign the petition: Tell Congress to repeal the cannabis ban and pass restorative justice reforms now! Sources: 1. CNBC, “Democratic senators will push to pass pot reform bill this year,” February 1, 2021. 2. Ibid. 3. Forbes, “With 40,000 Americans Incarcerated For Marijuana Offenses, The Cannabis Industry Needs To Step Up, Activists Said This Week,” June 26, 2020.

The process to hire a new Chief of Police for Prince George’s County must be fully transparent. As PG County residents we must be included in the hiring process in ways that go beyond a mere community survey. The role of the police chief is far too great and needs to be accountable to the members of the community with all police matters.

Power bills for some TX residents are now $10,000 and climbing because of a faulty grid system that was not properly maintained and regulated.

We deserve a government that addresses our basic needs and protects all of us in moments in crisis. Despite the lies you'll hear from Abbott on Fox News, that's truly what the Green New Deal is all about. Now is the moment to deliver on immediate economic relief, invest in resilient infrastructure, ensure a social safety net, and halt the climate crisis once and for all. It is time for the Green New Deal. Add your name to demand: 1) Greg Abbott + Ted Cruz Resign 2) Green New Deal Now 3) Immediate Economic Relief

The Energy Reliability Council of Texas should be just that, Reliable. It is untenable that they have left millions of Texans across the state of Texas out of power with deaths and property damage in their wake because they could not perform the basic function as outlined in their name. They are the Energy Council of Texas at best. Somehow other state agencies like the Texas Dept. of Transportation did not strand millions of Texans on their highways. This is a failed agency with a false title. Texas may be an energy state, but clearly we don't know how to manage it. Tell the Texas Legislature to remove the R from ERCOT and give them a more fitting name and personnel capable of securing the lives of its residents.

The impending foreclosure avalanche will hurt many Americans. Foreclosures will increase the houseless population, and will DISPROPORTIONATELY affect black and brown homeownership and further widen the generational wealth gap. The American Rescue Plan needs to direct resources to help homeowners NOW

Essential workers voted and essential workers decided. We sent lawmakers to Washington who promised to stand with us to deliver racial and economic justice. Across the country workers like me are still struggling on poverty wages, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic drags on. We have kids, rent, bills to pay. The $7.25/hr minimum wage just doesn’t cut it for anyone, anywhere. Enough is enough. No one should work 40 hours a week and still have to choose between rent and groceries. Congress will only act if we do. Add your name to tell Congress that we need a $15/hr federal minimum wage NOW.

The New Hampshire Progressive Coalition is deeply disappointed, though not at all surprised, by the decision by a majority of Republicans in the US Senate to acquit Donald Trump of the crimes for which he is obviously and demonstrably guilty. This acquittal, undertaken by a group of officials who were not only jurors and judges, but also witnesses to and victims of the charged crime, should drive home an understanding among people of good will that the Republican party as a whole has abandoned all semblance of decency, fairness, and fealty to the rule of law and the tenets of democracy. Given the behavior of the Republicans, and taking them at their word, we fully expect the GOP to be as resistant as possible to any and every initiative that the Biden Administration and the Democrats propose. Though Democrats hold a majority, it is a slim one that requires that all Democratic representatives and senators #LinkArms and stand together.

Unless policies change, billions of people around the world, especially in low- and middle-income countries will not get access to a COVID-19 vaccine until 2024. This is a threat to people around the world, to the US, and to the entire global economy. We can address this problem by ensuring that intellectual property restrictions do not interfere with vaccine access. President Biden himself committed to share vaccine technology with other countries when asked this past summer by activist Ady Barkan. One critical way to remove barriers to vaccine access is to reverse the Trump administration’s deadly opposition to the WTO TRIPS Waiver proposal. U.S. opposition to this waiver, a hallmark of the Trump administration’s COVID-19 failure, is a huge roadblock to efforts to produce and manufacture accessible and affordable vaccines for all. The waiver would allow for the production of generic versions of vaccines and treatments necessary to end the COVID-19 pandemic and save lives worldwide. The people of the U.S. stand with South Africa, India, and over 100 other countries: we want President Biden to stop opposing this proposal to temporarily waive World Trade Organization (WTO) rules that protect pharmaceutical corporation profits over human health.

My name is Lois and I live in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Before the pandemic I worked at an Inn as a dishwasher -- but then, like millions across the country, I was laid off. Each month without work is an impossible decision between paying my water and sewer bill or making repairs on the house so it’s not condemned. It feels like I’m never going to get out of my terrible financial situation. I need to be able to take care of my family. I'd like to get back to work at a safe, good paying job and ideally it would be doing something that helps the country. I want to help us build back better with clean energy -- with the right training, I would be a great administrator or an instructor that we need to make it happen. Clean energy workers are builders, roofers, engineers, electricians, accountants, administrators, researchers and teachers who are all working to deliver renewable energy, like wind or solar power, to create a cleaner, safer, more just country, and I’d love to join them. Congress should see these crises as an opportunity. They have the power to get us back to work NOW, after delivering relief checks, while also tackling the climate crisis and environmental injustice. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer can lead the way. We can solve these problems all at once. Climate Action = Jobs, and right now we NEED good paying jobs that get folks like me back to work ASAP. President Biden’s plan to build back better with clean energy means creating millions of good-paying, clean energy union jobs that provide relief. And it means protecting our air and water for communities suffering from decades of environmental racism, who are consequently disproportionately suffering from COVID. At the same time, we’d tackle the biggest existential crisis of our time -- climate change. Millions of people like me want to get back to work. We want to be part of the fastest growing industry in America, which we need to grow even faster. At 50, I’m an older worker, and it’s harder for me to find work. The hospitality industry that I was in before the pandemic has been affected badly and probably won’t recover for a while. I’ve been trying to cobble together unemployment insurance, and the $600 stimulus check was helpful, but it’s gone, and without work I can’t pay my bills. With the right investments in our economy, all of us can thrive. Congress needs to deliver for the American people as quickly as possible. We can build a clean energy future and create good paying jobs, with an emphasis on the low-income communities and communities of color who are bearing the brunt of COVID and the climate crisis. Congress -- we have no time to wait. ADD YOUR NAME: Demand Congress take immediate action to create clean energy jobs and get Americans back to work NOW. Lois P. Pittsfield, Massachusetts

During the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 Frontliners’ Healthcare, Fire/ Emergency Services & Police have been directly engaged in the defense of our nation during a historical time of arduous and dangerous situations while trying to protect our nations citizens, and infrastructure firm the fall out and possible collapse of the American and global economy. The brave women and men of this great nation who have and are serving in any of the aforementioned positions deserve the gratitude of the US government and its people just as the US Military receives during combat actions in our nations defense. As we see it, there are currently no differences between the current combat actions abroad and now here at home. The only difference currently is the common enemy. America is facing the global enemy of COVID-19 currently on our home soils. Many have lost their lives and lives of family members and friends in the line of duty against the war on “COVID-19!” While the rest of the economy is getting stimulus payments, moratoriums, and bailouts, healthcare workers, firefighters, emergency services and police departments alike have been hard at work, with little to no relief, in hazardous duty zones, risking our lives to save America and its people with little to no expectations from the American people except a simple “thank you!” We believe it’s time for the US government to step up and do the right thing in support of its frontline providers services to this great nation we call UNITED STATES OF AMERICA! United we have stood, and many have fallen and will continue to fall. Please, be kind, be compassionate like we are, and do the right thing. Provide us COVID-19 Frontliners’ Healthcare, Emergency Services & Police, Tax Exclusion Hazardous Duty Service! Thank you and Be safe America!