On March 29, 2020, the state of Ohio shut down. The US Government passed the CARES act to ensure that US Citizens had a necessary financial lifeline to pay their bills in the midst of the global Covid-19 pandemic. The state of Ohio's unemployment system was grossly outdated and lacked the necessary infrastructure to facilitate the federal CARES act to supply Pandemic Unemployment Assistance to millions of Ohioans. As a result, there was a massive delay in providing assistance to those individuals and families who needed it the most. The tip waged, the contract employed, the freelance, gig-workers and the self-employed. These are some of Ohio's lowest paid workforce. The Ohio PUA system did not go live until May 12th, over a month after the shut down, a time when many fell egregiously behind on their bills and struggled to provide. They were assured that back pay would be given. On July 15, the ODJFS erroneously and maliciously flagged over 226,000 Ohioan's PUA claims as fraud, most of which are erroneous flags as these individuals did provide their proof of income, proof of identity and banking information upon filing and these claims were not approved until they did so. The Ohio Unemployment system was already exhaustively overwhelmed by the sheer number of claims which they are responsible to process. Now hundreds of thousands of workers and their families have had their only source of income taken from them without notice, without cause, and without explanation. Calls to the PUA hotline went unanswered as did calls to the adjudication centers. Individuals who did manage to reach a representative were given a plethora of flimsy excuses and outright lies as to what was going on. The reality is, they didn't know either and could offer no help whatsoever. The amount of misinformation provided by the agency was staggering. Calls and letters to the governor, the state representatives, and the news media went ignored for over a week. According to a recent interview with the news media, Kimberly Hall of the ODJFS finally addressed the situation and claimed that these 226,000 individuals are legitimate cases of fraud. She employed this excuse to justify not paying benefits to already struggling Ohio families in the midst of a global pandemic. There is no logical or conscionable reasoning for Ms. Hall's handling of this matter. There is no logical or conscionable reasoning for withholding benefits to individuals who have already submitted their information upon applying for assistance. Above all else, there is no logical or conscionable reasoning for the director of the ODJFS to be so concerned with fraud in the middle of a global pandemic as to go so far as to erroneously deny benefits to hundreds of thousands of Ohioans who are the most at risk for homelessness due to this crisis. With the abundance of resources available, to say that there was no other way to detect and address fraud in this system is not only irresponsible, but an immense dereliction of her duty to the people of Ohio to whom she is responsible for assisting. The reasons Ms. Hall has cited do not hold up. Her reasons were that individuals were having their personal bank accounts compromised, particularly online banking institutions and prepaid card systems. It is the responsibility of the individual and their financial institution to investigate fraudulent transactions to their personal bank accounts. It is the agency's duty to ensure those individuals are paid on time. Stopping the payments injures innocent citizens and does nothing to punish the criminals. Other reasons cited were failure to prove identity or income, to which each application could not be approved without, and if so, that responsibility falls on those who approved the claims without verifying the information from the start. The excuses are invalid, there is no justification in the world that the state of Ohio or the ODJFS can provide which can justify the course of action that they used to address this matter and their own incompetence. The already overburdened unemployment system cannot support the abundance of claims it currently has. We've spent 81 million on this failed system and now will require many more millions of dollars to adequately train and employ enough workers to facilitate the correction of Ms. Hall's incompetence. In the meantime, 226,000+ Ohioans are at risk of being homeless by next week when their rent or mortgages are unable to be paid. Children will go hungry as the lifeline providing for them has been unceremoniously cut without remorse or resolution. The freeze on evictions and foreclosures has been lifted and the food banks are empty. Ohio has failed it's most at risk populations by the choices and political motivations of one individual. This issue requires IMMEDIATE resolution to those affected. If Ms. Hall and the ODJFS is incapable of fulfilling that resolution, then further action by the State of Ohio to ensure that IMMEDIATE action is taken to prevent homelessness, hunger and poverty to those impacted by this crisis. The people of Ohio deserve answers. They deserve to be paid. They deserve a state that is aimed to see them succeed in the midst of this crisis. In the midst of a pandemic, there is a responsibility to ensure the livelihoods of ALL Ohioans, this was the very PURPOSE of the federal CARES act and the PUA. Ms. Hall has utilized this opportunity to facilitate an unnecessary fraud investigation against the people of Ohio with regard to their financial institutions. It is the responsibility of the individual and their financial institution to determine fraud, and is a gross overreach of the ODJFS Director. The State of Ohio has ignored its citizens for too long in this matter and immediate resolution is now sought.

Free and fair elections are the bedrock of American democracy. Trump’s call to delay them indefinitely - after months of spreading lies and misinformation about mail-in ballots - is authoritarianism plain and simple! With less than 100 days until the general election, Trump is doubling down on his attempts to reject election results he doesn’t like. And unless we call him out - and hold Democratic leadership, and every single elected official across the US who still cares about democracy to account, there's no telling what he and his enablers will do come election day. We need millions calling on Congress and every elected member of the GOP to shut down this blatantly dangerous, authoritarian, and anti-American move. Ring the Alarm: don’t let Trump get away with wrecking our democracy even more than he already has.

Donald Trump has suggested delaying the November election "until people can properly, securely, and safely vote". But we CAN vote safely, and we will. Fortunately, Donald Trump does not have the power to set the election day -- only Congress can do that. Members of Congress: Donald Trump's assault on our democracy has gone far enough. You cannot allow him to undercut the most fundamental check on his power, the popular vote. You must forcefully and unequivocally reject any suggestion from Trump to delay his judgement day at the ballot box, November 3, 2020.

CSAM is a global crisis that exists in every corner of the internet. Increasingly, these horrific images feature very young children --infants and toddlers -- and are growing more violent and extreme. The coronavirus pandemic has created an explosion of CSAM, with reports increasing 400% over the past few months. Last year tech companies made 17 million reports of CSAM. Of those 17 million, Amazon made 8. Other big companies made hundreds of thousands to millions of reports, but Amazon, with the third of the internet they control, only made 8 reports. By failing to find and report CSAM, Amazon is hurting kids and creating a safe space for child predators to buy, sell, store, and share these illegal images. Amazon's refusal to report CSAM is part of a growing trend of big tech companies pushing the full responsibility of keeping kids safe online onto parents -- many of whom are now in the impossible position of working, parenting, teaching, and policing technology all at the same time. Tech companies like Amazon are making billions off families, and they must share the responsibility to keep kids safe. By proactively searching for and reporting CSAM photos and videos, Amazon could save thousands of children from abuse and revictimization. Parents across the country are demanding Amazon do their part to keep kids safe online by finding and reporting CSAM.

The damaging impact and ripple effects of Christopher Hickman's violence against Johnnie Rush extend far beyond their individual stories. Hickman’s violent actions cut open deep and historic wounds in the relationship between the Asheville Police Department and the Black community of Asheville, long overdue for healing. This Restorative Justice case will set a precedent one way or the other for the future of Restorative Justice in Asheville. On a national level, this case will set a precedent for the use of Restorative Justice in other cases of police violence. If done poorly, or cut short, this Restorative Justice process will only exacerbate the breach of trust between the Asheville community and the police department and will not lead to healing. We want to see Restorative Justice uphold the principles of equity, inclusion, and healing in this case and in all future cases. What we need for healing: * To make sure the voices of the black and brown community are heard relative to what has happened to Mr. Rush brought about by Mr. Hickman. * To ensure that Mr. Hickman along with Asheville Police Chief David Zack, take part in a meaningful facilitated dialogue with the impacted community (not just a few cherry-picked individuals) to talk about and agree on what can heal the harm. * To ensure that Mr. Hickman and the Asheville Police Department follow through with their agreements. Click here to see bodycam footage of the incident: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOR2P-nA3xI #AVLCantBreathe

This is important because across the world, we're seeing the rise of right-wing governments that continue to use hateful rhetoric and especially from the Trump Administration, we're seeing the impact of what happens when people like Stephen Miller have unchecked power to create exclusionary and destructive domestic policy as it pertains to immigration. We need to take action and demand Mr. Singh's release. Read about what happened with Mr. Singh here: https://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/immigration-case-new-hyde-park-1.47257516

The federal moratorium banning evictions ended on July 31, and as many as 23 million renters could get evicted from their homes by the end of September. And it's not only the low-income families who are at risk of losing their homes. There are many wealthier families now facing homelessness for the first time. When all of these families are evicted from their homes, they may end up homeless or have to navigate our nation's overcrowded and sometimes dangerous shelter systems—during a health pandemic. The executive director of Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio warns: "I've never seen this many people poised to lose their housing in a such a short period of time. This is a huge disaster that is beginning to unfold." The president of the National Low Income Housing Coalition is sounding the alarm: "The wave of evictions has already begun, and now Congress needs to act to prevent it from becoming a tsunami." Millions of American families are living in fear. The families' breadwinners lost their jobs; they've lost their federal unemployment benefits because Congress let them expire on July 31; and now they're facing a countdown to eviction. Putting families out on the street, especially now, is unconscionable, and it will hurt our nation's children. A researcher on evictions writes that "the end of the moratoriums might mean millions of students lose their homes just as the school year starts, beginning the semester dogged by a process that would throw their lives into even greater chaos." Kids staying in homeless shelters or sharing crowded homes will have a very tough time learning, especially because they likely won't have access to internet to participate in classes online. And kids may even go hungry because living on the brink of eviction results in "a 450 percent increase in child food insecurity." Millions of Americans and their children are at risk of homelessness. We are demanding Congress immediately pass a long-term moratorium on evictions to protect them.

Buried in the 177-page GOP COVID-19 relief proposal are BILLIONS of dollars for weapons of war wish list: fighter jets, helicopters, and missile defense systems. That’s right, while they’re nickel and diming families who desperately need protections and benefits to put food on their tables and keep roofs over their heads — Senate Republicans are ready to hand out $29 BILLION for Pentagon pet projects completely unrelated to COVID-19. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has the power to reject this absurd proposal and stop it entering the final bill, because nothing the Senate has proposed can become law without House approval. Add your name to tell Speaker Pelosi: NO COVID-19 relief money for weapons of war!

To bring about police reform so that the police will respect our community first before they attempt to protect and serve us As well as work towards gaining the respect of all of our citizens.

The freedom to assemble in the United States is a fundamental right protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, part of the Bill of Rights, and by the constitutions of most U.S. states.

We need to get the virus under control with proper tools in place. Other countries have mobile telephone apps to assist Contact Tracers in targeting infected people and groups. We are way behind in the US and particularly in Florida. We need to demand better services so that we can resume our lives and build the economy. This should be Federally mandated but if all States take action, we will be in a better place more quickly.

On July 22, 2020, the Department of Labor & Industries announced the launch of a new spoken language interpreting scheduling system with Interpreting Works starting in Fall 2020. The Department of Labor & Industries is requesting that all interpreters enroll now. This is a real-time listing of available interpreting jobs located in proximity, accessible through mobile devices or a home PC. It also syncs jobs assignments with calendars and provides electronic invoicing for PROMPT PAYMENT. Who is responsible for paying the Language Access Providers? The Department of Labor & Industries or Interpreting Works? Under RCW 41.56.113 (2) “This Subsection (2) applies only if the state does not make the payments directly to the language access provider. Upon the authorization of a language access provider within THE BARGAINING UNIT and after CERTIFICATION or RECOGNITION of the BARGAINING UNIT’S exclusive bargaining representative, the state SHALL require through its contracts with third parties that” a. The payment of monthly union dues as certified by the secretary of the exclusive bargaining representative be deducted from the payments to the language access provider and transmitted to the treasure of the exclusive bargaining representative. Labor & Industries is implementing SSB 6245 affecting language access providers without a Collective Bargaining Unit in place. The state of Washington introduced a House Bill 2691 as amended by the Senate in the 2020 regular session relating Collective Bargaining for Language Access Providers, Approved by Governor Inslee on April 2, 2020. This amendment gives the right to language access providers from the Department of Labor & Industries under RCW 41.56.030 to have a “Bargaining Representative” for collective bargaining to a lawful organization. The Scope of collective bargaining for language access providers is limited solely to: 1. Economic Compensation such as the manner and rate of payments, including tiered payments. 2. Professional development and training. 3. Labor-management committees. 4. Grievance procedures. 5. Health and welfare benefits; and other economic matters. The “Exclusive Bargaining Representative” of language access providers in the unit specified in (a) of this subsection shall be representative CHOSEN IN AN ELECTION conducted pursuant to RCW 41.56.070. Governor Inslee, Interpreters Rising is a labor movement organization that encourages the practice to have a collective bargaining unit, the practice to organize, the practice to unionize. The Department of Labor & Industries is acting unilaterally without a bargaining representative to represent language access providers. Such action constitutes a violation of our labor rights. Due to the unprecedented nature of the Coronavirus Pandemic Crisis, Labor Organizations have not been allowed to hold group campaigns or union card signing events as we are observing and adhering to social distancing guidelines set forth by your office. However, Labor & Industries Language Access Providers deserve the freedom to choose their representative by election. The right to fair working conditions, and the right to Unionize! We are calling on you to please take prompt action and delay SSB 6245 from taking effect until June 30, 2021.