President Trump’s Justice Department chose to look the other way as yet another Trump appointee abused her public office for private gain, according to new reports. Former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has been accused by the department’s inspector general of repeatedly using her position to help her family and their shipping business, Foremost Group. The inspector general’s 44-page report detailed dozens of these instances. To name just a few -- she used Transportation Department resources to arrange a trip to China for her father and sister; she tasked staff with promoting her father’s public appearances; and she even had her employees perform chores for her father, like updating his Wikipedia page. [1] Plus, according to the report -- Sec. Chao did an interview with a Chinese-language television station just to help boost her father’s profile and promote Foremost Group. The inspector general referred these serious allegations of nepotism to Trump’s Department of Justice for a possible criminal investigation -- but in the last few weeks of the administration, the department declined to take action. That’s outrageous -- it’s clear that the Trump administration was rife with corruption. We’re calling on Biden’s Department of Justice to take up this investigation and hold Sec. Chao accountable. Plus, the Senate must pass the For the People Act (S. 1), a bill that was recently passed in the House that includes strict ethics requirements for appointed and elected leaders. We can’t let the Senate -- and especially Sec. Chao’s husband, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell -- shut down this important legislation. 1) https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/03/us/politics/elaine-chao-inspector-general-report.html

When Winter Storm Uri struck Texas, all 254 counties of the state issued winter storm warnings for the first time on record, with some counties experiencing temperatures colder than those in Alaska (1). At the peak of resulting power outages and water distribution disruptions, 4.3 million Texans were without power, and more than 14 million did not have access to safe drinking water (2,3). Like the rest of the state, the University of Texas at Austin community has suffered from the government’s lack of preparation for such an extreme weather event, with many students losing access to basic needs such as food, water, and electricity. While Winter Storm Uri was a singular weather event, it has not escaped the attention of many UT community members who learn and teach about climate change in the classroom: that climate change will continue to exacerbate extreme weather events (4) as it did with Hurricane Harvey in 2017 (5). This disaster shows that Texas desperately needs to mitigate its carbon emissions and update its energy infrastructure to prepare for increasing weather volatility. The University of Texas can lead the energy transition as an influential public institution representing its community. Yet, it still invests money into the fossil fuel industry and amplifies the climate crisis. The University of Texas System has the second-largest university endowment in the country. As of 2018, this amount was $32.4 billion (6). This money is used for various purposes, but most is invested by UTIMCO (the University of Texas and A&M Investment Management Corporation). UTIMCO is overseen by the UT Board of Regents, which manages policies impacting all UT and Texas A&M schools. Chevron, Exxon Mobil, BP, Saudi Arabian Oil Co, and Royal Dutch Shell are just a few examples of the oil and gas companies that UT supports financially. Furthermore, 90% of the Permanent University Fund, which is the largest of several funds UTIMCO uses to invest, is composed of oil and gas royalties that UT receives from leasing out University Lands for oil and gas extraction (7). As an educational institution that promises to “transform lives for the benefit of society,” UT has the resources and responsibility to lead the energy transition and drastically reduce its contribution to the climate crisis. The university must demonstrate its dedication to UT student's well-being and their futures. By incorporating the work and research that has already started on campus, UT can become a living laboratory and attract national attention as a leading flagship university in the fight against climate change. UT Administration, you must respond to our community’s growing needs. Rather than solely applauding “tireless efforts to help one another during the crisis,” (8) you must acknowledge and address the central cause of our struggle: climate change. We have begun the process of understanding our communities needs, and we now call on you to join us in implementing creative solutions to address them. Citations: 1) Elizabeth Findell and Ken Thomas, “Texas Cities Under Boil-Water Orders,” Wall Street Journal, February 19, 2021, sec. US, https://www.wsj.com/articles/texas-cities-under-boil-water-orders-11613671450. 2) “5 Million Americans Have Lost Power After a Devastating Winter Storm,” Time, accessed February 19, 2021, https://time.com/5939633/texas-power-outage-blackouts/. 3) Findell, “Texas Cities” 4) IPCC, 2014: Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151 pp. 5) Scott Waldman,ClimateWire, “Global Warming Tied to Hurricane Harvey,” Scientific American, accessed March 1, 2021, 6) UTIMCO. “UTIMCO Implements More Stringent Sanctions Compliance Procedures.” The University of Texas System, 23 Oct. 2018, www.utsystem.edu/news/2018/10/23/utimco-implements-more-stringent-sanctions-compliance-procedures. 7) Olson, Jon. “Hydraulic Fracturing Key to Educational Affordability.” The Daily Texan, thedailytexan.com/2019/03/31/hydraulic-fracturing-key-to-educational-affordability. 8) Received by Jay Hartzell, Lighting the Tower Orange in Honor of Our Incredible Community, 24 Feb. 2021.

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?

SB101 will tear families apart, lead to unconstitutional detentions, and make our communities unsafe. We urge you to stop SB101! - - - SB101 separará a las familias, conducirá a detenciones inconstitucionales y hará que nuestras comunidades sean inseguras. ¡Le instamos a que rechace la SB101!

Girls are always treated like objects and it’s not ok if we show some skin then it’s wrong but then we get ISS if and have to cover in duck tape too it’s not ok girls populate this world and all we get in return is these stupidly high expectation standards and ofc we get punished when we do anything that isn’t in these expectations girls are already objectified enough and we deserve more respect for everything we all have to go through and I know for a fact that half of the adults now tried to wear stuff kinda like how we do today and then we’re told they couldn’t and then got mad don’t let y’all’s past control our lives are y’all wearing what we chose to wear no we wear what we are comfortable in and what we chose so don’t go making us be something we aren’t girls all over are being punished for wearing something and for expressing them selves it’s not ok for how girls are treated some girls can get away with wearing skirts and shorts and anything else showing skin but half the other girls get punished for it is ridiculous for how higher these standards are for girls! I could go on and on and on about the whole dress code situation but I wanna get at least maybe 100 or 200 signs from other girls who agree ever from any other schools it can be honestly any women who agrees with me and my school cause this isn’t ok! More people can sign if they want to but honestly I just want people who agree to sign!

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).

While President Biden has made the right promises, actions speak louder than words. The airstrikes against targets in Syria that he authorized undermine those promises and risk escalating tensions in the Middle East. Last year Congress passed a War Powers Resolution in response to an unconstitutional airstrike and Trump refused to sign it. We need a War Powers Resolution that sends a clear message that only Congress, not the president, can approve military strikes like the one President Biden launched in Syria. We need fewer wars, and less military tension. We need Congress to act.

Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Pramila Jayapal just announced their bold plan to pass a wealth tax. They're going to need our help to pass it. Billionaires made more than $900 billion during the pandemic. Warren's plan would create a two percent tax on assets over $50 million dollars, which would generate $2.75 trillion over ten years. As the pandemic exposed the deepest faults in American society, wealth inequality has taken off to new extremes. The wealthy have seen rising investment values, while the rest of the US is careening down a path marked with evictions, debt, and unemployment. Can you tell Congress to pass a wealth tax?

I lost my dad on October 14 2020, he was a Veteran we lived at Veterans Village in Loma Linda, Ca for the past year plus. I am currently being evicted because my dad died and I am now considered "an unauthorized occupant who has only been here since her dad died". This is how they treat the families of our Veterans, they have lied and kicked our Veterans families out to the street. The fate and future of our Veteran families lies in the hands of the Housing Authority / HACSB and is upon their discretion as to what happens to our Veterans families? Think about that for a second.... I wish for no other family to have to endure what I have had to go through since loosing my dad. I'm advocating for my dad Joe Walker and for all our Veterans and their families. Please help me by signing this petition so that our Veteran's family's will not be thrown out to the streets and help me to enforce awareness and enforce a policy to protect and give security to our Veterans loved ones once they are gone. Take a stand and help our Veterans families sign and share this petition. Thank You and God Bless

The Georgia Secretary of State's Office advises, "Georgia is recognized as a national leader in elections. It was the first state in the country to implement the trifecta of automatic voter registration, at least 16 days of early voting (which has been called the “gold standard”), and no-excuse absentee voting. Georgia continues to set records for voter turnout and election participation, seeing the largest increase in average turnout of any other state in the 2018 midterm election and record turnout in 2020, with over 1.3 million absentee by mail voters and over 3.6 million in-person voters utilizing Georgia’s new, secure, paper ballot voting system." Our goal should be to maintain and improve access, including consideration of a voting holiday. Yet, some State representatives are looking to reduce ability to apply for absentee ballots, reduce times and locations of absentee ballot boxes, limit early and weekend voting, and more. These changes are not to benefit Georgians who want and need a voting system that works for them, not for politicians. Please sign this petition as another tool to have your voice heard. In addition, we ask that you also call, email, fax, post, Tweet and write your representatives. https://www.legis.ga.gov/find-my-legislator #Poorpeoplescampaign #14Policypriorities

Problem: There is a lack of youth voter turnout in New York State. For example, in the 2018 midterm election, only 16.4% of youth voters cast a ballot in New York, which compares poorly to the national average of 31% of youth voters. This lack of youth voter turnout leads to young voices being under-represented in national, state, and local politics. With no designated time off for students to vote, they are being forced to balance school, work, and their personal life in order to exercise their right to vote. Solution: The solution to this problem is to make voting more accessible to the youth population. The University at Albany has an obligation to support this cause, and can do so by designating Election Day as a University Holiday at UAlbany. Evidence: In 2019, New York amended the Paid Voting Leave Law to allow voters to take up to three hours from work to cast their ballot on Election Day. Although this is an improvement to voting rights in general, no provision currently exists that allows college students time off from class to vote. Other universities across the nation have made voting more accessible to its students by either canceling classes on election day, or permitting students and employees to be excused from class to vote. These methods have proved successful, as these Universities experienced a higher voter turnout among their students. Conclusion: The University at Albany has the opportunity to lead the charge in promoting youth voting rights in New York State by designating Election Day a University holiday and therefore eliminating a barrier that college students face with voting. Image Source: https://s3-external-1.amazonaws.com/youvisit-img/Assets/img/locations/80743/1280_profile.jpg?v=1512744343