A handful of companies want to own our community water systems in Pennsylvania. It's a power play in three acts that started with the passage of legislation in 2012 that would allow companies to pass along the costs of acquiring systems to their rate payers. Act 2 in 2016 was the passage of legislation that would allow municipalities to sell their water systems to these companies for "fair market value." The curtain rose on Act 3 this year with the introduction of SB 597, the so-called Water Quality Accountability Act that heaps costs and reporting requirements on municipalities to entice them to sell their systems. Walter Lynch, CEO of American Water Works, has made no bones about the bill’s real intent. Here’s an excerpt from a Q4 2020 earnings call. Asked if any type of emerging state legislation would help facilitate Mergers & Acquisitions, Lynch responded, “Well, let me start with [the] Water Quality Accountability Act that started in New Jersey that two other states have adopted. I think that is being considered in other states within our footprint. So I would look out for that primarily in the Midwest and that again, establishes standards that are uniform across the sector, whether a municipally-owned or investor-owned, around cybersecurity, some of the challenges there, around pipe replacement rates, about long-term asset management plans. And that's been instrumental in many of the discussions we've had in the states where we operate that have that legislation. So I think it's a wake up call for many municipalities to say, maybe we should talk to American Water about selling assistance.” And here’s Lynch during an investor call a year earlier, “We work with state legislators and regulators to come up with rule making and legislation that enables these acquisitions to happen. And we’ve been doing this for a decade, and we’ve been very successful at it.” American Water Works is a member of the National Association of Water Companies, the industry front group that wrote the bill before pushing it in several states. Robert Powelson is President and CEO of NAWC. If his name sounds familiar, it's because he was the chair of the PA Public Utility Commission before spending a year at FERC approving natural gas interstate transmission pipelines and then heading to NAWC. When the PA Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure took up the bill, committee chair Senator Tommy Tomlinson did a gut and replace maneuver that removed all of the language of the bill and put it in an amendment with one important alteration. The bill was written as an amendment to Title 25. Tomlinson's amendment changed that to Title 66. In plain English, it means he took the bill out of the authority of the Department of Environmental Protection and handed it to the Public Utility Commission. The amended bill was approved by the committee with bipartisan support. Tomlinson's former chief of staff is the lobbyist for Aqua America. The company's Government Relations chief spent six years as a staffer in PA legisative offices, including a stint in the Speaker's office. And speaking of the Speaker, Mike Turzai went to work for Essential Utilities the day after resigning from the House. Essential Utilities is Aqua's new name now that it has expanded into the gas business with the purchase of Peoples Gas. PA American Water has its own tie to our legislature. They hired their lobbyist right after his mother, Kim Ward, became Senate Majority Leader in January. Outside of the customary, and all-too-often successful, grip of the industry are many who have expressed concerns about the Water Quality Accountability Act. The PA Rural Water Association, the PA Municipality Authorities Association, and the Water Works Operators' Association of PA have written letters opposing the legislation. According to PA Environmental Digest, the PA State Association of Township Supervisors, PA State Association of Boroughs and the PA Municipal League also oppose the legislation. This petition is a companion to a sign on letter I'll be delivering in the coming weeks. To see a version of the letter with all of the hyperlinks you can follow to get even more information about dangerous bill, visit bit.ly/WQAAlinks. If your organization would like to sign the letter, please use our sign-on form you can find at bit.ly/WQAAletter. Tell your legislators to protect community water systems and your affordable access to water by voting NO to SB 597.

The last thing new parents want to worry about is whether their baby gear can actually HURT their baby. If it’s on the shelves at baby stores, families should be able to trust that it’s safe. But right now, they can’t -- a report just released by Congress shows kids’ company Fisher Price ignored years of safety warnings and kept selling a popular baby sleeper even after 50 infants died in them! Millions of sleepers were sold to unsuspecting parents before it was finally recalled in 2019, while Fisher Price made $200 million in profits. It is unacceptable that a major company like Fisher Price cut corners by ignoring consumer and regulator warnings. According to NPR, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which is supposed to oversee such products, allows companies to sell goods with little to no safety standards. The government regulators that were supposed to protect us didn’t. And that has to change. Sign this petition asking Congress to give government watchdogs the power to protect kids!

Donald Trump has faced multiple accusations of sexual assault and misconduct. In 2019, E. Jean Carroll accused Trump of assaulting her. Trump’s response caused Carroll to sue him for defamation. Trump’s handpicked Attorney General Bill Barr claimed that Donald Trump was a federal employee so that the DOJ could take up his legal defense. President Biden’s Attorney General, Merrick Garland, should have dropped this defense and let Donald Trump fend for himself. Instead, the Garland and the DOJ just confirmed that they’re following Bill Barr’s flimsy reasoning and continuing to provide Donald Trump with legal defense. Donald Trump already has an army of lawyers. He doesn’t need Biden’s DOJ protecting him.

"Whether you are a fan of Star Trek or not the following has universal appeal to all. "A dream that became a reality and spread throughout the stars." – James T. Kirk, 2269 (TOS - "Whom Gods Destroy") "The United Federation of Planets was a supranational interstellar union of multiple planetary nation-states that operated semi-autonomously under a single central government, founded on the principles of liberty, equality, peace, justice, and progress, with the purpose of furthering the universal rights of all sentient life. Federation members exchange knowledge and resources to facilitate peaceful cooperation, scientific development, space exploration, and MUTUAL DEFENSE."** I've emphasized "Mutual Defense" because its important! While an obvious interpretation is "military defense", it also means Mutual Defense of Morals, Mutual Defense as in Care of Each Other. The US Senate are the rare few who are given the honor and duty of representing us all. But Minority Leader McConnell has vowed to put all of his efforts into blocking Democratic legislations to help all of us. We need to pass the President's Infrastructure Bill, the country needs roads, bridges, transportation, Broadband Internet, and We Need Clean Water. We need to Pass the For the People to help protect us from malicious voter suppression bills that are being passed by State Legislatures in multiple states. We need to have a commission to investigate the seditious attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6th, who are the Republican's trying to protect? We also need to Pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, The John Lewis Act, The Equality Act, The Pro Act, The Breathe Act, American Jobs Plan, American Families Plan, and Washington DC (our nation's great Capitol, is home to 712,000 people that are taxed hire per capita than any other state) should 100 percent be a state! We need common sense gun control like Mandatory Background Checks. We need the multiple Immigration Acts to Pass, We must raise taxes for the wealthiest one percent, they must pay their fair share, TAX THE RICH, We need NON-TRUMP JUDGES and damn it WE DIRELY NEED CLIMATE CARE!! WE NEED ALL THE THINGS NOW! WE CAN'T HAVE ANY OF THE THINGS WITHOUT ENDING THE FILIBUSTER! The Conservative Dems like Joe Manchin (WV) and Kristen Sinema (AZ) have said they want bi-partisanship. We have tried this to no avail. The Republican Senators do not represent the majority of the country, they do not speak for all of us, and they do not even speak for their constituents they claim to be speaking for. These policies are overwhelmingly popular with over 80 percent of the country's population. Enough is Enough. The Filibuster was established to protect Systematic Racism, and it continues to be in the way of changing that racist system.We need all of our Democratic Senators to ABOLISH THE FILIBUSTER NOW because WE NEED ALL THE THINGS NOW!! **(c/o https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/United_Federation_of_Planets)

The U.S. government’s unconditional support for the state of Israel has informed how the American news media reports—or fails to report— on the Israeli government’s ongoing violations of Palestinian human rights. But during Israel’s assault on Gaza this May, Palestinians shared their experiences on social media, enabling the American public to get a clearer understanding of the violence that Palestinians face. As a result, the news media’s lopsided stories that privileged the narrative of the Israeli government began to fracture. American news media has played a significant role in promoting the false understanding that this is a conflict between two equal parties, not a struggle between an occupying force violating international law and a people fighting for the safety of their families and the basic human rights they are routinely denied. U.S. mainstream news regularly creates a false equivalency between the power of the Israeli government and Hamas and fails to provide historical and present day context, including information about the Nakba, the blockade on Gaza, and the imbalance of resources and power between Israelis and Palestinians. Moreover, mainstream news frequently only interviews Israelis and far too regularly uses the passive voice to avoid holding the the Israeli government accountable for its own horrific violence (an example from the New York times: “Just minutes after the war between Israel and Hamas broke out, Baraa al-Gharabli, 5, was killed in Gaza”). The Arab and Middle East Journalists Association issued clear guidelines for responsible reporting on Palestine / Israel. It's time for major news media outlets to balance the narrative and center the voices and experiences of Palestinians by using the active voice in describing Israeli violence, interviewing Palestinians, and including proper context in describing history, sources of conflict, and the disparity in power and resources.

It is important because comic book movies tend to make mental health issues seem bad and they always use that to downplay characters we need a strong character who has dealt with mental issues and is powerful because of it

The African diaspora is an essential part of the curriculum in school . It allows kids to express themselves and discuss critical themes such as racism and a variety of other difficulties. Suny African diaspora educates children on vital issues in such a way that pupils learn and grow as individuals, as well as educate themselves and the rest of the world so that history doesn't repeat itself .Students must also be educated and informed about racism, prejudice, and privilege. To do this, we suggest that schools should integrate racial problems education into academic curricula, provide online training modules on racial prejudice, and improve the diversity education provided in orientation materials. To demonstrate that we support the African-American community, particularly in light of the racial injustices that have happened across the country during this period of civil unrest.

This has never been clearer. The GOP is spinning wildly out of control and headed toward the infringement of our basic right to VOTE in free and fair elections. The cult of 45 has infected the GOP, bringing needed legislation and accountability to a standstill. They won't stop folks. It is up to our Democratic Leaders to realize... They must now TAKE OFF THE GLOVES and do what is necessary to protect the freedoms of Americans like you and I. They must UPHOLD our Rule of Law by bringing the full weight of our DOJ and federal agencies to bear against those who promote bald-faced LIES and attempt to legitimize criminal behavior.

The BREATHE ACT is crucial for our society to move forward and break the chains of our past, to accept accountability and start down the path to real change, real healing and a real reconstruction. WE MUST STOP, The Violence, the Over Policing, the School to Prison Pipeline and Over Mass Incarceration and all the unfair practices of our systematically racist system that has been failing its people and causing unbearable, unreasonable, unfair harm. The BREATHE ACT's own summary explains this perfectly! *(From - https://breatheact.org/learn-more/) “IMAGINE : Schools free of police and full of trained counselors and restorative-justice programs, where all our children are kept safe and their needs are met. IMAGINE : Easy access to trained, trauma-informed interventionists who can be called on in domestic-violence situations and who are equipped to facilitate long-term safety, healing, and prevention. IMAGINE : 911 operators dispatching unarmed mental-health experts instead of police in situations involving behavioral health crises, and callers being allowed to request responders that connect to the gender identity of the person in crisis. The BREATHE Act offers a radical reimagining of public safety, community care, and how we spend money as a society. We bring 4 simple ideas to the table: Divest federal resources from incarceration and policing. Invest in new, non-punitive, non-carceral approaches to community safety that lead states to shrink their criminal-legal systems and center the protection of Black lives—including Black mothers, Black trans people, and Black women. Allocate new money to build healthy, sustainable, and equitable communities. Hold political leaders to their promises and enhance the self-determination of all Black communities. Uprisings around the country changed what was possible. What felt impossible two months ago is being accomplished now; what seems impossible today is doable tomorrow, and we will be the ones to make it happen. We are our ancestors’ wildest dreams.” *From: ( https://breatheact.org/learn-more/) Please sign and share this petition and demand that Senate Democrats that this is NECESSARY NOW, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

WHY: The Job Center opened in September 2020 and SETA is recommending defunding it. We CANNOT close its' doors. If ever there was ever a need for a Sacramento Job Center, it is NOW, especially coming out of the pandemic when more than ever the black and brown community is looking for work! Now more than ever we need a Job Center serving Oak Park and surrounding neighborhoods. Proposed Talking Points: 1. Oak Park is a critical community where a Job Center is needed. It is in the Promise Zone, Opportunity Zone, and designated an Enterprise Zone by HUD. 2. COVID 19 has significantly impacted Oak Park and has left many of its residents jobless and homeless. Having a Job Center in this area will be key to assisting residents find employment in order to provide for their families. Job Centers are designed to provide opportunities and resources to those most impacted by social determinants and racial equity. 3. The Fruitridge Career Center is part of a collective of non-profit organizations that work to develop the Oak Park community by reducing social and health disparities with children, adults and seniors. 4. SETA compared the performance of the newly established Fruitridge Career Center after seven (7) months of operation, during the pandemic, with the performance of Job Centers that have been open for decades, while acknowledging that even those centers under-performed because of the pandemic. 5. Pivot Sacramento as part of GoBiz operates an employment program that is consistent with the Job Center that targets people reentering from jail or prison. Through that program, we enrolled approximately 760 participants over 18 months, most enrolled during the pandemic. 6. The Fruitridge Career Center has developed relationships with employers and other community stakeholders, including the Black Child Legacy Campaign, CPS, DHA, Alchemist, River Oaks Resource Center, Unite Us and many others. 7. The Fruitridge Career Center partners with the Aggie Square Committee and Community Engagement Department at UC Davis to create employment opportunities for the Oak Park community. The termination of the Fruitridge Career Center will terminate those relationships. 8. SETA claims that funds are allocated to provide activities and services that assist unemployed and underemployed individuals to gain the skills necessary to enter high demand careers in the region. Closing the Fruitridge Career Center in Oak Park which has a high number of unemployed and underemployed individuals, especially as we near the end of the pandemic, contradicts those claims. We need you to SHOW UP and GET LOUD! MAKE A PUBLIC COMMENT ON JUNE 3RD (10AM): ~Make a verbal public comment during a meeting. The public comment phone line will open 15-minutes prior to the start of the meeting. ~Refer to the agenda and listen to the live meeting to determine when is the best time to call to be placed in queue to make a public comment (ITEM III-B – 3 – ACTION). ~Dial (916) 263-3827 and follow the prompts to be placed in queue for a specific agenda item (ITEM III-B – 3 – ACTION) on or off-agenda matter. Each agenda item queue will remain open until the public comment period is closed for that specific item.

Hillsborough community members with disabilities, weak immune systems, and others should be able to participate in our local government.

Kevin McCarthy and the GOP's silence in the face of Greene's unconscionable conduct isn't just a bad look—it's a threat to other lawmakers. Her recent comments glorifying the violent attack on our country on January 6, 2021, suggesting that she would have overthrown the government with armed insurrection, is inexcusable. Her previous threats against Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have caused AOC to fear for her physical safety and hire more security, and Rep. Jimmy Gomez, who introduced the resolution to expel Greene, reports receiving death threats from her supporters. Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is failing in his duty to reprimand Greene for her heinous words and deeds. He was forced to remove her GOP committee assignments, but following the 2022 election, he's making deals with her and seems prepared to reward her bad behavior in order to consolidate his own power. Meanwhile, McCarthy ousted Rep. Liz Cheney from House GOP leadership for telling the truth and calling out Trump’s big lie that the election was stolen. This proves that Marjorie Taylor Greene is not an outlier in the Republican party. She is a perfect encapsulation of today’s GOP. Workplace safety is a growing concern across America. Hate can be lethal. There should be no tolerance for anyone who threatens colleagues. This goes for Congress as well – if not more so since members of Congress are supposed to be national leaders. The list of reasons why Rep. Greene should be expelled from Congress goes on and on, but here are a few: - She has repeatedly publicly supported calls to execute prominent Democratic politicians, including liking a Facebook comment that called for Nancy Pelosi to get "a bullet to the head." In other posts, Greene liked comments about executing FBI agents who were alleged to be part of the "deep state" working against Trump. - She’s endorsed conspiracy theories claiming that 9/11 was an inside job and that the Sandy Hook shooting--where 26 elementary school children and teachers were massacred—was staged. - She is Islamophobic and antisemitic and suggested the 2018 midterms—when our nation’s first two Muslim Congresswomen were elected—were part of “an Islamic invasion of our government,” and she thinks Jewish space lasers are responsible for a wildfire in California. - She was one of the many members of Congress who voted to object to the election results after the deadly, white supremacist attack on our Capitol and our democracy on January 6. - On January 12, after the insurrection and after results of the election had been certified by all 50 states, by the Electoral College, and by Congress, she tweeted, “President Trump will remain in office.” - She has repeatedly targeted, threatened, and harassed other members of Congress including Congresswomen Cori Bush and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. - Hundreds of posts, likes, and comments showing Rep. Greene inciting violence by spewing baseless conspiracy theories that have endangered the lives of many continue to resurface across the internet. And that’s just scratching the surface. Our country and democracy are in danger every minute that Rep. Greene is still a member of Congress. McCarthy can change this. This is why we must come together to make sure McCarthy expels Marjorie Taylor Greene from Congress, now.