On January 1, 2016 the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, otherwise known as the SNAP/EBT program, has changed its eligibility requirements. Such criteria changes will effect those who are 18-49, homeless, underemployed, unemployed for extended amounts of time, and citizens who are pending disability. These new changes will allow very few citizens to receive SNAP benefits for a period of 3 months in a 3 years. The new criteria is biased and does not fix the problem but only worsens it. Mothers who receive SNAP are not subjected to the new special work requirements. Please visit www.fns.usda.gov/snap/able-bodied-adults-without-dependents-abawds Please support this petition, we need to be the voice for the voiceless!

The richest people in America joke about how they only paid 10-15% in taxes, when the rest of us go to jail if we don't pay our share. They get benefits and pay LESS taxes for sending jobs overseas, and then putting their income in offshore tax havens. This is one way we can make sure that these richest people pay their fair share of the taxes.

In 2012, the workers at Bröd Kitchen (formerly Hot & Crusty) on Manhattan's Upper East Side fought and won a historic campaign for fair and decent working conditions. In January 2016, on the eve of contract renegotiation, Bröd owners suddenly announced that they planned to close the location and fire all 19 union employees. These workers fought hard to keep the restaurant open in 2012 and 2014; their labor has grown the business and enabled Bröd to expand to West 4th St; and they deserve to keep their jobs and their contract! Defend The Hot and Crusty Workers Association! In an act of retaliation, and less than 24 hours after 200+ supporters rallied in support of workers at Bröd Kitchen (formerly Hot and Crusty), owner Hugo Uys fired the Hot and Crusty Workers Association President Mahoma Lopez, and worker leader Marcelino Cano. This is the latest in a series of attacks by Bröd Kitchen on the rights of working people. For months, after opening a new location, Bröd Kitchen has threatened employees to avoid bargaining with the Union. We demand the immediate reinstatement of Mahoma and Marcellino, and an end to all retaliation and intimidation of Bröd workers! We demand the company respect the union contract, and return to the negotiating table in good faith! The courageous struggle of the Bröd Kitchen/ Hot & Crusty workers was organized by Laundry Workers Center and documented in the award-winning documentary The Hand That Feeds. To see short videos of the people affected by this petition and learn more, please visit http://lwcu.org/campaigns/hot-crusty-workers-association/ and http://thehandthatfeedsfilm.com/.

Governor Rick Snyder should be arrested, because in 2014, Flint's emergency manager disconnected the city from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) and started providing residents with water from the Flint River. But the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality told the city that it did not need required corrosion controls, so lead leached into Flint's drinking water, poisoning residents for over a year. To make matters worse, the Snyder Administration and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality ignored the people of Flint for months as they reported issues with their tap water, the state used inappropriate methods for testing the city's drinking water, and, worst of all, despite knowing that there was a problem with lead, the state kept telling residents that the water was safe to drink. The governor's actions are downright unconscionable. The children of Flint drank toxic water for more than a year and have been exposed to lead, which could result in permanent developmental problems and brain damage. The Flint crisis is being called a manmade disaster. We know there is one man who was instrumental in its creation: Rick Snyder. This happened under his watch, and he must bear the consequences of his actions.

The closure of White Oak River Road for nine months will affect the residents in ways such as extra hazardous travel, high traffic areas, and safety issues. The residents need a road to bypass construction during the closure time through Onslow County, where our tax dollars go.

Tyree Conway has spent the past 13 years in prison for a crime which he did not commit. On April 26, 2003, Tyree attended a party with his friends, Maurice Johnson and Michael Anderson. During that party, someone pulled out a gun and opened fire, wounding Anderson and killing Johnson. Tyree was convicted of first-degree felony murder based solely on testimony provided by two eye witnesses who were both 17-years-old at the time of the shooting. Both witnesses were under the influence of alcohol and psychedelic drugs at the time of the shooting, although this information was withheld from the jury. Both of these witnesses have since recanted their testimony, stating that the detectives and the prosecutor on the case coerced them into naming Tyree as the shooter. One of those witnesses now states that she was threatened by the prosecutor, who told her that if she refused to name Tyree as the shooter, that she would be charged as an accessory to murder. Both witnesses have now stated, in writing, that they never saw Tyree with a gun. The state has no physical evidence tying Tyree to any weapon, and the weapon involved in the shooting was not found until nearly a year after Tyree’s first trial, which ended in a hung jury. The weapon was found when police arrested another man, for a separate and unrelated charge. Tyree was tried again, and, based off of the coerced witness testimony, was convicted and sentenced to a minimum of 20 years. Police have refused to reopen the case, despite having found the murder weapon in the possession of another man. The window for appeal has closed, due to time limitations, so Tyree can only be freed if the Governor grants him a pardon.

As parents, we do all we can to keep our kids healthy. And we rely on our government to make sure we have access to essentials like clean water. That shouldn't change depending on what color we are, our income level, or where we live. That's why we're beyond mad about the lead contamination of drinking water in Flint, Michigan. Earlier this month Governor Snyder finally declared a state of emergency in Flint, OVER A YEAR AND A HALF after the problem began. Residents are now being told to use water filters and/or bottled water, and no one knows how many of the city's almost 100,000 residents have been affected by lead, and to what degree. What we do know is that ingesting high amounts of lead can have devastating and log-term effects on children, the elderly, and the sick. Current estimates are that it could take as much as $1.5 billion to fix the problem. Would officials have ever been so careless about the drinking water if over 50% of Flint's residents weren't black, and over 40% live below the poverty line, making Flint one of the most impoverished cities of its size in the US? The appointment of an emergency manager in Flint, one of several Black cities across the state to have their elected officials replaced by an appointee from the Governor, is at the center of this crisis. We must do better. Join us in speaking out, on behalf of families and parents in Flint.

The movement calling for redistricting reform is growing around the country, in large part because more and more Americans are realizing that fixing how we draw electoral maps is a key part to improving our democracy. Three Democratic lawmakers form the Atlanta area have filed two bills that would create an independent redistricting commission, and also forbid map drawers from creating districts that favor one party or another.

Gov. Susana Martinez and extreme politicians in Santa Fe have made it clear they want to pass an unfair and unnecessary “right to work” bill this legislative session. This legislation would silence the professional voices of teachers, nurses, firefighters and police officers and cut pay and benefits for all New Mexico workers. Thousands of working people have been speaking out against this dangerous proposal since last year. So you’d think our legislators would do the right thing and oppose right to work. But big corporations have been lobbying hard to get this bill passed. This bill could come up at any time, so we need to tell our legislators that right to work is wrong for working people in New Mexico. Sign the petition now!

Florida has had some peculiar issues in the ballot department before. Lets stop this now!

North Carolinians deserve to have their voices heard. We need ballot initiatives and referendums to ensure that the political power in our state is used in the best interest of our people. Allow the citizens of North Carolina to directly petition the state for new laws, or for changes to current laws. Ballot initiatives would allow the citizens of North Carolina to petition to have laws introduced by referendum, where the people themselves vote rather than a representative. Help us protect our beaches and tourism from offshore drilling, give our teachers the support they need, protect the right to vote, defend our environment, or bring your own cause to the people. The possibilities are endless once we have this power back in our hands. Please sign and share this petition with your friends and family. Together we can make a difference. Together we can make a positive change. Thank you.

The fossil fuel industry spends millions of dollars -- more than $100 million on the 2014 election alone -- on our elections. It’s paid off in the form of Congress’ shameful inaction on climate change. The dirty energy industry is playing a shell game -- funnelling millions in campaign contributions to science-denying lawmakers so they can shut down public debate and congressional action about climate change. And thanks to Citizens United, they get to do it all in secret. But we can make the dirty energy companies come clean about whom they are funding. Voters deserve to know exactly who is influencing our public policy. And if the dirty energy industry is directly funding climate deniers in Congress, every American has a right to know. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse just introduced an amendment to the energy appropriations bill that requires any company making $1 million or more off of fossil fuels to disclose their political spending. If Sen. Whitehouse’s amendment passes, we’ll know exactly who’s taking money from dirty energy interests -- and we can hold the corporations spreading unscientific misinformation accountable.