For decades, California has underfunded mental health services. As a result, the criminal justice system often serves as the state’s default mental health provider, with jails and prisons filled with people suffering from mental illness. In addition, an estimated 10% of law enforcement agencies’ budgets – and 20% of staff time – are spent responding to individuals with mental illness. A direct consequence of our overreliance on law enforcement responses to mental health crises is that almost a quarter of all people killed in police-involved shootings since 2015 had a known mental illness, with black men dying at a disproportionate rate. Between when Derek Chauvin’s trial started and his conviction for the murder of George Floyd, 64 people died at the hands of police. More than a dozen of them had a known mental illness or were in the throes of a mental health crisis. In 2019, Miles Hall, a 23-year-old black man living in Walnut Creek, was in the midst of a schizophrenic mental health crisis when his family called 911 for help. Despite being familiar with Miles’ condition, the officers resorted to lethal force within a minute of their arrival. Law enforcement officers are not mental health experts and should not be expected to serve this role. A better system for Miles and all Californians is possible – one that leads with treatment, not law enforcement. Last year, the federal government established “988” as the new 3-digit alternative to 911 for mental health crises. Callers to 988 will be connected with around-the-clock support, including mobile crisis teams that can respond to the scene with trained mental health professionals and peers rather than law enforcement. If California does not act now, the state will lose critical federal support and funding. Please urge California lawmakers to pass, and Governor Gavin Newsom to sign, Assembly Bill 988 (Bauer-Kahan) – also known as the Miles Hall Lifeline Act – to implement the 988 system in California and take concrete steps to reduce shootings where mental health is involved. AB 988 will ensure that we respond to a health crisis with a health response.

In addition to threatening doctors with jail time for providing patients with the care they need, SB 1457 would lock into law ideological language defining when “life” begins and ban public education institutions from providing abortion counseling or referrals. Prioritizing this extreme ideological agenda does not align with Arizona values. Además de amenazar a médicos con penas de cárcel por proporcionar a pacientes la atención que necesitan, la SB 1457 pondira un lenguaje y ideológia permanente que define cuándo comienza la "vida" y prohibiría a las instituciones de educación pública proporcionar asesoramiento o referencias sobre abortos. Priorizar esta agenda ideológica extrema no se alinea con los valores de Arizona.

The evidence is clear and the message from the CDC, scientists worldwide and doctors is aligned and straightforward. Masks prevent transmission of COVID19 as well as other illnesses (like colds and flu). Children over 12 years old are recently able to access the vaccine but younger children are not. The universal masking policy should remain in place until all students have access to the vaccine and community spread is very low. The rampant spread of COVID variants in our community makes masking even MORE important, as the variants are more likely to cause illness, hospitalization and death. All masking policies must be enforced to ensure the safety of all on campuses and in our community at large. Without enforcement, any claims that the district has a mask policy are attempts to mislead parents, students and the community. An outbreak of COVID19 in our schools would be disruptive to our children's continued education, potentially deadly for adults and children alike and will spread COVID into the community.

Dr. Birx shared on CNN that in her estimation only 100,000 people should have died from this virus. If things had been mitigated properly 100s of thousands of lives could have been saved. The American People deserved to know the truth during the pandemic and STILL deserve to know the truth now. He caused unneeded hardship, emotional toll, debt and death to people unnecessarily.

Too many Coloradans are struggling to afford the health insurance and care they need. People shouldn't have to choose between taking care of their health and filing for bankruptcy or losing the roof overhead. The healthcare industry has not controlled runaway health care costs. Instead of taking accountability to lower costs, they spend millions of dollars to keep health care unaffordable and inaccessible. Colorado leaders are discussing the right solution for Colorado. They need to hear your story. CONTACT YOUR COLORADO STATE LEGISLATORS AND ASK THEM TO SUPPORT THE COLORADO HEALTH INSURANCE OPTION This bill will make health insurance more affordable for individuals and small businesses while improving the available plans' value with health equity-focused standardized plans. It helps address health inequities created by systemic racism, which are unjust and costly for our healthcare system and our communities' health as a whole, by providing pre-deductible coverage for services that address conditions that disproportionately impact people of color. It is time to hold the healthcare industry accountable and offer a better, more affordable health care option.

I have been a type one diabetic for 22 years and have always struggled with getting the insulin or the supplies I need, for example, a CGM (Continous Glucose Monitoring System). My brother passed away on March 25th, 2019 due to diabetes complications. My brother had no medical insurance for years in the state of texas because they simply chose not to provide it. That is unacceptable and sadly is not an uncommon story. My brother was weeks away from his 29th, birthday and it is a pain I live with every day. We have a responsibility to keep people healthy and asking people to do without very basic supplies is a death sentence.

CPC's systematic use of scare tactics and misinformation will continue to jeopardize womens' safety if nothing is done. Sign this petition to preventing CPC's from receiving taxpayer funding. The state of Kansas currently uses YOUR tax dollars to fund CPC's that use lies and medical misinformation to keep women from obtaining safe abortion care. WHAT YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW: - Sign this petition - Contact your representatives directly and urge them to make a stand about this issue - If you are aware that a clinic is fake, write an appeal to google to remove it from the search for "abortion clinics" and spread the word about it through social media or local signage - Share this petition on social media

The media and many irresponsible politicians are completely failing to meet this moment in history by focusing on a symptom of a global economic and health crisis -- families and unaccompanied minors at the U.S./Mexico border -- rather than its root causes. Recently asked by President Biden to lead "the administration’s efforts to deter migration to the southwestern border by working to improve conditions in Central America," Vice President Kamala Harris can help turn things around by -- among other things -- prioritizing COVID-19 vaccine access for Central America and other countries immigrants are currently fleeing from in this time of a global health and economic crisis. No matter how many oversimplified anecdotes journalists collect, or public officials that say it, pretending that people risk their lives and leave everything they know just because a President in a different country is a "nice guy" has to be one of the most ridiculous stories our pandemic has produced yet. To suggest that either talking tough, more enforcement, or the further criminalization of immigrants is a solution to this crisis is not just irresponsible (we now have decades of data that prove the opposite) -- it is also dangerous. This is dangerous not just for immigrants and their countries of origin, who bear the brunt of this harmful thinking, but really for all of us in the U.S. and around the world when our best shot at a better future right now is directing every spare resource we have towards stamping out COVID-19. With VP Kamala Harris leading these latest efforts, she has a real opportunity to help send this message, to save lives, and to economically assist Central America and the world by prioritizing vaccine access for all. If enough of us sign-on and share this, we'll help give her the support she needs to do so. With dueling health, economic, and climate crises -- vaccine access isn't the only thing Central America and immigrants need right now -- but it could be the beginning of the spark needed to start moving towards a world where people migrate out of want, and not out of need. That's our only chance at ever stopping the negative effects associated with immigration. Until then, we need to take this moment in history as another reminder that we can't wall off our problems. Viruses know no borders. We either liberate ourselves together or not at all. Any journalist or public official that thinks otherwise is failing all of us.

The following statements are from Service Industry Workers in Kent County: As a service industry worker I had to go back to work because my family relies on me and unemployment is a nightmare. Since being back to work everyday customers refuse to stay masked and cuss at us for following the Covid guidelines to keep the community safe. We endure name calling, harsh attitudes, terrible tipping and overall unsafe conditions no matter how hard we stick to the guidelines. The only way to work safely is to make sure those of us on the front line are vaccinated. We risk getting our loved ones sick by being exposed to people who have no respect for the general population. Our mental and physical health are being put at risk every time we are serving a new table. Vaccinate all people working with the general public or close these facilities until we can. We can't keep putting people at risk. - Kim, bartender I'm a server and a host at a breakfast restaurant downtown Grand Rapids, working during the pandemic has been really hard. Our waits are far longer due to being at 25%, now 50% capacity, and people are not understanding whatsoever. We also have had so much trouble about people wearing masks. We have full on arguments at the door because people don't want to wear them. These people don't realize my job is at stake, my money to pay my bills and keep me going is at stake. To them it's just a meal. - Anonymous, server/host I work for creative dining services at Aquinas and a few weeks ago there was an employee that got Covid and they were hush hush about it. Students are constantly coming in improperly wearing their masks and eating while standing and making my job more difficult. I work full time and i’m scared i’m gonna get Covid because of this recklessness. - Sonny, supervisor

With few interstate travel restrictions, a sick Texas means the pandemic continues unabated in the United States. 1. Only 1/5 of Texans have been vaccinated and the declaration that we have sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE) does not square with the reality that teachers, domestic workers and other essential personnel continue without material or policy protections. 2. It is gratuitous to acknowledge that we have “adopted the daily habits that reduce risk of covid-19 exposure and transmission” and then to remove statewide mask mandates. We need to support Texans to continue safe practices. 3. Abbott draws equivalence with active cases in November. Test positivity now is where it was in November - around 11-12%. By January, it had escalated to 20%. This same pattern was noted over the summer. And now we want to open everything up again right before spring break. 4. Regardless of covid-hospitalizations, county governments across 254 counties are being denied purview over reducing capacity of any entity below 50%. With what public health rationale?

1. Only 1/5 of Texans have been vaccinated and the declaration that we have sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE) does not square with the reality that teachers, domestic workers and other essential personnel continue without material or policy protections. 2. It is gratuitous to acknowledge that we have “adopted the daily habits that reduce risk of covid-19 exposure and transmission” and then to remove statewide mask mandates. We need to support Texans to continue safe practices. 3. Abbott draws equivalence with active cases in November. Test positivity now is where it was in November - around 11-12%. By January, it had escalated to 20%. This same pattern was noted over the summer. And now we want to open everything up again right before spring break. 4. Regardless of covid-hospitalizations, county governments across 254 counties are being denied purview over reducing capacity of any entity below 50%. With what public health rationale?

In the COVID-19 rollout plan for Massachusetts, teachers and academic instructors are included in Phase 3, effectively putting them in line with the general public. Teachers have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic to provide a semblance of normalcy to a disrupted academic year to the students of Massachusetts and will continue to do so moving forward, and should be protected by the vaccine immediately. As districts throughout the state are returning more students to in-person, full-time instruction, this is a change that needs to take place as soon as possible.  To all the parents of school-aged children here in MA, if you truly want your children to be safely back in-person, please make yourselves heard! Please join me in telling Governor Baker and the Massachusetts Vaccine Advisory Group that teachers deserve better and should be included in Phase 2 distribution of the vaccine (and is consistent with where other states have prioritized this profession).