Our communities are facing life and death issues on a daily basis and the dysfunction in the Republican controlled Federal Government is only making these situations worse. The Federal Government's fiscal year started over a hundred days ago but we still don't have a budget from the Republican controlled Congress. This means our communities are running out of funding for critical programs to fight the opioid epidemic, fund healthcare for children (CHIP) and fix DACA for Dreamers. Drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in the US and opioid addiction is driving this epidemic. Every year, 20,000 people die from overdose related to prescription pain relievers. Donald Trump declared the opioid epidemic a national emergency late last year but aside from a press conference his actions have had almost no impact to help real people. The small amount of money he set aside to combat the crisis is set to expire on January 23. If that’s not bad enough, nine million children and 370,000 pregnant women receive health care because of CHIP, a healthcare program for families who make too much money to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford private insurance. But funding for CHIP expired in September and yet Congress hasn’t acted to permanently fund the program despite the fact that money for CHIP is starting to run out. And in September, Donald Trump ended the DACA program putting the lives of 800,000 young people at risk. These are young Americans who grew up in America. They put their faith in our government, came forward, passed background checks, and were given a shot at the American dream. Nearly 15,000 of these young people have already lost their status and can no longer legally work or drive in the United States. Every single day, another 122 young Americans lose their DACA status. And unless Congress acts soon, the number of people losing their DACA will increase to over 1,000 a day. That’s absolutely unthinkable. Enough is enough. We need a budget to fund the Government. Please join with us and demand that Congress must pass a budget that fights opioids, permanently funds children's healthcare (CHIP), and fixes DACA for Dreamers!

Increasing development is rampantly pushing longtime Tacoma residents out of their neighborhoods, disproportionately impacting Black residents and residents of color, and many low-income residents. While rent increases of these rates are not illegal, they are immoral. We must take a stand for Madrona Park tenants - for housing and racial justice!

President Donald Trump is a bigoted climate denier. So is Congressman Jim Bridenstine (R-OK), Trump's embattled nominee for NASA Administrator. So why is Bill Nye "very pleased" to be Bridenstine's guest at Trump's first State of the Union address? These are Bridenstine's own words on climate: "Mr. Speaker, global temperatures stopped rising 10 years ago. Global temperature changes, when they exist, correlate with Sun output and ocean cycles. During the Medieval Warm Period from 800 to 1300 A.D.—long before cars, power plants, or the Industrial Revolution—temperatures were warmer than today. During the Little Ice Age from 1300 to 1900 A.D., temperatures were cooler. Neither of these periods were caused by any human activity." Here's Donald Trump: "In the East, it could be the COLDEST New Year’s Eve on record. Perhaps we could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming that our Country, but not other countries, was going to pay TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS to protect against. Bundle up!" (Also: "Global warming is based on faulty science and manipulated data which is proven by the emails that were leaked" and "The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive" and dozens more.) Jim Bridenstine's vision for NASA—articulated in his own legislation—is one of militarization, privatization, and killing off science research. NASA’s 19,000 employees and the many thousands of additional contracted workforce come in all creeds, colors, ages, sizes, genders, sexual orientations, religious belief systems, and political parties. But Bridenstine has said that same-sex marriage is "contrary to millennia of human experience" and that bathroom protections for transgender people are "lawless federal bullying." Like Trump, Bridenstine is a misogynist. He voted against the Violence Against Women Act, saying it "misallocates scarce federal resources," and dismissed Trump's braggadocio about sexual assault as "locker room talk." Like Trump, Bridenstine is an Islamophobe, championing Trump's Muslim travel ban and regularly working with anti-Muslim hate groups such as Frank Gaffney's Center for Security Policy and the David Horowitz Freedom Center. Jim Bridenstine is an extremist partisan who has taken $173,350 in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry and $89,000 from the military aerospace industry, but has no STEM-related education or experience. He has no experience leading an agency or organization of this size or caliber. And then there's Trump, who Nye will be implicitly endorsing with his presence, even while Trump increases his attacks on scientists, the media, immigrants, women, the American people. Bill Nye is planning to be Bridenstine's guest in his role as the president of the Planetary Society, founded in 1980 by esteemed scientist and humanist Carl Sagan to "introduce people to the wonders of the cosmos, bridging the gap between the scientific community and the general public to inspire and educate people from all walks of life." Now, as Sagan's successor, Bill Nye plans to embrace those whose clear mission is to suppress scientists, demean knowledge, and foment bigotry, hatred, and oppression. The Planetary Society says Bill isn't "endorsing" Bridenstine's nomination by going as his guest, and his appearance will "educate and inform members of Congress and the Administration, including the President’s Cabinet." The Bridenstine team has already used Bill Nye's embrace to promote the nomination. It's hard to expect that a handshake from Bill Nye will be more convincing than the Koch brothers's billions. Bill, please be the Science Guy, not the Bigoted Climate Denial Guy. Cancel your plans to attend Trump's State of the Union as Rep. Bridenstine's guest.

California must lead the way in campaign and political transparency. The state has already passed the California Disclose Act for television ads and is working on a disclosure petition for voter petitions. The internet is another important medium that should be subject to the same rules of disclosure and transparency.

The Marijuana Justice Act is a bill, that if passed, will legalize marijuana at the federal level and go even further in an effort to remedy many of the failures of the War on Drugs.

Allowing oil drilling in any part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) not only defeats the entire purpose of calling it a wildlife refuge, it also sets a dangerous precedent for exploiting other national wildlife refuges, and even national monuments or national parks. Drilling in ANWR would destroy one of our last pristine, wild places that endangered and threatened species depend upon for their very survival. The Coastal Plain, where drilling has been proposed, is the calving ground of the Porcupine caribou herd, and sacred to the Gwich'in people, who have subsisted on the caribou for thousands of years.

My son passed away October 28th, 2017 at the age of 16 months and there is no explanation. After he passed away I got into contact with the SUDC foundation who told me all these wonderful services they offer and through them I found out that research for SUDC isn't government funded. Why? I don't believe any parent should wake up to their baby gone. We have the money to find out why it's happening. It's not just happening in America. Children and babies all over the world pass away unexpectedly and I believe we can try much harder then we are now to figure out why and what causes it. Please, I hope whoever is reading this it gets through to you. Researchers involved with the study, published in the journal Acta Neuropathologica, found that infants who die from SIDS and SUDC often have low levels of an important brain protein that is thought to play a significant role in sleep arousal. It's believed that some children who die from sudden infant death syndrome did not have enough orexin, a brain protein that helps manage wakefulness and that would alert them to wake up should their oxygen intake be compromised due to rolling over or sleeping face down. There are 2k deaths per year ruled to be SIDS and 1 in 4 deaths of 100,000 live births are ruled SUDC. And that is only the United States. Imagine the total number worldwide.

The ERA is long overdue and in this age of 'me too' and 'Time's Up' we could get this done now.

We believe the proposed curriculum changes will not be beneficial to all academic levels.

I am an American Citizen and business owner I think it is wrong to use an organization that is mandated to protect an individuals rights to health care to purposely limit that care because of the care providers personal belief. A broad interpretation of this policy could potentially affect any American .

VIRGINIA SCHOLARSHIP PLAN 1. The purpose of this program is to break the generational cycle of poverty. 2. Unspent TANF funds will finance a four-year pilot test to educate eligible TANF students at the Richard Bland College or at select Virginia Community Colleges. Two hundred students from families eligible to receive TANF assistance will be awarded scholarships for tuition, fees, and books. The average award is estimated at $4,000 per year for two years. 3. By 2020, 65 percent of all jobs will require postsecondary education and training beyond high school, with 35 percent requiring a bachelor's degree and 30 percent requiring some college or an associate's degree. 4. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that education or vocational training beyond high school can yield substantial earnings gains. Over their lifetimes, young adults with higher education or vocational credentials will pay more taxes and need less government assistance to meet their basic needs. 5. In states like Florida and Arkansas, successful scholarship programs funded by TANF federal grant funds have educated thousands of impoverished students and liberated them from a life of poverty. 6. Take Stock In Children currently operates in every Florida county. Its mere existence breaks the cycle of poverty for low-income, academically qualified students by providing opportunities for a post-secondary education. The program currently serves 23,000 children throughout 67 Florida counties. 7. In three other states, Massachusetts, Wyoming, and Montana, TANF Funds have been put to use funding scholarships for students who were children of eligible TANF recipients. The effect of these students successfully completing higher education or workforce credentials in their community colleges is to release them from the cycle of poverty and change them from dependents to tax paying citizens in the new economy. 8. The proposed program, to be funded entirely with unused federal TANF funds, can break the cycle of poverty. It can provide higher education for hundreds of academically qualified students. And it will create taxpayers out of previously likely lifetime dependents on public assistance and financial support. The program will provide college financial aid to qualified students who do not have access to other means of financial aid to pursue higher education.

The SF Fur Ban has already passed the first vote! Help us make sure it passes the final vote, happening later this month. Every year over 50 million animals, including dogs and cats, are confined and killed in the fur industry. Many of these animals, like foxes, rabbits and minks are kept in small cages for their entire lives where they go insane from boredom and stress. In order to prevent damage to their skins, these animals are gassed to death or anally and vaginally electrocuted. Other animals, like coyotes, are trapped in the wild where they are separated from their children and endure days of suffering before they are bludgeoned or shot to death. Given this brutality, other progressive cities, such as West Hollywood and Berkeley, have passed bans on fur products. Gucci, Michael Kors, and other designers have recently prohibited the use of fur in their fashion lines. And just a few days ago, the nation of Norway committed to ending the production of fur. By taking this action, San Francisco will continue its history of protecting the most vulnerable from cruelty and violence and become the first major city in the world to take a stand against the brutality of the fur industry. I urge you to support this vital legislation. Animals just like our dogs and cats are counting on us, and I’m grateful for your support.