What you should know and some opportunities to make a difference. There may be only a few more chances to stand up and be counted before most of these terrible bills including brutal budget bills are ratified and then signed by Governor McCrory. Our weekly NC NOW legislative updates include many bills we are tracking, but we can’t fit the whole story of each bill. Just the NC Senate Budget bill is 413 pages, all by itself. But I will mention a few of the more heinous parts to give you some ideas. I have been emailing NC NOW’s legislative updates to members and other people I know are interested in women’s issues. Thanks so much to long term NOW activist Robin Davis for writing them up so well and in a timely manner.
I hope that articles and the legislative updates will shock and appall you, and then will motivate you to make a difference. One big impact you can have is by joining us at the Moral Monday protests. I have seen many of you at earlier protests (Moral Mondays, Not in Her Shoes, ERA Rally), and as the protests get bigger, I see more people I know (and more I don’t know, also good!) The focus of the June 24 Moral Monday protest is on Women’s Issues and Economic/Labor Issues. Thanks to a few great women for getting Women’s Issues on the agenda! Just in time – as the frenzy to pass bad laws is speeding up. Governor McCrory signed 56 bills on Wednesday, Jun 19, including the bill to repeal the Racial Justice Act (Senate Bill 306). It is painful to see this state move so radically in the wrong direction. First I have some more information for you. Then I have things you can do to help. We CAN make a difference, and certainly we are recognized as trying to change things with all of these huge protests!
Things you should know!
I need to share Martin Dyckman’s opinion piece in the Asheville Citizen-Times on 6/19/13. He is a former editor at Florida’s St. Petersburg Times. He said in part
“I covered politics throughout a long career in journalism without ever seeing a legislative session as overwhelmingly radical as that of the current General Assembly.
It’s an orgy of meanness, prejudice, nastiness, cruelty, shortsightedness, selfishness, spite, arrogance and conscious brutality. Three examples, among many, are the cynical forfeiture of extended unemployment insurance, expansion of Medicaid and repeal of the earned income tax credit. Now, they’re hatching a tax scheme that will increase the burdens of the poor and middle class, give a windfall to the wealthy and impose more destructive cuts on the schools and colleges.”
He does a great job of summing it up. It really is that bad. Worse, for women and families, public education, and more.
Any measure that hurts the poor hurts women and children disproportionately.
Here is an overview of the House budget with references to the NC Senate budget from North Carolina Justice Center’s NC Policy Watch. The people in this progressive organization really know their stuff. The emphasis with caps is mine.
“In the Health and Human Services area, the House Budget provides $434 million in FY2014 to fully fund the projected enrollment growth in the number of people eligible for the Medicaid Program. However, similar to the Senate proposal, IT LIMITS THE NUMBER OF DOCTOR VISITS COVERED for participants from 22 to 10 visits, RAISES CO-PAYS, and lower reimbursement rates for providers. The Senate budget KICKS PREGNANT WOMEN OFF MEDICAID!!!! The House budget keeps pregnant women on Medicaid. “
WHAT ARE THEY THINKING????? Talk about inserting oneself in the doctor patient relationship - limiting visits to the doctor - unconscionable! And kicking pregnant women off Medicaid? Did they think we wouldn't notice?
http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2013/06/10/overview-of-the-house-budget-proposal-with-an-eye-to-the-impact-on-low-income-north-carolinians/
But I want you to realize there is a SERIOUS War On Women going on here. Any measure that hurts the poor hurts women and children disproportionately. We need to be aware and speak up! A lot!
Did you know..
Women are more likely than men to be poor at all stages of their lives because of ongoing employment discrimination and greater responsibilities for unpaid caregiving. As a result, women and their families disproportionately rely on federal programs to protect their health, obtain quality child care and higher education, and help them meet their basic needs during difficult times and as they age.
Women who head families and elderly women are especially reliant on programs for low-income people.
Women are over two-thirds of the elderly poor.
More than one in ten women 65 and older was poor in 2011.
(My sources are at www.nwlc.org, links on the NC NOW National Organization for Women facebook page).
What you can do!
First of all, let me encourage each and every one of you to join us at the next Moral Monday protest at Halifax Mall, between the 2 legislative buildings in downtown Raleigh, at 5pm. If you are willing to get arrested, you need to contact the NC NAACP beforehand to have them review your situation and help you make arrangements. Also, you need to meet with them at 3pm for instructions.
You can write letters to the editor for your local paper, many many people read them. Talk to friends and family. And share articles on Facebook, if you use it. NC NOW National Organization For Women has an active and busy facebook pages with articles of state and national interest. ‘Like’ us to stay up to date and in touch!
You help us be able to communicate with you (email, newsletter, facebook and websites), to provide Legislative Updates for you and continue our work, by supporting and in some other ways by being a member of NC NOW. Please join or donate asap! Contact me and I can check your membership status. A membership form is attached, in case you like to take care of things when you see them, like I do!
I hope to see as many people as possible (ideally each and every one of you!) at the next Moral Monday protest at 5pm at Halifax Mall in Raleigh. The people doing Civil Disobedience go in at 6pm, but there are still things to do after that.
-Gailya Paliga
President, NC NOW
p.s. Another thing to do is join and support organizations that look after your interests which are likely women and families' interests. You can find a join or donate form from Raleigh NOW at Join or donate - download file
Many women's groups worked together to make a great handout on threats to women as a result of this conservative legislature for the Mass Moral Monday protest on 6/24/13. The list of groups is at the end of the document, which is only 2 pages. Take a look!
News flash! Women's issues, labor issues and economic issues are the focus of today's Moral Monday protest. Join us if you can! The speakers begin at 5, but our citizens who want to be heard but are willing to get arrested walk across to the Legislative Building at 6, and people stay and go around to the prison busses and rally there.
You really need to join us! Our representatives are turning a deaf ear to our pleas for mercy and compassion!
So much is happening so fast! Governor McCrory signed 56 bills last Wednesday, Jun 19, including SB306 to repeal the Racial Justice Act (RJA). This means it will now be easier to execute people of color who may have been condemned to death through racial bias.
There have been many appeals from many organizations and individuals to change course or at least to make the laws a little less painful. On Jul 1, 2013, 70,000 long-term unemployed workers will lose their federal emergency unemployment benefits. At least another 70,000 laid off workers will lose their emergency benefits before the end of the year. According to NC Justice Center and in their article "Last In Decency" at http://www.ncpolicywatch.com/2013/06/21/last-in-decency/, "It does not have to happen and extending the benefits for another six months won’t cost the state a dime. They would be paid with federal funding." Jul 1 is a week from today!!
You can call your representatives and tell them how you feel about specific bills, but another thing you can do is join us at today's Moral Monday protest. They keep getting bigger, as they should, since so many NC citizens are being hurt by these bills. Please join us!
On to exciting news. We told you in the email sent with NC NOW's legislative update last week that two Fayetteville NOW members were arrested as they'd planned to be (Judy Lowe and Debbie Liebers) during last week's Moral Monday on June 17. They have a wonderful op-ed about why they chose arrest in the Fayetteville Observer. Find it at http://fayobserver.com/articles/2013/06/23/1264726?sac=fo.opinion Their article really covers a lot of ground! Please take a look. You'll be glad you did!
A link to pictures, including ones of Judy and Debbie, are at the NC NOW National Organization for Women facebook page (and with the Fayetteville Observer article). They look strong and determined.
Thanks so much to them for their sacrifice and their awesome article! But we don't need to be arrested to make a difference. Just show up at Halifax Mall, next to the Legislative Office Building downtown at 5pm.
Wear dark purple if you can. We'll have some purple ribbons if you don't have purple. I would love to see a sea of purple in the crowd!
Actions: Read Judy and Debbie's article. Join us at the Mass Moral Monday today! Wear purple if you can!
The weekly Moral Monday demonstrations and non-violent civil disobedience at the General Assembly continue. On Jun 10th, eighty-four people were arrested, including many members of the clergy and a reporter for the Charlotte Observer who was inside the General Assembly doing his job. Also both Christian and Jewish leaders released letters in support of the civil disobedience and Moral Monday actions. Governor McCrory and the Chair of the North Carolina Republican Party both claimed that the demonstrators were “outsiders.” However, a check of those arrested showed that 98% had North Carolina addresses. During this week's Moral Monday on June 17, two Fayetteville NOW members will be arrested (Judy Lowe and Debbie Liebers).
Please join us at these protests. Other means of softening cruel bills are not working.
Next Moral Mondays - June 17 and June 24. We'll see about Jul 1.