We only have two weeks until the budget deadline. We are counting on you as our representative to work across the aisle to pass a budget that 1.) ends the automatic cuts and prevents new cuts to education and vital services; 2.) invests in schools and jobs; and 3.) puts our economy on sound fiscal footing by closing $100 billion in corporate tax loopholes.

Update: August 26, 2015 There have been over 200 mass shootings since we initially posted this petition and horrific shooting events continue to take place across the country. Stronger gun laws won't entirely solve our gun death and injury epidemic, but lawmakers can be part of the solution. We need to keep the pressure on members of Congress to pass a stronger background check bill, among other important gun reforms. Background checks are an important way to stop prohibited people from purchasing guns. In the last 20 years, over 2 million prohibited people have been stopped from buying guns. Nevertheless, holes still exist via online sales, newspaper ads, at gun shows (in most states) and between individuals. Let's remind members of Congress that they have the power to reduce gun deaths and injuries. Send a message to your House and Senate members to finish the job.

BYP100 Chicago is a local Chapter of the Black Youth Project 100, a collective of 18-35 year old Black activists dedicated to achieving freedom and justice for all Black people. We are joining the efforts of Project Nia and Decarcerate Illinois and urging all Illinois residents to call on our State Legislature to oppose SB1342. SB1342 is a policy that criminalizes Black bodies as the source of gun violence in our communities. It does so at the expense of holding gun manufactures and sellers accountable. It will lead to more Black people incarcerated and not get at the root cause of violence within our communities, which is lack of social, economic and political resources.

Newspapers need to stop publishing letters that deny climate change.

In retail, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day are the only two holidays that workers traditionally receive. Now that many stores are choosing to open on Thanksgiving, that break is being taken away, denying retail workers the rare opportunity to spend a holiday with their families. And most of these workers are only being paid minimum wage for their trouble. A holiday should not be a luxury for the rich – all workers deserve time to spend with loved ones.

I am State Rep. Matt Lesser (D-Middletown), and I am introducing legislation to crack down on big box stores who are forcing their employees to work on Thanksgiving. These Thanksgiving Turkeys: WalMart, Macy's, Target, Staples and many other companies each year are forcing their workers to miss Thanksgiving with their families, often with no extra pay. Working Black Friday is bad enough! We need legislation to give workers the freedom to stay home with their families on Thanksgiving, or else give them triple pay if they have to come in to work. Sign this petition and join me in urging the Connecticut legislature and Governor Malloy to take action to protect Thanksgiving and defend real family values.

After not being admitted to a Mental Health facility due to the lack of an available bed, Gus Deeds went on to try and kill his father State Senator Creigh Deeds before taking his own life. Senator Deeds has said “I hope the justice we can get for my son is to force change in the delivery system for mental-health services.” Please stand with me, Senator Deeds and all of those that have been affected by mental illness in urging the Virginia State Legislature to act now. None of us are immune from the threat of mental illness.

Newspapers need to stop publishing letters that deny climate change.

Newspapers need to stop publishing letters that deny climate change.

Andy Craig is running the school district into the ground - financially, policy wise, personnel wise, and instructionally, as well as denying bus transportation to families of all races. House values will plummet if the bus transportation is discontinued.

On Monday night Chris Christie laid out the centerpiece of his second term agenda: another expensive tax cut for New Jersey’s top 1%. Sounding more like someone running for the Iowa Republican caucus than the Governor of a blue state, Christie demanded legislators make even deeper cuts to public investments like education and public safety to make way for his tax cut for the rich. Over the last four years Governor Christie has cut taxes for corporations and the wealthy and paid for it with billions in cuts to our schools and communities, green jobs programs and scholarships for college students. Passing Christie’s ridiculous tax cut would mean even deeper job-killing cuts, and as much as 40% of it would go to New Jersey’s richest 1%. We need to remind our legislators that they were elected to stand strong against Christie’s worst impulses and fight for policies that will benefit working families rather than the wealthy, and we need to do it now.

Since October, when the District announced that the Amherst Regional Public Schools would restrict peanuts and tree nuts, there has been a public debate about the decision. The arguments against this approach have ranged from the shortsighted and insensitive to the inaccurate and outright dangerous. The new practice does not deny anyone of their right to consume nuts in their daily life. It is a restriction on having them in the public schools. We are talking about a six and a half hour day without nut products, not an entire diet. There are plenty of protein sources and nut alternatives available to families. The district has expressed a willingness to work with people who have a significant medical issue that requires an alternate plan. Though there are other medical issues that may require accommodations, there are not other medical issues that could kill a child within minutes and for which there is a simple solution to greatly minimize that risk. While this new practice may require some getting used to, the inconvenience to families and children is minor when weighed alongside the positive impact of this practice on the safety and well-being of children with life-threatening nut allergies. A lot has been said about the economic hardship of purchasing nut butter substitutes to make up for the loss of the "healthy protein source" of peanut butter. While peanut butter alternatives such as Sunbutter and WowButter are more expensive than the cheapest peanut butter brands that include an unhealthy combination of oils and sugars, the truly healthy peanut butter varieties are just as expensive as peanut butter alternatives. There are also countless protein sources aside from nut substitutes. For families experiencing a significant financial challenge there is subsidized lunch, where the cafeterias have been serving nut butter alternatives for years. Attempting to make this a conversation about class is manipulative and diversionary. Some people feel that the whole focus of this issue should be keeping allergic children away from allergens by separating them from peers who consume nuts at school. In fact, a food allergy is a disability under the Americans With Disabilities Act and the recommendation is to manage the disability without exclusion or segregation. There is a significant social and emotional component to living with food allergies and it impacts a child's safety as they grow into an age where they manage their own allergy. This new practice nurtures and protects the whole child. It teaches all of our children an important lesson about taking care of one another and inclusion. There are challenges in this, but there are also gains. Some people argue that children with food allergies should not have the benefit of this accommodation because they should learn to live in the "Real World." In the "Real World" we protect children, and some children need more protection than others. Crossing guards and booster seats and movie ratings are all part of the "Real World." The world is a much scarier place for children with life-threatening allergies. They will spend their whole lives negotiating the challenges associated with their disability. Affording them the chance to learn in an environment where they are not quite as fearful seems like a reasonable accommodation. Perhaps the most outrageous suggestion is the one that parents will be lulled into a state of complacency and our children will become less safe as a result. The allergen is the threat. Greatly reducing it will greatly reduce the threat. Parents of allergic children are painfully aware that nothing will ever eliminate the threat. To suggest that we could ever stop worrying about that is enormously insensitive. To use a fabricated concern for the safety of food allergic children in an effort to diminish a practice that would help them is disingenuous. I am the mother of a child with a life threatening nut allergy. I know why this issue feels so important to me. What I cannot understand is why anyone whose child's life is not in danger would take the time to fight against a practice that represents great progress toward safety and inclusion for a hundred children in our district. Each of those children is a human being and a life. I started this petition because in the process of public debate some of us seem to have forgotten that.