Current funding of $25 million/year has not been increased since 1998. Coastal protection programs must include back bays, barrier islands and the inland waterways that are sources of flooding for coastal and urban communities. Shore Protection Fund's beach protection programs are an investment in our State’s $20+ billion shore tourism economy. Urge your legislators to support this much-needed increase in the Shore Protection Fund.

This overt attempt to undermine President Obama's negotiations with Iran on the nuclear issue is damaging to US interests and could push the US unwittingly into another costly, bloody, and misguided war in the M.E.

I believe the death penalty is wrong . Even if it weren't wrong morally, it is wrong in other ways. Since 1970, 150 people on death row were found to be innocent before they were put to death. How many innocent people have we killed? Even one is unconscionable. And the death penalty is meted out is a racist manner. Black people are far more likely to get the death penalty than white. Also it costs the state more to keep a prisoner on death row up until his death than it costs to keep him in the general population for life. There are so many problems with the death penalty from a moral and practical view.

I want to protect the battlefield for generations to come

I watched the documentary "Silenced" by James Spione and was appalled that our government could (and does ) use its power to harass conscientious Americans just for telling the truth about governmental abuses. Some are currently in prison for truth-telling! Petition signers should urge their representatives and President Obama specifically to release John Kiriakou from prison, and permit Edward Snowden to return to his homeland without being persecuted and prosecuted for whistle- blowing about abuses by our government. It is unconscionable that out government is using the same bullying tactics used early on against German citizens in Hitler's rise to power. If we want to retain our own civil rights, we must protect the civil rights of others in our country. They are being aggressively eroded ever since 9/11.

The USDA recently approved a GMO apple. The new technology engineers apples to prevent them from turning brown when sliced. But apples are just fine the way nature made them! These genetically engineered apples haven't been proven safe to eat. They were created using a questionable new genetic engineering technique that could have unintended side effects for the health of the plant and for the people who eat these apples. We need to make sure that big apple sellers like fast food chains won't sell these GMO apples!

Using exonyms is grossly offensive and breeds misconceptions of people's.

With the start of our Kindness Initiative, Nardin Academy should have a Gay-Straight Alliance to provide a safer and more welcoming place for our LGBT+ students. As a pansexual student, I received a tremendous amount of backlash and discomfort surrounding my romantic/sexual orientation. Unfortunately, I know a multitude of other students who have experienced similar things. By starting a GSA, I hope to provide education and more acceptance among other students, and a safe-space for LGBT students.

With more than 200 sunny days a year, Idaho is enjoying a boom in solar energy development. This is great news, since solar is quicker, cleaner, and cheaper than building another dam or dirty coal-fired plant. Idaho Power Company is currently experiencing record profits at the expense of its ratepayers' environmental and public health. To maintain its antiquated business model, the company is trying to prevent clean energy development by limiting 20-year contracts to two years. Anything less than a long-term contract makes it nearly impossible for renewable energy businesses to secure financing. Investing in clean energy benefits Idaho's economy, protects Idaho's air and water, limits carbon emissions, and preserves a clean future. For more information, please visit the following link: http://snakeriveralliance.org/storm-clouds-over-solar-were-working-to-help-make-sure-idahos-young-solar-industry-will-survive/#more-5195

I believe that gerrymandered districts (which have rightly been ruled unconstitutional) are destroying our democracy.

It's shameful that in 2015, women make 78 cents for every dollar a man earns. And that wage disparity is even higher among minority groups. Latinas make $0.54 and black women make $0.64 for every dollar a white man makes. Over a 40-year career, the average woman loses out on $431,000 -- and that number is nearly doubled for women of color. These wage gaps represent more than short-term losses. It represents a lifetime of being devalued in the workplace. It's past the time for all that to change! Equal pay for women is the right thing for our economy, for California, and for our nation. Senate Bill 358 will address this wage inequality by strengthening protections against pay discrimination for women and stopping retaliation against workers who make inquiries about pay. If we can pass SB 358 in California, we can serve as a model for the nation and urge other states and the U.S. Congress to pass similar legislation. JOIN US and help drive the movement for equal pay forward by signing our petition today!

He was wrongfully convicted 23 years ago. For a crime he did not do. Bessemer Jefferson County Alabama Courts convicted him with no evidence. The courts never took his DNA to prove his innocence's. There never a search warrant issued. The Officer did not feel a crime had been committed.