Pennsylvania state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe may have gutted HB 722, the redistricting reform bill -- an action which should cost him his job, though he's left such a long trail of slime I wonder what it'll take to get his district's voters to put someone-anyone-else in there -- but Fair Districts PA is on top of it, by helping you tell your PA state legislators to support SB 22 and a new House companion bill, HB 563. HB 563 is actually stronger then SB 22, in that it does more to prevent municipalities and counties getting split up across districts, and why not? The spirit of compromise is overrated, especially when the forces of evil only see your efforts to compromise with them as weakness, and take it as a cue to demand more and more and more from you. So let's give them some of their own medicine, and see how quickly they whine that we're mean to them.
Meanwhile, in a related note, Delaware's state legislature is also mulling an actual bipartisan bill, SB 27, that would create an independent commission to redraw state districts every 10 years, rather than continue to let politicians draw up their self-serving Rorschach blot districts that ensure their re-election but don't serve their constituents. Some folks may reasonably ask why we should take redistricting power from our representatives, rather than make them draw fair districts, since we're constantly trying to make our representatives do their job in so many other areas. Answer's simple: representation is a tool of democracy, not an end product, and if we can create a representative body that'll do a better, fairer job, we should. Hence Common Cause Delaware helps you tell Delaware state legislators to support fair redistricting by supporting SB 27.
Meanwhile, H.R. 4815/S. 1689, the Marijuana Justice Act, would remove pot from Schedule I classification under the Controlled Substances Act -- which is so, so overdue, since pot is nowhere near as dangerous as other Schedule I drugs like heroin -- and would end criminal penalties for folks who use or distribute pot. The bill would also expunge previous convictions for pot use or distribution, reduce funding to states that make a disproportionate number of pot-related arrests, and would even establish a Community Reinvestment Fund directed at helping "communities most affected by the war on drugs." So, this bill would legalize pot, empty the jails of folks convicted of using or selling pot, and even reinvest money in communities devasted by the "war on drugs." Sounds pretty comprehensive to me! And then in a few years we can lump pot in with tobacco and alcohol, like we should have been doing all along. CREDO helps you tell your Congressfolk to support the Marijuana Justice Act.
Finally, back in Pennsylvania, the reactionary state legislature is as we speak trying to impose various work requirements on Medicaid recipients, so Moms Rising helps you tell Pennsylvania politicians to stop trying to make it harder for good citizens to get Medicaid when they need it. Republicans were sure they could attack Medicaid and get away with it, but surprise, surprise! People actually get Medicaid, and very few, if any, of them regard themselves as cheats or freeloaders! Imposing work requirements for Medicaid recipients would have some honor if a) anyone could prove Medicaid fraud was all that widespread with more than a few anecdotes about "someone I know," or b) if more than half of Medicaid recipients weren't already working because they don't get paid enough, or c) if Medicaid's whole reason for being wasn't to help folks through rough spots in the first place. But alas, no -- some folks just settle for being mean to people they don't know. Let's make that harder.
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