College tuition continues to skyrocket, causing students to graduate with increasingly higher levels of debt. At the same time, graduates from Michigan's universities are often deciding to leave Michigan to find jobs elsewhere. As a result, the state of Michigan has a serious talent crisis - there are thousands of jobs in Michigan that need to be filled but there are simply not enough graduates with the right degrees living here to fill them. We can fix this problem by making student debt more manageable so that Michigan graduates can afford to stay and work here.

In July of 2014, 6-year-old Luz Vasquez ran out of the medication she needs for her asthma. Because she is insured by Medi-Cal, Luz had to wait for an appointment to see a doctor and renew her prescriptions. Nine months later, Luz is still waiting and unable to play outside like other children because of the risk of triggering a serious asthma attack. California’s Medi-Cal system is broken. Patients like Luz are unable to get the care they need, doctors actually lose money when they take in Medi-Cal patients, our state gets sicker, and we all pay for it with higher healthcare costs. Our state legislators can fix it. California pays one of the lowest rates in the nation for Medicaid services, known as Medi-Cal in California. We’re 47th in the country, behind states like Mississippi and Kentucky. In fact, California’s Medi-Cal program covers only about 50% of the cost of providing care. Medi-Cal rates have been repeatedly cut in recent years, but if legislators fully fund it, we can help protect patients like Luz. More than forty state legislators have already stepped up to support statewide legislation (AB 366 and SB 243) to fix the system by fully funding Medi-Cal. Sign the petition and urge your state legislators to join on.

I have been affected by this in many ways. I can't see doctors, and I can't afford the medication I need. In the long term, I fear my medical issues will only get worse. It's time to accept federal funds to help thousands of people like me across the state.

Right now in America, salaried workers earning $23,660 per year, or just $455 per week, can be denied overtime pay, even when made to work 60 or 70 hours a week. But thanks to your hard work, the Department of Labor is expected to send a proposed overtime rule change to the Office of Management and Budget in the coming days. After that, the rule change will be formally released for public comment. The Economic Policy Institute has strongly urged the DOL to increase the overtime salary threshold to at least $51,168, which would make 6.1 million additional American workers eligible to receive overtime pay. Any significant increase will be a victory for American workers but will likely be met with outrage by many in the business community. Even prior to the DOL’s release of the new rules, the National Retail Federation is opposing the rule change and misrepresenting the positive impacts it would have on millions of salaried workers and their families. Tell the DOL to take a strong stance on overtime and help 6.1 million workers or more. Together we can take on Big Business and increase the pay of millions of American workers.

We are on the cusp of achieving something we’ve never had before in Maryland: a law that would put an explicit, binding moratorium on the dangerous practice of fracking for natural gas. On Friday, April 10, the Maryland General Assembly passed a bill, HB 449, that would guarantee fracking stays out of Maryland through at least October 1, 2017. This bill, passed with broad, bipartisan support, now heads to the desk of Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, who has not yet indicated whether or not he’ll sign it. Polling shows a clear majority of Marylanders oppose fracking. Evidence is mounting that fracking pollutes the air we breathe and the water we drink. And research is only beginning to emerge on the long-term health risks. Please add your voice: Tell Governor Hogan to sign the fracking moratorium bill into law to protect our health and communities!

I live in an historically progressive state who has now lost its enlightened way due to right-wing bullying and misinformation. I own land and live on this earth which we all share. The bit-by-bit destruction through false ideology of all we hold dear in Wisconsin simply cannot continue if we expect our kids and grand kids to successfully live in this state and the planet it is part of, a planet we cannot realistically leave after we have trashed it.

In 2011, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Education Management Corporation (EDMC), who operate the chain of Art Institutes, for $11 BILLION! So what about the parents and the 151,000+ students who attended during the years 2003 to 2011, who were innocent of the crimes committed? Would paying back the student loans make them accessories to the fraud? Making these parents and students pay monies that were intended for education, but were used for salaries and bonuses for executives in the company, is NOT in line with our Constitution. Consider THIS: Then-President (and now CEO) Edward West received $1,551,802 in compensation for 2009, $5,486,905 in compensation for 2010, and $6,355,982 in compensation for 2011. Then-CEO (and now Chairman) Todd Nelson received $1,812,996 in compensation for 2009, $3,804,121 in compensation for 2010, and $13 million in compensation for 2011. The year 2006 saw the takeover of EDMC by Goldman Sachs and its private equity partners. Source: Huffington Post article below. I enrolled in the Art Institute of Ohio - Cincinnati, sister college to the Art Institute of Chicago-Illinois, back in 2010 and wasn't able to graduated with a Bachelor in Cinematography. I, like many others, had been lured in by their claims of high employment ratings and being the first, therefore the best, school for Cinematography, and also making a claim of having the largest green screen room in the Midwest. This is far from the truth as many of the courses had only scratched the surface when it came to cinematography and or studio production and failed to provide the tools needed for the professional field, such as having enough equipment for multiple shoots. If there were multiple shoots on a desired day, there wouldn't be enough for different projects. I endured the same situation as Matt Bors in the Huffington Post article saying, "that many of the students in his classes had no talents to speak of, and it was clear that they would not be able to get jobs as artists or designers." This created an atmosphere not of creativity, but of confusion, discouragement, discontentment and low spirits. As they say, "If I only knew then what I know now" I never would have signed up my parents or myself for a $50,000 debt for a lack of education, only to find out that my enrollment directly contributed to the fraud. $11 BILLION seems quite unfathomable to students and parents now burdened by sums that are miniscule in comparison. I have paid money directly from my own pocket, even having financial aid advisers grab me out of classes as if asked to go to the principal's office to pay for this week's courses, contributing to this company's fraudulent action, and I refuse to pay a cent more, or let disciplinary action be taken on myself or my parents. Also, I worked with Career Services to assist with payments, so imagine having to manage coursework, homework, maintaining a part time job off campus, on-site shoots in various locations around Ohio and also work study, and then having watched the "WELCOME TO THE COMPANY" intro video seeing for a brief moment what this company actually does and how they manipulate countless people. There were also advisers who gave me a small insight about the SEQ FUND, which was a student need's basis fund for students who financially couldn't pay for school to tap into that pool of funding. So, if no student asked about that fund, the money from that fund is dispersed among the faculty and staff, avoiding its true intent of helping students pay for schooling. I was also asked to drop from a Bachelor degree to an Associate's to help with payments. I REFUSED, STATING "WHY WOULD I WANT TO CUT MY EDUCATION SHORT?" Also, having lost a family member just as my 2011 course year was beginning, AI offers counseling for students, which was a hotline that only prompts you to press 1 if you're thinking about suicide, which was the last thing I wanted to hear. Also, I have spoken with Bonnie Byrns, a loving heart, but she told me that there wasn't anything she could do to help my situation. I was later told if I wasn't able to find a co-signer, then I would be forced to leave the school on the grounds of non-payment. I was also forced to move out of campus housing due to non-payment and had to live in a camping tent for 4 months trying to reestablish my own place to live. It was a challenge, but I kept my attitude on life in a positive light. The loan companies are threatening wage garnishments. How is this possible when they are accomplices to a HUGE fraud scandal? This scandal has been recognized by the Supreme Court, who then took action against EDMC. Loan agency Sallie Mae, now Navient, was hand-in-hand with EDMC, handing out loans to anyone who asked. So what happened to the $11 BILLION? While a civil court case could prove punitive damages to the ones affected, the least I am asking for is the debt to be lifted for all those in attendance at the Art Institutes from 2003 to 2011. View these articles on the EDMC money scandal, read the comments people have made on these articles, sign the petition, and help out those who have been conned into this scheme. http://www.pdnonline.com/news/The-Art-Institutes--3531.shtml http://www.huffingtonpost.com/davidhalperin/edmc-professors-and-stude_b_1909449.html http://petapixel.com/2011/09/02/us-gov-sues-the-art-institutes-for-11-billion-fraud/ http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/09/education/09forprofit.html?_r=0 http://www.studentsreview.com/specific_detail.php3?uid=3147 Quote from Huffington Post article: "Senator Tom Harkin's Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee calculates that 77.4 percent of EDMC's 2010 revenue came from U.S. Department of Education student financial aid." In 2012, an online petition was started by Vaughn Reynolds at Change.org. He sought to unite Art Institutes students at various campuses in opposition of the teacher layoffs,...

This petition is dedicated to all persons in need of health care assistance being brushed under the rug, discredited, ignored, neglected, suffering, stereotyped, harassed, misunderstood, and misrepresented.

New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the US, more densely populated than China. Already millions of riders use NJ Transit to reach their jobs, events and for mobility without clogging our highways even during months of snow. Green public transit reduces congestion, pollution, and costs for all taxpayers. For example, NJ spent $135 Million for snow removal on roads in 2013-2014 versus virtually zero for Rail, while also allowing people to travel safely despite the frequent snowstorms. We need fare cuts and service restored to 2008 levels not more fare hikes and service cuts.

We must put an end to ALEC writing Wisconsin's legislation and stop their war on science.

Iowans like my daughter and my grandchildren are exposed to cancer-causing runoff water that is dangerous to our health and adversely impacts future generations. If you drink water in Iowa, sign this petition now to call on Gov. Branstad and the Department of Natural Resources to clean up their act and enforce the law.

The fight for $15 began two years ago, when fast-food workers in New York City went on strike for fair pay. Today, it's an international movement of tens of thousands. We fight for a simple reason: we can't feed our families and pay our rent on minimum wage – we deserve $15 an hour and the right to form a union without retaliation. We'll deliver every signature on this petition directly to McDonald's at their shareholder meeting in late May. Help us reach 1 million signatures by signing right now.