Governor Rauner has proposed drastic cuts to crucial programs in Illinois, balancing the state budget on the backs of working families before asking the wealthy to pay their fair share. Among other things, his plan will result in teacher layoffs, forcing class sizes and property taxes to swell. We demand Governor Rauner stop these cuts and support a simple solution: the Millionaire’s Tax, a proposal requiring a 3% surcharge on income over $1 million, to direct additional funding to education. Instead, in order to fund tax breaks for the rich and corporations, Rauner's budget — by and for the 1% — will eliminate these programs in Fiscal Year 2016: - Advanced Placement programs - Agricultural education - Arts and foreign language education - After School Matters, a Chicago-area after-school program renowned for its success - Alternative education that helps struggling students get back on track And it isn't just K-12 on the chopping block. The Governor also wants to make these deep cuts to higher education: - A 31.5% cut from each public university in Illinois (almost $400 million in general funds across the board) - A 50% cut to the Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois program - Elimination of numerous need-based scholarship programs - Flat Funding for the Monetary Award Program (MAP) These cuts will be detrimental to teaching and learning in Illinois. More than 63% of voters supported the Millionaire’sTax proposal on the ballot in November. We urge Governor Rauner to listen to the people, support the Millionaire’s Tax to generate revenue, and sign it into law when it hits his desk.

I support my friends and family; black, white, gay, straight, Christian, atheist, disabled, it doesn't matter and feel that when the INDIANA Governor signed this ANTI-FREEDOM of CHOICE bill, the exact OPPOSITE of what this country stands for its time for me to stand up and do something. Not acceptable Indiana!

It’s hard to believe this is necessary, but as Missourians we’ve got to tell Sen. Kurt Schaefer, Rep. Elijah Haahr, and Senator Ed Emery that Missouri doesn't want to look like the Hoosier state.

It’s hard to believe this is necessary, but as Missourians we’ve got to tell Sen. Kurt Schaefer, Rep. Elijah Haahr, and Senator Ed Emery that Missouri doesn't want to look like the Hoosier state.

Dear Colleague: On 26 March 2015, the Governor of Indiana signed into law the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, one of several so-called religious liberty bills recently vetted by states. ACPA—College Student Educators International views these bills, in all of their forms and in all of the states and countries that produce them, as overt acts of discrimination against LGBT people. We believe these bills are destructive to the well being of our colleagues living and working in Indiana, as well as other communities throughout the United States and around the world. We protest passage of the law in Indiana and deeply object to its blatant disregard for human dignity. We join with hundreds of corporations and organizations in this protest. We have been in direct contact with the Governor Mike Pence’s office (317-232-4567), the Speaker of the House Brian Bosma (317-232-9677) and Senate President David Long (317-232-9416) stating our deep concern and request for repeal of this egregious law. We encourage each of you to call their offices as well. We also invite you to sign this petition which we will deliver to the Governor. Our goal is for long-term, sustainable, positive and inclusive change in accordance with our core values. Thank you. Respectfully, Gavin Henning, President Donna Lee, Vice-President Kent Porterfield, Past-President Cindi Love, Executive Director John Garland, Director of Equity & Inclusion

The Take Action, Turn Left! Project is a community service project that Junior Girl Scouts Troop #10586 of Tucker is pursuing in order to earn their Bronze level award. A big part of the Girl Scouts journey for Junior troops is to pursue projects that require you to take action in your community – it’s your world, love it! The goal of our project is to inspire and implore DeKalb County to add a turn left signal light at the intersection of Livsey Road and Chamblee Tucker Road. A left turn lane already exists at the intersection; it just needs a light to aid in traffic. We are undertaking this project in order to improve the community around us – where we live in Tucker, GA – to create a safer intersection for the Livsey Elementary School children and their families, the Livsey neighborhood and surrounding areas and to create better access for all to Henderson Park. But we can’t do this without your help!!! This intersection is very dangerous due to the fact that the entrance and exit to Livsey elementary school is located there. To support our project please visit this website and sign our petition. Thank you!

Electronic voting machines can be hacked. There have been so many problems, irregularities and malfunctions that voters have no confidence in them. Because there have been problems with paper ballots being lost, destroyed or mysteriously disappeared we demand that the ballots have a clear and accurate monitoring system, where ballots are hand counted and that hand counting be recorded and verified and the chain of ballot handling unbroken.

Companies like AirBnB are exacerbating California’s affordable housing crisis, but lawmakers in Sacramento want to give the company a free ride. Assemblymember Matt Harper -- an Orange County Republican -- has introduced AB1220, a bill that prohibits cities from collecting taxes on short term residential rentals, like those rented through AirBnB. Sign on to tell your Assemblymember to support affordable housing, not handouts to Airbnb: reject AB1220. The explosion in short term rentals through AirBnB is decreasing long term rental stock in California, and driving up prices. And in many California cities, there are laws against converting scarce housing resources to tourist use. Using political influence, Airbnb has engaged in a systematic campaign to dismantle those laws and avoid paying any taxes to offset their impact. Now, Airbnb is taking their lobbying efforts to the state level, and this bill could exempt the company from local taxes. It’s bad enough cities are losing valuable rental housing stock. The least AirBnB and the property owners that use it can do is pay their fair share. We can kill this bill if we let Democrats in Sacramento know we are watching. Democrats control the legislature, but history shows they will quietly pander to special interests like Airbnb unless we expose this. This bill could be heard any day in the Assembly Committee on Local Government. If enough of us speak out right now, we can make sure this bill never makes it out of Committee. But we have to act now or you can be guaranteed that Assemblymembers will push it forward. Sign on right now to tell your Assemblymember to reject AB1220.

As the legislature continues to cut public funding for education, we believe that voter approved funding by proposition must be restored. A true conservative invests in the future and for Arizona that is education.

HF 1455, recently introduced by Rep. David Bly (D) and Rep. Rod Hamilton (R), and SF 1657, introduced by Sen. Kevin Dahle (D), propose a state Rural Distributed Generation Tax Credit. The bills would provide farms and rural small businesses with a 30% tax credit on the capital and installation costs for small-scale wind turbines (up to 40 kW), solar thermal arrays, or geothermal heat exchangers. Family farms and rural businesses are best poised to implement distributed generation renewable energy systems. These entities readily meet the spatial requirement, property line setbacks, permitted use, and accessory use definitions established in zoning codes and are also located away from natural gas lines. Livestock operations are among the large energy consumers in rural Minnesota as well. Electricity consumers in rural areas pay higher electricity rates and service charges than investor-owned ratepayers due to economics involved in servicing fewer customers per mile of electrical line. The Rural Distributed Generation Tax Credit would reduce the cost of the investment to accelerate the payback and enable diversification of farm and rural small business income. Community Wind Gardens would allow individual Xcel Energy utility customers to buy into a local wind project and receive a credit on their utility bill according to how much energy their share of the project produces each month. This would enable all customers, including those who can’t install their own wind turbine (i.e. renters and people in low wind areas), to invest in local wind projects and reduce their utility bills. Please contact Minnesota legislators and ask them to support the Rural Distributed Generation Tax Credit and Wind Gardens!

The PA Game Commission intends to vote on the trapping of otters in the near future. Please help this wonderful animal .

President Obama is currently contemplating issuing an Executive Order requiring disclosure of campaign contributions for federal contractors. This would be a very exciting victory for our movement to shine the light on corporations that are attempting to buy our elections. It is very likely that significant grassroots pressure will make the difference. Join us as we encourage President Obama to shine the light on corporate corruption of our democracy as part of nationwide rallies on April 2 – the year anniversary of the McCutcheon U.S. Supreme Court ruling that further put our democracy up for sale.