Make it right , keep it light

I am writing to urge you to co-sponsor H.R. 2692, the Save America's Pollinators Act, which would suspend the use of toxic, bee-killing pesticides until a full review of scientific evidence indicates they are safe and a field study demonstrates they do no harm to bees and other pollinators. Around the world, bees are dying at alarming rates. In June, 50,000 bumble bees were killed in a Target parking lot after neonic pesticides were sprayed on nearby trees -- the largest bumble bee die-off ever recorded. Then, in July, 37 million honey bees died on a single farm in Ontario. These key pollinators need our help. Without immediate action to save bees, which pollinate two-thirds of our food crops, everything from almonds to strawberries could disappear from supermarket shelves. In the last decade the phenomenon of Colony Collapse Disorder has resulted in a sharp decline in honey bee populations around the world. A growing body of scientific evidence points to the widespread and indiscriminate use of a class of neurotoxic pesticides called neonicotinoids as a key factor in this phenomenon. Neonicotinoids are now the most widely used insecticides in the world and their use has been repeatedly shown to have lethal and sub-lethal effects on bees, other pollinators and beneficial insects. The EU has banned these pesticides but the EPA has delayed action until 2018. The bees can’t wait, and neither can we. Congress must take immediate action to protect bees. Please help protect bees and other important pollinators by co-sponsoring H.R. 2692, the Save America's Pollinators Act.

Co-sponsor Rep. Tulsi Gabbard's bill H.R. 608, the Stop Arming Terrorists Act. Use the bill to pressure Saudi Arabia on its ties to Al Qaeda in Yemen.

As Democrats, we urge Rep. & Senate candidate Alan Grayson and Rep. and DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz to stand with Sen. Bill Nelson and Rep. & Senate candidate Patrick Murphy to back the Iran deal.

Clinton, Sanders, and O’Malley should pledge to choose running mates who support the Iran deal, and to not appoint opponents to posts requiring confirmation. Senate Democrats should pledge to oppose confirmation of Iran deal opponents to any position in a Democratic Administration.

Like the Democratic National Committee, we welcome you to the race for the Democratic nomination for President. Please use your influence and your position as a Senator to help remove language endorsing Israeli settlements in the West Bank from the trade bills moving through Congress.

At a public meeting that will be held on December 8, 2025, at Linden School at 5:30 P.M., Pittsburgh’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure (DOMI) will present its initial plan to change traffic patterns, make a portion of S Linden Ave one-way, restrict turns, remove parking spaces, and add pedestrian crosswalks, and bicycle infrastructure in the area of S Linden Ave, Wilkins Ave, and Beechwood Boulevard, in Squirrel Hill / Point Breeze. The plan has been designed as a “Quick-Build” and is set to be implemented in 2026. Read the City’s proposal here. Challenges with the current plans include: 1.    Fails to solve some of the most dangerous existing conditions. 2.    Further complicates already complicated intersections, increasing the likelihood for additional danger to all users. 3.    Prioritizes commuter traffic at the expense of local residents’ ability to navigate the neighborhood safely and conveniently. 4.    Removes street parking from the front of several homes and many businesses, negatively impacting safety and convenience for those residents, their guests, deliveries, and visitors to the businesses. 5.    Fails to provide safer pedestrian crossings to the existing PRT bus stops on Wilkins. 6.    Increases travel times for popular local routes. 7.    Re-routes traffic (school busses, residents’ vehicles, delivery vehicles, business patrons, etc.)  to smaller side streets (Hastings Street, Reynolds Street, Gettysburg Street, Fennimore Street, Edgerton Ave, Glen Arden Drive, Kingston Way, Elysian Street, S Dallas Ave, Conover Road, Sinnet Way, Selwyn Street, Lacy Way), that were not designed to handle this level of traffic. 8.    Does not take into consideration and does not include plans to reduce speeding toward and through the light at S Linden and the five-way intersection.

Democratic Leadership and Candidates - We call on you to Outlaw Fossil Fuels in your first 100 Days, if you are elected to Congressional majorities in November. Vote immediately to pass the Off Fossil Fuels for a Better Future Act (HR 3671), updated to include the following requirements for action. I) Halt all new Fossil Fuel Projects: Effective Immediately, no federal permits for new major fossil fuel projects may be issued or renewed - this includes fossil fuel extraction for oil, gas, or coal as well as fossil fuel infrastructure such as pipelines. II) Accelerate and Legislate the transition to Renewable Energy - By 2020: (1) prohibit the construction of new power plants that will use fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas, oil; and (2) prohibit exports of domestically produced crude oil and natural gas, including liquefied natural gas. By 2025: (1) 80% of electricity sold must be generated from clean energy resources, (2) 80% of new vehicle sales from manufacturers must be sales of zero-emission vehicles, and (3) 80% of train rail lines and train engines must be electrified. By 2030: (1) 100% of electricity must be generated from clean energy resources, (2) 100% of vehicle sales from manufacturers must be zero-emission vehicles, and (3) 100% of train rail lines and train engines must be electrified. III) Tax Fossil Fuels, End Subsidies, and Fund a Universal Basic Income: The bill amends the internal Revenue Code to: (1) tax all imported fossil fuels at a rate of 100 USD per tonne of carbon, with the price increasing at 5% per annum; (2) tax all domestically produced fossil fuels at the point of extraction at 80 USD per tonne of carbon, with the price increasing at 5% per annum; (3) establish a 'Universal Basic Income" account to receive all fossil fuel tax funds, (4) disburse evenly to every U.S. citizen at least annually all collected fossil fuel taxes collected. (5) terminate specified fossil fuel subsidies, (6) permanently extend renewable electricity production tax credits for electricity generated from solar and wind,\; and (7) permanently extend a business energy investment tax credit for solar or wind energy technologies. IV) Fund and Support a Just Transition for all Americans: The bill establishes a car allowance rebate system within the Department of Transportation to provide economic incentives for consumers to purchase new, clean energy vehicles. A Community Assistance Fund is established for specified industrial and energy efficiency programs. The bill permanently reauthorizes the Weatherization Assistance Program, which provides energy efficiency retrofits of low-income homes. The Center for Clean Energy Workforce Development is established within the Department of Labor.

Nationwide teacher strike. Shut America Down until our demands are met! It’s time to wake America up and make changes in our public school systems. What are we asking for? 1. Smaller class sizes. Use the budget more wisely. If in the past tax funds could cover 20 kids per class, with more students there should be enough money to continue. We are requesting 19 students grades k-2 and 25 3-12 grades. Student success depends on this. 2. Behavior support for students with violent or extremely disruptive behaviors. Guaranteed support from behavior interventionists, behavior rooms (immediate, not months or years of fighting for this), stronger counselor support, administrative support to help remove and reform these students to return to the classroom. Teachers and students do should not be hurt by violent behaviors. 3. Reformed professional development and staff meetings that occur during half or full day PD ONLY! No before/after school meetings. The only exceptions will be IEP meetings and after school events. Meetings should be done during work hours and should not exceed the limit set by the state forcing schools to focus on relevant PD. PD that doesn’t always focus on data, but instruction and behavior management. Data won’t go up if teachers aren’t focusing on how to teach and get students engaged. 4. No more annual curriculum changes forcing teachers to constantly change what and how they are teaching. Stick with a curriculum and trust teachers to get students where they need to be. 5. Trust. Less, stressful evaluations and observations. 2-3 observations for teachers with less than 5 years of experience. 1 scheduled observation per year for teachers with more than 5 years of experience. 6. Better Pay. Experienced educators with Masters degrees should not be make an average of 40k per year. That’s about half of what other occupations pay with experience and a masters degree. 7. No summer PD. 8. Teacher buy in. Teachers are experts in education and need to be afforded the right to vote on all central office decisions. Teachers in the classroom know what their students need and do not want money wasted on more programs that were desperately purchased to increase data results. Data will increase if teachers have the supplies they need and support they need. Teachers will be afforded the right to vote on decisions including budget. 9. Less testing. Teachers know their students capabilities without 4 different tests to prove what they already know. 10. Age appropriate curriculum. Kindergarten students need a play based curriculum and less push to be on a 2nd grade level in K. 11. More plan time. Guaranteed 1.5 hours of uninterrupted plan time per day and an uninterrupted 30 minutes for lunch where teachers are not required to do lunch duties.

Dear Governor Brown, California's kids need your help. You have been a leader in the environment, the minimum wage, and other progressive ideals. Don’t let California continue to have the worst child poverty rate in the county. Right now you have a chance to do something about it. AB 1520—The Lifting Children and Families Out of Poverty Task Force—is sitting on your desk, ready to be signed. It’s the critical first step in the effort to reduce childhood poverty in California. Developing a comprehensive plan to dramatically reduce child poverty is an investment in our future. Be a leader on this issue. Please sign the bill today. Sincerely,