Our local Swing Left group is organizing another round of postcard writing. The Rockport event is on Sept 21st, but there are events around the Cape.

I will let the group explain in a letter that came over the transom this morning, from Swing Left.

“

This is a great presentation about the value of trees in the fight to control the effects of climate change, that was given recently to the Rockport Garden Club https://rockportgardenclub.org/.

A big contribution to the future of your neighborhood, street and the world can be made simply by planting and nurturing the right trees and bushes in your own yard.

If you are a new homeowner in town, our local garden club is not just the group that makes the town properties look so fabulous, although they are that. They are also leaders in town efforts to combat climate change, preserve wetlands, and reduce contamination of our water table and runoff into the ocean.

And, they have a hardworking volunteer Invasive Species group that helps homeowners follow the proper process necessary to rid their property of invasive growth in a safe and legal manner and plant service providing trees and bushes in its wake.

The US Senate worked through the weekend to advance HR 3684, the INVEST in America Act. This page describes the current state of H.R. 3684, its Cosponsors, Text and Amendments.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3684

Brief summary from congress.gov:

‘Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation in America Act or the INVEST in America Act

This bill addresses provisions related to federal-aid highway, transit, highway safety, motor carrier, research, hazardous materials, and rail programs of the Department of Transportation (DOT).

Among other provisions, the bill

• extends FY2021 enacted levels through FY2022 for federal-aid highway, transit, and safety programs;
• reauthorizes for FY2023-FY2026 several surface transportation programs, including the federal-aid highway program, transit programs, highway safety, motor carrier safety, and rail programs;
• addresses climate change, including strategies to reduce the climate change impacts of the surface transportation system and a vulnerability assessment to identify opportunities to enhance the resilience of the surface transportation system and ensure the efficient use of federal resources;
• revises Buy America procurement requirements for highways, mass transit, and rail;
• establishes a rebuild rural bridges program to improve the safety and state of good repair of bridges in rural communities;
• implements new safety requirements across all transportation modes; and
• directs DOT to establish a pilot program to demonstrate a national motor vehicle per-mile user fee to restore and maintain the long-term solvency of the Highway Trust Fund and achieve and maintain a state of good repair in the surface transportation system.’

Swing Left North Shore/Cape Ann is working again with Common Cause and Swing Blue Alliance on S1 – this time writing to activists in Delaware and asking them to call Sen. Coons and make sure he is doing EVERYTHING to pass *S1. Sen. Coons is a good friend of Pres. Biden so his enthusiastic support for S1 and doing what has to be done with regard to the filibuster to get it passed is one more important step in this process!  

ROCKPORT, Tuesday, July 20, 3-6pm, Diane Vella’s

RSVP https://www.mobilize.us/swingleftnorthshore/event/401597/

Packets of 50 cards with address labels and very short message – $5 to me for the postcards (cash, check or Venmo @Alix-Smullin) – and of course you will need 50 36-cent postcard stamps.

Please use the links above to RSVP – for other questions email alix.smullin@gmail.com or text 781-696-6188.

Thanks, Alix, Ruth, Diane, Sandy, Chris, Liz, and Lynn

*NOTE:  S1

Introduced in Senate (03/17/2021)

For the People Act of 2021

This bill addresses voter access, election integrity and security, campaign finance, and ethics for the three branches of government. 

Specifically, the bill expands voter registration (e.g., automatic and same-day registration) and voting access (e.g., vote-by-mail and early voting). It also limits removing voters from voter rolls.

The bill requires states to establish independent redistricting commissions to carry out congressional redistricting.

Additionally, the bill sets forth provisions related to election security, including sharing intelligence information with state election officials, supporting states in securing their election systems, developing a national strategy to protect U.S. democratic institutions, establishing in the legislative branch the National Commission to Protect United States Democratic Institutions, and other provisions to improve the cybersecurity of election systems.

Further, the bill addresses campaign finance, including by expanding the prohibition on campaign spending by foreign nationals, requiring additional disclosure of campaign-related fundraising and spending, requiring additional disclaimers regarding certain political advertising, and establishing an alternative campaign funding system for certain federal offices.

The bill addresses ethics in all three branches of government, including by requiring a code of conduct for Supreme Court Justices, prohibiting Members of the House from serving on the board of a for-profit entity, and establishing additional conflict-of-interest and ethics provisions for federal employees and the White House.

The bill requires the President, the Vice President, and certain candidates for those offices to disclose 10 years of tax returns.