One of the tools we have to help Boston residents is the Inclusionary Development Policy (IDP). This policy requires developers of new housing with 10 or more units to set aside a portion of their units as below-market affordable housing, or pay into a City affordable housing fund as a condition of receiving relief from the Boston Zoning Code. But even with this important tool, we are not meeting the needs of Boston residents. As the market quickly changes, we too have to be swift with our response. We need to improve the IDP to adapt to these changes, and better respond to our housing needs! With all of the luxury development going up across Boston it is urgent that we update this policy NOW! The mayor of Boston has the power to strengthen this policy. To learn more about the IDP, or our petition please visit us at www.bostontenant.org Our Asks: 1. Higher percentage of affordable units: IDP affordable units should be no less than 25% of total on-site and off-site units produced directly from each IDP development, regardless of whether the affordable units are provided on-site or off-site by the developer or through developer payment in the IDP fund. 2. Larger buyout payments: Developers who choose not to provide affordable units themselves on-site or off-site should make payments into the IDP fund equal to the number of required affordable units times the per unit cost of developing an affordable unit in the neighborhood where the developer is proposing the market-rate development. 3. Deeper affordability: All IDP affordable units should be affordable to households with incomes below 150% of Boston Median Income (150% of BMI=80% of AMI), with the following targeting: a) AT least 50% of affordable units should be affordable to households with incomes below 100% of BMI, which is approximately $52,000 (=55% of AMI); b) No more than 50% of affordable units should be affordable to households with incomes between 100% and 150% of BMI, which is approximately $52,000-$75,000 (=55% to 80% of AMI); on average, these units should be affordable to households with incomes of 125% of BMI (~$63,000) c) Deeper affordability should be achieved to the greatest extent possible through the use of Section 8 and MRVP vouchers and other subsidies. 4. Other Components: a) Apply 25% affordable requirement to substantial rehab developments seeking zoning or tax relief; b) Fully comply with affirmatively furthering Fair Housing; c) Maintain Detailed, publicly-available records. If you agree with our asks please sign our petition! We need to act now and help create more desperately needed homes!

I am staring this petition because I believe that many students like me were never informed about their religious rights in school. Also becuase many students and staff have a religious practice that they would like to do before an important event that they don't know they can do.

Right now, we’re at a critical moment in the fight to save bees -- and we need your help! In just a few weeks, the Obama administration will likely announce a plan to protect bees. This is our best chance for nationwide action to protect these crucial pollinators -- and our food system that depends on them. But in order to truly help bees, the plan must address toxic pesticides made by chemical companies like Bayer and Syngenta. Almost 4 million Americans have already signed petitions urging President Obama to protect bees from these pesticides. But we need you to keep up the pressure on him to put the bees and our food system ahead of Big Ag’s profits. Sign the petition now! Urge President Obama to ban bee-killing pesticides!

There are some policies carried out by DHS that MoveOn members strongly disagree with. But shutting it down over one of the Obama administration's progressive reforms would be crazy and damaging.

I began working as an educator in Hawaii in 1995: first as a substitute teacher at Pope Elementary School, then for summer school, then full-time subbing for the Windward District. During my many years as a tenured teacher, my concern over the quality of public education has escalated to the point of panic and despair. This is over the corporate mandates I must adhere to in order to keep my job. We have lost student access to school libraries during the day due to school librarian positions being cut. Testing has become the focus and workplace bullying the norm. Lying, cheating, and harassment by administrators is the norm. This needs to stop. How? More transparency and accountability is needed from the decision-makers in the Hawaii Department of Education. The Board of Education oversees the public school system and state library system. All Hawaii voters deserve access to meetings which take place during the work day on Oahu and to witness for themselves what is being decided regarding Hawaii's children. Join the Facebook group BOE Watch. Hawaii residents, just click the "join group" button to add your name.

The USDA approved Monsanto’s new genetically engineered cotton and soybeans that are resistant to dicamba, an herbicide that has been known to cause reproductive and developmental harm. Herbicides like this are poisoning our soil and water and pose a threat to the health of our families, environment, and wildlife. We need less toxic herbicides and pesticides in our food system, not more. But now that these herbicide-resistant seeds have been approved, more toxic chemicals on the food we eat every day could be imminent. We need to push back and tell the USDA that their approval of these seeds is unacceptable.

The USDA approved Monsanto’s new genetically engineered cotton and soybeans that are resistant to dicamba, an herbicide that has been known to cause reproductive and developmental harm. Herbicides like this are poisoning our soil and water and pose a threat to the health of our families, environment, and wildlife. We need less toxic herbicides and pesticides in our food system, not more. But now that these herbicide-resistant seeds have been approved, more toxic chemicals on the food we eat every day could be imminent. We need to push back and tell the USDA that their approval of these seeds is unacceptable.

The USDA approved Monsanto’s new genetically engineered cotton and soybeans that are resistant to dicamba, an herbicide that has been known to cause reproductive and developmental harm. Herbicides like this are poisoning our soil and water and pose a threat to the health of our families, environment, and wildlife. We need less toxic herbicides and pesticides in our food system, not more. But now that these herbicide-resistant seeds have been approved, more toxic chemicals on the food we eat every day could be imminent. We need to push back and tell the USDA that their approval of these seeds is unacceptable.

The Senate and House are making critical budget decisions that will deeply affect all Americans in 2016. All members of Congress need to hear from constituents before April 15 that cuts to programs that help Americans are not acceptable. The U.S. House and Senate have each advanced a budget outline that calls for the wrong choices: more tax breaks for corporations and the rich and more funding for the Pentagon, along with less funding for needed investments. Past budget cuts have kept 67,000 low-income families from moving into affordable housing; denied child care to hundreds of thousands of children in low-income working families; reduced job training and education aid; left our roads and bridges in disrepair; and left millions of poor Americans with less food each month by cutting food stamps. The new plans would make all this worse. It does not have to be this way. A federal budget that makes the right choices can both preserve and expand essential services. Closing even some tax loopholes and reducing Pentagon waste would fund universal pre-k, make college more affordable, create jobs, and dramatically reduce hunger, homelessness, and poverty. The good news: There are many more steps before the funding cuts outlined in the House and Senate budget plans could be enacted into law. Even before the ink is dry on a new budget, Congress will be under pressure to change it. But without our voices, the pressures are to increase Pentagon spending, threatening human needs programs even more. Your signature on this petition will make a difference -- but we must act now to send Congress a strong, united message that we oppose upside-down priorities.

Here's what Cris Fiore wrote about it: Every day in this country 119 people die from drug overdose, and another 6,748 are treated in emergency rooms. That averages out to an overdose related hospitalization every 13 seconds and an overdose death every 13 minutes. Drug overdose is now the leading cause of accidental death in the United States, outstripping traffic fatalities or gun homicides. And every year it gets worse. In addition to the terrible human toll, substance abuse costs the U.S. economy over $600 billion annually. Effective treatment can dramatically reduce these costs. According to several conservative estimates, every dollar invested in addiction treatment programs yields a return of between $4 and $7 in reduced drug-related crime, criminal justice costs, and theft. When savings related to healthcare are included, total savings can exceed costs by a ratio of 12 to 1. Major savings to the individual and to society also stem from fewer interpersonal conflicts; greater workplace productivity; and fewer drug-related accidents, including overdoses and deaths. My 24-year-old son, Anthony, died May 31, 2014, following a six year battle with opioid and heroin addiction that included three unsuccessful short term treatment programs, each lasting less than 30 days, which was all that insurance would pay for. For most people, this is simply not enough time to recover from the assault addictive drugs make on the body and to restore the life skills that keep a person from relapsing. Research tells us that effective inpatient treatment leads to long term sobriety and fewer relapses. Ninety (90) day residential drug rehab is suggested as the minimum length of time for effective treatment. Anecdotal evidence gathered from post discharge patient interviews suggests that long-term treatment at a drug rehab facility can decrease the risk of drug addiction relapse by up to 73%. That can mean the difference between addiction and recovery—or even life and death. Tell your U.S. Senators and representatives: The Affordable Care Act must be amended to provide for a minimum of Ninety (90) days inpatient drug or alcohol treatment up to a maximum of One Hundred Eighty (180) days per year at a facility certified to provide such care by the Secretary of Health of the state in which it is located.

Marijuana has been mislabeled a Schedule 1 controlled substance since President Nixon passed the Controlled Substances Act in 1970. While tobacco kills more people than all the drugs, legal and illegal combined, it can be sold anywhere and grown anywhere legally; marijuana can't. Congressman Dana Rohrabacher and seventeen other congresspeople have already signed a letter to ask President Obama to take marijuana off the controlled substances list. This is a great start but we need to apply more pressure. Because marijuana is considered a class 1 drug, medical marijuana stores where it’s sanctioned can’t set up a bank account, and have to operate as a cash only business. This is the excuse many cities use to try to zone medical marijuana stores out of existence. This is a Tenth Amendment issue if there ever was one. The federal government should not be telling states what their residents should be putting in their bodies. It’s time to put an end to the double standard hypocrisy and take it off the list. Thank You, Clem Dominguez

To stop someone from misusing the privilege that they have and using it as a weapon to disrespect people and their families without any consequence. To warn others about this tax preparer and what she is capable of and why she should lose her license. To let others be on guard on a person who would go as far as to hold onto a tax document that does not belong to them and threatening to call the police and refuse to give it back to them.