Of all North American possessions and territories, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is the only jurisdiction where all the restrictions as to movement of cargo on American built, crewed and US citizen owned, as established in the Laws of Cabotage in the Jones Act, completely apply. This results in costs 2.7 times what we would pay for food and medicines, clothing, materials and other imported products were they transport on ships on the international market. If the Jones Act were repealed or Puerto Rico exempted, our expenses would be reduced by an estimated 40%. There is broad consensus in Puerto Rico for the elimination of the Cabotage Laws.

Our state is NOT for sale. Mr. Haslam states that outsourcing will offer a lower operating costs and more efficiency. Take a look at for-profit prisons and see how well that is working. This RFI https://www.tn.gov/assets/entities/generalservices/cpo/attachments/RFI_32110-16200_FMO.pdf was posted on August 1 with a response date of August 21. This is an incredibly short amount of time given to respond unless you know WHO will be awarded the contract. Quoting United Campus Workers, this proposal "includes every person, and every job, for every building everywhere (in Tennessee). Haslam wants to outsource our safety, health, and education to some for-profit, out-of-state company. All of the maintenance, all of the purchasing, all of the utilities, all of the human resources, all of the security, all of the cleaning, all of the administrative work in our schools, our courtrooms, our service agencies. It will hurt everyone." Shame on you, Mr. Haslam. Our state deserves better.

The secret money influencing our elections isn't lurking in only Dark Money contributions from wealthy campaign contributors. Turns out it's also hiding in what candidates and elected officials don't report about their finances. To detect possible conflicts of interest the public deserves clear, specific, and relevant information about candidates' and elected officials' finances including income sources and investments. AB 10, authored by Assemblymember Mike Gatto (D-Glendale), improves the current reporting by requiring more specific dollar amounts and extending behest disclosure requirements to one year after leaving office. It also requires more thorough descriptions of business holdings and partners, plus a list of when each financial interest caused abstention from a governmental decision. AB 10 passed the Senate Elections Committee. Now it faces the Senate Appropriations Committee which will vote soon. If they don't pass it, this important bill will die. Because Senator Patricia Bates is the vice chair of the Appropriations Committee, her vote and leadership are vital to passing the bill. Please sign the petition and also ask your friends to sign!

The secret money influencing our elections isn't lurking in only Dark Money contributions from wealthy campaign contributors. Turns out it's also hiding in what candidates and elected officials don't report about their finances. To detect possible conflicts of interest the public deserves clear, specific, and relevant information about candidates' and elected officials' finances including income sources and investments. AB 10, authored by Assemblymember Mike Gatto (D-Glendale), improves the current reporting by requiring more specific dollar amounts and extending behest disclosure requirements to one year after leaving office. It also requires more thorough descriptions of business holdings and partners, plus a list of when each financial interest caused abstention from a governmental decision. AB 10 passed the Senate Elections Committee. Now it faces the Senate Appropriations Committee which will vote soon. If they don't pass it, this important bill will die. Because Senator Ricardo Lara is the chair of the Appropriations Committee, his vote and leadership are vital to passing the bill. Please sign the petition and also ask your friends to sign!

The secret money influencing our elections isn't lurking in only Dark Money contributions from wealthy campaign contributors. Turns out it's also hiding in what candidates and elected officials don't report about their finances. To detect possible conflicts of interest the public deserves clear, specific, and relevant information about candidates' and elected officials' finances including income sources and investments. AB 10, authored by Assemblymember Mike Gatto (D-Glendale), improves the current reporting by requiring more specific dollar amounts and extending behest disclosure requirements to one year after leaving office. It also requires more thorough descriptions of business holdings and partners, plus a list of when each financial interest caused abstention from a governmental decision. AB 10 passed the Senate Elections Committee. Now it faces the Senate Appropriations Committee which will vote soon. If they don't pass it, this important bill will die. Senator Jim Nielsen will be a key vote, so please sign the petition and also ask your friends to sign!

The secret money influencing our elections isn't lurking in only Dark Money contributions from wealthy campaign contributors. Turns out it's also hiding in what candidates and elected officials don't report about their finances. To detect possible conflicts of interest the public deserves clear, specific, and relevant information about candidates' and elected officials' finances including income sources and investments. AB 10, authored by Assemblymember Mike Gatto (D-Glendale), improves the current reporting by requiring more specific dollar amounts and extending behest disclosure requirements to one year after leaving office. It also requires more thorough descriptions of business holdings and partners, plus a list of when each financial interest caused abstention from a governmental decision. AB 10 passed the Senate Elections Committee. Now it faces the Senate Appropriations Committee which will vote soon. If they don't pass it, this important bill will die. Senator Tony Mendoza will be a key vote, so please sign the petition and also ask your friends to sign!

The secret money influencing our elections isn't lurking in only Dark Money contributions from wealthy campaign contributors. Turns out it's also hiding in what candidates and elected officials don't report about their finances. To detect possible conflicts of interest the public deserves clear, specific, and relevant information about candidates' and elected officials' finances including income sources and investments. AB 10, authored by Assemblymember Mike Gatto (D-Glendale), improves the current reporting by requiring more specific dollar amounts and extending behest disclosure requirements to one year after leaving office. It also requires more thorough descriptions of business holdings and partners, plus a list of when each financial interest caused abstention from a governmental decision. AB 10 passed the Senate Elections Committee. Now it faces the Senate Appropriations Committee which will vote soon. If they don't pass it, this important bill will die. Senator Connie Leyva will be a key vote, so please sign the petition and also ask your friends to sign!

The secret money influencing our elections isn't lurking in only Dark Money contributions from wealthy campaign contributors. Turns out it's also hiding in what candidates and elected officials don't report about their finances. To detect possible conflicts of interest the public deserves clear, specific and relevant information about candidates' and elected officials' finances including income sources and investments. AB 10, authored by Assemblymember Mike Gatto (D-Glendale), improves the current reporting by requiring more specific dollar amounts and extending behest disclosure requirements to one year after leaving office. It also requires more thorough descriptions of business holdings and partners, plus a list of when each financial interest caused abstention from a governmental decision. AB 10 passed the Senate Elections Committee. Now it faces the Senate Appropriations Committee, which will vote soon. Senator Jerry Hill, who is on the committee, has long been a champion of transparency and the California DISCLOSE Act, so please sign the petition to show him how much support there is for AB 10.

The secret money influencing our elections isn't lurking in only Dark Money contributions from wealthy campaign contributors. Turns out it's also hiding in what candidates and elected officials don't report about their finances. To detect possible conflicts of interest the public deserves clear, specific and relevant information about candidates' and elected officials' finances, including income sources and investments. AB 10, authored by Assemblymember Mike Gatto (D-Glendale), improves the current reporting by requiring more specific dollar amounts and extending behest disclosure requirements to one year after leaving office. It also requires more thorough descriptions of business holdings and partners, plus a list of when each financial interest caused abstention from a governmental decision. AB 10 passed the Senate Elections Committee. Now it faces the Senate Appropriations Committee, which will vote soon. If they don't pass it, this important bill will die. Senator Jim Beall will be a key vote, so please sign the petition and also ask your friends to sign!

Former Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Jim Webb spoke clearly about the problem of money in politics this past Friday: "The challenge that we have right now in the current political environment, money dominates the process like it never has before... I don’t believe that super PACs are ethically supportable concepts." That's sound analysis, but words alone won't do any good. Senator Webb, and every other candidate for president, needs to put forward a comprehensive plan to restore our democracy, including public financing of elections, full disclosure of all campaign spending, and an end to Citizens United. Tell Senator Webb to commit to a concrete plan to get big money out of politics and put We The People back in charge!

When the Senate went on vacation earlier this month, it did so having confirmed only 5 new federal judges this year, even as over a dozen more wait for votes. That's far below the average for this late in the year, and on pace for a record low. The 14 nominees the Senate left languishing over its summer recess had all passed out of committee without controversy. But senators are blocking their confirmation votes to score political points -- leaving critical courts understaffed, and leaving many Americans in legal limbo. When senators return to Washington on September 8, they need to do their jobs and give the judicial nominees before them a fair up-or-down vote.

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) lets Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Telecom and Big Tobacco craft new laws alongside state legislators, all behind closed doors. ALEC calls itself a charity, but in truth, it's a front for corporations to buy influence and push laws that benefit their private interests. And since the IRS takes ALEC's word for it, those corporations get to deduct their ALEC lobbying expenses from the taxes they owe! Lobbying for huge corporations isn't charity, and taxpayers shouldn't be forced to subsidize ALEC members' tax writeoffs. Tell the IRS to investigate ALEC today and hold its member corporations accountable for any back taxes they owe.