H.R. 3815/S. 1926, the PrEP Access and Coverage Act, would expand good Americans' access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (or PrEP) anti-viral pills, and thus reduce incidence of HIV. The bill would ensure that all private and public health insurance plans cover PrEP without copays (the drug can run as much as $2,000/month in out-of-pocket costs), and it would also prevent health insurance corporations from charging people higher premiums if they're using PrEP, which essentially insulates Americans from their insurers using PrEP as a pre-existing condition. I guess the "religious" "conscience" crowd will whine about it, but if you know folks are born gay, and that drug addicts and couples of mixed status (i.e., one has HIV, the other doesn't) don't deserve to die of AIDS, Daily Kos helps you tell your Congressfolk to protect good Americans from HIV by passing the PrEP Access and Coverage Act.
Meanwhile, you may have heard that over a dozen states still use sodium cyanide bombs to kill coyotes and foxes -- and you may also have heard that these cyanide bombs don't just kill and injure the predators for whom they're intended, but also other animals, family pets, and even people. Hence H.R. 2471/S. 1301, the Chemical Poisons Reduction Act, would outlaw sodium cyanide and sodium fluoroacetate in animal control devices nationwide. The bill is also known as "Canyon's Law," after the 14-year-old Idaho boy who lost his family dog to a sodium cyanide bomb, and who suffered injuries himself from the bomb. It sure seems commonsensical to demand that animal control devices do no harm to animals who aren't hurting anyone -- in fact, one might well say it sounds conservative. Hence Wild Earth Guardians helps you tell your Congressfolk to protect Americans and animals from the unintended consequences of sodium cyanide bombs by passing Canyon's Law.
Finally, if you've missed previous opportunities to tell your Pennsylvania state legislators to pass HB 1739/SB 580, the Family Care Act, then Moms Rising still helps you do that. Much like the FAMILY Act at the federal level, the Family Care Act would establish a paid family leave insurance program in the state of Pennsylvania, and would pay for it by instituting a small payroll tax, and by "small" I mean a little over half of one percent. Per the bill, workers would get 90% of "the portion of a covered individual's average weekly wage that is equal to or less than 50% of the Statewide average weekly wage," and then 50% of the portion above that; the benefits are a little low for my taste, but lower-income workers would wind up getting most of their paychecks, and they're the ones who can least afford to take days off to take care of sick family members (or sick selves). So let's get these working families some relief and some peace of mind for once.
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