PLASTIC BAG BAN UPDATE, PART 1 Support a ban on single-use plastic bags in Seaside Seaside City Council, MONDAY, MARCH 11, at 7 pm, at Seaside City Hall, 989 Broadway
Tonight INCO's Seaside-Gearhart Community Group will ask the Seaside City Council to ban single-use plastic bags. This group will testify about the impact of these bags on climate change, threats to ocean life, trash, and more. Arrive at City Council by 6:50 so you can get a button made by INCO's Bebe Michel. Attend this meeting to support those speaking, even if you don't speak yourself.
If you can’t attend but want to support a ban, email lauraallen@allenmead.com a statement in support that includes your name and address.
INCO ADVOCACY UPDATE
INCO is tackling a variety of issues suggested by INCO members and then reviewed and endorsed by INCO's Advocacy Team . Mary Beth Cottle, an INCO leader from Cannon Beach, explains why:
"The whole purpose of a thriving democracy is that the environment can be protected, we can have clean energy, healthcare for all, education, etc. If we only focus on getting people elected, but not on what happens next, we fail ourselves, and our future becomes uncertain. Even good people need to know the will of their constituents. That is the purpose of advocacy."
A quick look at Oregon legislative action INCO is taking to improve our democratic society: LEGISLATION INCO ACTION • HB 2509 Sustainable Shopping Initiative Written testimony to Energy committee Partnering with Yamhill Progressives; Sisters Indivisible • HB 2020 Clean Energy Jobs Endorsed, participated in Lobby Day, and submitted testimony Partnering with Renew Oregon • HB 2656 Oregon Safe Waters Act Connecting local activists Partnering with Pacific Rivers • HB 2015 Equal Access to Roads Act Postcards and letters for LCHC to bring to March 26 Lobby Day Partnering with Lower Columbia Hispanic Council • HB 3004 Small Donor Elections INCO letter to Senator Johnson and Representative Mitchell Partnering with Indivisible national
Help INCO and Indivisible make effective and strategic decisions about how we will engage in the 2020 presidential election. Please complete this 2020 Engagement Survey. We will aggregate responses, making them available to members and representing areas of consensus in the group survey we submit to Indivisible.
We value your responses, which you'll need to submit by Wednesday, March 13. Thanks much for your involvement.
TUESDAY CALL OF THE WEEK Call your Members of Congress (MoC) for Indivisible Tuesday
MESSAGE: We need Congress to help families at here and at the border. Ask your MoC to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act and end suffering at the border by passing the Keep Families Together Act, Protect Sensitive Locations Act, the REUNITE Act, and the ICE and CBP Body Camera Accountability Act.
Join with other Oregon Indivisibles and call your MoCs on Tuesday.
After you call,
• WRITE a Letter to the Editor. The Daily Astorian - editor@dailyastorian.com or through their website - publishes up to 250 words. No name-calling. Include your contact information.
IMPEACHMENT?
INCO understands our members have different views on impeachment. Four members attended the DC Need to Impeach summit and will keep us updated with action items for those who are interested.
"During our meeting with Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici in Washington, D.C., she told us that she believes Trump has committed a litany of impeachable offenses, but she needs support from her constituents in order to pursue it. She personally told us that the most important thing we can all do is call her office and push for impeachment. Already called her office and want to do more? Sign up to text others in OR-1 and encourage them to call her office about impeachment, too." -- Beeb Ashcroft, INCO
INCO WORKS ON OREGON LEGISLATION News about climate, jobs, driver's licenses, NPV, plastic bags, health care
• MONDAY CALL-INS FOR CLIMATE
We need to keep the pressure up on our legislators forthe Clean Energy Jobs Bill (CEJ) HB 2020! We know our opponents have deep pockets, so we have to make sure our voices are heard in the legislature. How do we do it? Simple.
Sign up for Monday Call-Ins for Climate. Each Monday March 11 through April 1, Renew Oregon is asking that we call our legislators. It is super easy. Just link here to Renew and then click the RSVP. For those 4 Mondays Renew will provide you a script with key benefits of CEJ HB 2020 and all you have to do is make the call.
• OREGON DRIVER'S LICENSES
Help keep Oregon's roads safer by allowing qualified drivers to get an Oregon driver's license, regardless of citizenship status. You can support HB 2015, the Equal Access to Roads Act by writing a postcards in support of it for the March 26 Lobby Day. Mail or take your postcard to the Lower Columbia Hispanic Council, 818 Commercial, Ste. 100, Astoria, OR 97103. More information here. For talking points, contact incoregon@gmail.com.
• SUPPORT NPV IN OREGON
The National Popular Vote (NPV) bill would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
This legislation has passed the Oregon House 4 times previously, is being re-introduced today with an unprecedented 42 sponsors, and is likely to finally get a vote in the Senate this year.
Contact State Senator Peter Courtney to thank him for committing to bring NPV (SB 870) to a vote in the Oregon Senate, with a hearing scheduled for March 6. He's at 503-986-1600 and sen.petercourtney@oregonlegislature.gov.
Phone your state Senator today. Contact State Senator Betsy Johnson at 503-986-1716 or at Sen.BetsyJohnson@oregonlegislature.gov. Or Send an emailtoday to your state Senator, Representative, and Governor with NPV's convenient email system. State Representative Tiffiny Mitchell is on record as supporting NPV.
• PLASTIC BAG BAN UPDATE, PART 2
With our strong network of advocates, INCO will work with allies to advance progressive initiatives that improve our democratic society. That's what we're doing as we organize in support of local and state bans on single-use plastic bags.
• Please contact your state representative in support of OR 2509, the Sustainable Shopping Initiative, As we expand our activism, please turn out to support INCO's community-based efforts to persuade city councils to implement local bans.
• Write anan online comment each week to stores you shop at asking them to discontinue using plastic bags at checkout, to charge for paper bags, and to motivate customers to bring their own bags. Contact Safeway, Fred Meyer, and other chains where you shop.
• Register for the Health Care for All Oregon Lobby Day April 1 Everybody In, Nobody Out, No Fooling!
Join with supporters for a rousing Lobby Day on Monday, April 1, at the State Capitol in Salem. We expect several hundred of our advocates to gather, meet with our legislators, and make sure our universal healthcare legislative agenda moves forward in the 2019 session. Top of our list is to get a hearing and a vote on SB 770, the Health Care for All Oregon Act, which would create a board to start building a single payer, publicly funded system to guarantee affordable healthcare for every Oregon resident.
Speak up for favorite causes in person with your state legislators. For details, contact incoregon@gmail.com, or look for organizations or bills online.
Thursday, March 14, HB 3349 - Housing Thursday, March 21, HB 2020 - Climate Reality Project/ Cap and Invest - Oregon League of Conservation Voters Tuesday, March 26, HB 2015 - Equal Access to Roads Act - Cause Monday, April 1, SB 770 - Health Care for All Oregon Thursday, April 25, HB 3004 - Small Donor Elections
INCO'S FIRST RALLY • Presidents Day, February 20, 2017
INCO starts our THIRD year with hope, strength, and exciting strategies for local activism. Thanks for all you do to strengthen our democracy and support a progressive agenda.
Campaign Finance Reform and Water
Corporate campaign donations apparently influenced Oregon legislators to degrade Oregon drinking water by allowing aerial pesticide spraying and clearcutting. Grassroots opposition is successfully fighting back!
COMMUNITY RIGHTS: WHAT ARE THEY AND WHERE DID THEY GO? Tuesday, March 12 6 - 8 pm (doors open at 5:30) North Coast Recreation Building 36144 9th Street, Nehalem Hosted by North Coast Communities for Watershed Potection
HAPPENINGS Details on our events page. Everyone is welcome to all these events.
THIS WEEK DATE CHANGE THIS MONTH:Monday, March 11 - Seaside-Gearhart Community Group at Seaside City Council, 7 pm, Seaside City Hall. Details shown above
UPCOMING Wednesday,March 20 - INCO Book Club, 6:30 pm, Astoria; discussing The Square and the Tower: Networks & Power from the Freemasons to Facebook, Niall Ferguson, Penguin Random House, 2018. Email cebeady@outlook.comfor address.
Wednesday, March 20 - Vote the Future (VTF) monthly meeting, 6:30 pm, Seaside Library Board Room
Saturday, March 23 - Warrenton Community Group monthly meeting, 11:30, Dooger's Seafood & Grill, Highway 101, Warrenton
Wednesday, April 3 - Advocacy Team monthly meeting, 6:30 - 8 pm, Seaside Library Board Room
Thursday, April 4 - INCO Table at Ales & Ideas, 7 pm, Lovell Showroom, 426 14th Street, Astoria. Doors open at 6 pm. Food and drink available for purchase. INCO t-shirts and In Our America yard signs available for purchase. The topic is sustainable architecture.
Saturday, April 6 - Astoria Community Group monthly meeting, NEW TIME AND LOCATION: 10 a.m., WineKraft, on the Riverwalk at the foot of 10th. Thanks to WineKraft for hosting us in this room large enough to hold all of us! With a gorgeous view, too.
Tuesday, April 16 - US. Representative Bonamici Town Hall, 6 pm, Clatsop Community College, Columbia Hall 219, 1651 Lexington Avenue, Astoria
Saturday, April 20 - Cannon Beach-Manzanita Community Group table at Cannon Beach Earth Day.
Wednesday, April 24 - US Representative Bonamici Town Hall, 6 pm, Clatskanie Cultural Center, Birkenfeld Theater, 75 South Nehalem Street, Clatskanie
INSIGHTS
"We have to fight for the soul of our democracy. We have to fight for it every day." -- US Representative Elijah Cummings
ACTIONPRIORITIES How will your Members of Congress know what you want if you don't tell them?
• Members of Congress (MoC) care about getting re-elected, so contact ONLY elected officials who represent you so you don't dilute the power of actual constituents. • It's more effective to contact your MoC about one issue at a time. • Be sure to tell your MoC when you agree with their positions and votes.
Come to a meeting and get active with INCO's Advocacy Team, Vote the Future Team, Book Club and Community Groups. Contact Laurie at incoregon@gmail.com for more information.