Companies like AirBnB are exacerbating California’s affordable housing crisis, but lawmakers in Sacramento want to give the company a free ride. Assemblymember Matt Harper -- an Orange County Republican -- has introduced AB1220, a bill that prohibits cities from collecting taxes on short term residential rentals, like those rented through AirBnB. Sign on to tell your Assemblymember to support affordable housing, not handouts to Airbnb: reject AB1220. The explosion in short term rentals through AirBnB is decreasing long term rental stock in California, and driving up prices. And in many California cities, there are laws against converting scarce housing resources to tourist use. Using political influence, Airbnb has engaged in a systematic campaign to dismantle those laws and avoid paying any taxes to offset their impact. Now, Airbnb is taking their lobbying efforts to the state level, and this bill could exempt the company from local taxes. It’s bad enough cities are losing valuable rental housing stock. The least AirBnB and the property owners that use it can do is pay their fair share. We can kill this bill if we let Democrats in Sacramento know we are watching. Democrats control the legislature, but history shows they will quietly pander to special interests like Airbnb unless we expose this. This bill could be heard any day in the Assembly Committee on Local Government. If enough of us speak out right now, we can make sure this bill never makes it out of Committee. But we have to act now or you can be guaranteed that Assemblymembers will push it forward. Sign on right now to tell your Assemblymember to reject AB1220.

President Obama is currently contemplating issuing an Executive Order requiring disclosure of campaign contributions for federal contractors. This would be a very exciting victory for our movement to shine the light on corporations that are attempting to buy our elections. It is very likely that significant grassroots pressure will make the difference. Join us as we encourage President Obama to shine the light on corporate corruption of our democracy as part of nationwide rallies on April 2 – the year anniversary of the McCutcheon U.S. Supreme Court ruling that further put our democracy up for sale.

Too many politically conscious citizens are barred from voting in a given election due to technicalities such as not knowing how to register to vote, or being unaware of voter registration deadlines. Enacting a motor-voter law for Virginia that includes I.D. cards will enable our state to become a more representative democracy, and set a good example for other states to follow.

Have had ENOUGH of politicians and their ME ME ME attitude. Do the job you were put in office for. Governing FOR us the people!

I live across the street from the blast yesterday on the site on 2nd avenue between7th street and St Mark's Place. At 3 in the afternoon, my entire building felt like it exploded. I felt this a year ago, when something exploded in the basement of my building at 104 2nd ave, corner of 6th street (104 2nd ave Realty is the owner of this building.) It was so strong that it broke one window and broke the seals on all my windows. A few days later, an unlicensed plumber was trying to fix a radiator in my apartment, and the radiator blew up and water enveloped my home. The owner of the building assumed NO RESPONSIBILITY!!!! From that moment until today, I always ask for someone's license before I let them fix any emergency. The landlord keeps sending unlicensed electricians and plumbers to fix things. PLEASE JOIN ME, New York, in demanding legislature to force our Landlords to protect our homes and families by making it mandatory for them to hire only licensed workers. We are another tragedy just waiting to happen.

The rising cost of housing is destroying the diverse, vibrant communities that have made California's cities some of the greatest on Earth. Rent control has proven to be effective in keeping communities diverse and keeping housing available for those in poverty and in the middle class. However, landlord-friendly exemptions have undermined these protections, and the patchwork of different rent control ordinances across the state has allowed landlords and developers to play one municipality against another, lowering the standard of living for all throughout the state. I propose that no tenant across the state of California should ever be subjected to a rent increase of more than 2.5% per calendar year, with no exceptions whatsoever. Some people may be concerned that this will discourage real estate investment. Frankly, this state needs less real estate speculation and property flipping, not more.

Too many voices have been silenced by Mike Pence and the state legislature. Sign up to be heard in the Hoosier state! Move the state forward and not back. -Billy Niehaus

Too many times in recent history has the Electoral College overridden the popular vote in elections, thus defying the will of the people! It may have served an important function in the election process in the past, but it is now an obsolete dinosaur being twisted and used by political parties (particularly the far Right!) to circumvent the will of the peoples majority. My 14 y/o son noticed this during the recent Congressional elections, and asked me "why bother voting?" I believe this is a large part of why many people do not vote. This must stop.

My employer in Oklahoma failed to accommodate for my mental disability, forcing me to quit serequel 300mg a day for 2 years cold turkey. This sent my mind in psychosis, basically making my brain non-functional for 13 months. And because of that I am penalized for not making a disability discrimination complaint within the time required. THIS IS UNJUST, AND UNDERMINES THE ENTIRE PURPOSE OF DISABILTY LAWS.

Mike Pence is the worst.

As foster parents in Winneshiek County, my husband and I have first-hand experience of Iowa DHS Director Charles Palmer's lack of effective oversight of his department and his unresponsiveness to complaints we made concerning unethical behavior of some DHS employees and some employees of agencies with whom DHS contracts. Mr. Palmer has not responded to a single letter or email and has, instead, allowed problems to persist at our expense and to the detriment of the human services profession as a whole. Every Iowan should be concerned when social workers lie (in court and elsewhere), fail to fulfill the terms of their contracts with foster parents, insinuate their personal lives into their professional relationships, gossip about clients and co-workers, and retaliate toward those that file complaints-- problems which Palmer has been made aware of but to which he has not offered a response of any kind. It is well known that Palmer has failed to communicate or work appropriately with the Iowa legislature. It is our experience that his performance with Iowa citizens is equally abysmal, despite his self-description as a "problem solver and a bridge builder." He may consider himself "very open to input," but his actions speak otherwise. Iowa deserves better. Please vote Mr. Palmer out and protect foster children, foster parents and all those dependent upon the professional integrity of the Department of Human Services. DHS needs a good house-cleaning and Charles Palmer should be the first to go. Iowa tax-dollars should not support work of such poor quality, and Iowa's most vulnerable need a state agency that is accountable at every level.

On Friday, 3/20/15 Frederick Ippolito, Town of Oyster Bay Planning Commissioner, was arrested for six counts of tax evasion. Court papers say he failed to report more than $2 million in consulting fees from Hicksville-based Lizza and Sons from 2008 through 2013. Failure to report income to the IRS is tax evasion and a criminal offense. Acting as an agent of a contractor that performs work for the Town while also being employed by the Town is a violation of the Town’s code of ethics, section 30-4 Conflicts of Interest. Supervisor Venditto must terminate Frederick Ippolito from Town employment and must explain his and other town employee's knowledge of this ethics violation.