The San Juan County Democrats met Saturday, and our first item was a visit from Richard May, deputy mayor of Blaine and running for the legislative seat currently held by Sharon Shewmake, who is running for the state senate to replace the late Doug Ericksen. Richard is a longtime progressive participating in the Democratic Party as well as environmental organizations. He is in the 42nd LD rather than our 40th LD, but if elected, he would be one more progressive in the legislature to help pass good legislation. Please consider helping to put another progressive in the legislature by contributing to Richard’s campaign at https://secure.actblue.com/donate/elect-richard-may
Former State Representative Jim Buck has been pursuing the issue of seismic safety in our schools. A report had concluded that 93% of Washington schools examined could
collapse in an earthquake, causing death, injury and entrapment for students and staff.
[You can find this report at https://www.dnr.wa.gov/school-seismic-safety.] The legislature unanimously passed Senate/House Bill 5933, “Establishing a School Seismic Safety Grant Program” which does the following:
1. Sets the ground rules for OSPI to assist school districts in preparing seismic safety planning grants.
2. Requires OSPI to combine school modernization and seismic retrofit programs to save money.
3. Sets up the ground rules for OSPI to build a school seismic safety grant program for at-risk earthquake and tsunami endangered schools.
4. The 5933 bill sets up the Seismic School Safety Account with the Treasurer to accept money from Senate Bill 5651.
SB 5651, the Capital Budget, appropriated $100 million dollars to the 5933 Seismic School Safety Account to kick-start OSI’s new program. Mr. Buck has asked locals like ours to put a plank in our platform supporting school seismic safety legislation, so we passed such a measure at our meeting.
Sharon Abreu has been fearlessly leading the 40th LD, and we now have delegates in place to attend the June 25 convention. Delegates are meeting tomorrow. Great thanks to Sharon for taking on this seemingly endless task.
In candidate news, a quality progressive candidate for the Lopez/Shaw seat is very close to announcing their candidacy. In addition, Sheriff Krebs has a challenger for the sheriff position from Sergeant Eric Peter. Finally, Rep. Alex Ramel has a challenger for his seat in the legislature from union leader and former 40th LD chair Trevor Smith.
We are looking to have a booth at the fair this year, which will be in person. If you are interested in being involved in this effort, please let me know.
Remember, we will soon have new PCO positions available in the village area of Lopez and on Orcas on the west side and in town. I am hoping that some of you will consider participating. Please contact me with any questions.
We would like to recruit some younger members to participate in our group. We had quite a discussion today regarding the best way to do this. We understand that younger folks can be too busy with jobs, family, and life in general, but this is a demographic that we would like to appeal to. If you have suggestions, please send them my way. And if you know people of a younger age that might be interested in what we do, please tell them about us.
Movement Voter Project has a good event coming up that will include Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal. If you remember, MVP funds local grass-roots organizations who encourage people to vote who might not otherwise participate in elections. They helped win the senate races in Georgia, and they are continuing to work on these kinds of races. Here is the information:
Help us win the mid-terms and save our democracy.
Join us on Sunday May 1st @ 1:00pm PT / 4:00pm ET for a virtual fundraising event.
Combating Voter Suppression: A conversation with Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal and Congressman Jim McGovern
Congressman Jim McGovern represents the 2nd Congressional District of MA. He serves as the Chair of the House Rules Committee, Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission and is a member of the House Agriculture’s Subcommittee on Nutrition and Oversight. Congressman McGovern is a strong defender of human rights, the environment, and our veterans. He is also a tireless advocate for ending world hunger.
Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal represents Washington’s 7th Congressional District. She is the first South Asian American woman elected to the U.S. House and one of only 87 women of color to ever serve there. She is the Chair of the 96-member Congressional Progressive Caucus, and also serves on the House Judiciary, Education & Labor, and Budget Committees. She has spent over 20 years organizing and advocating for women’s and immigrant rights and racial and economic justice.
To register for the event, click here. https://www.mobilize.us/mvp/event/450180/
To donate in advance of the event, click here. https://secure.actblue.com/donate/jayapal_mcgovern_05_01_2022?refcode=EMATeam
To download a PDF version of the flyer with active links, click here
To learn more about MVP, click here. https://movement.vote/about/?refcode=EMATeam
For information, email us at MVPEasternMA@gmail.com.
Force Multiplier also has another upcoming event.
Matt Cartwright, an “FDR Democrat from the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party,” knows how to repeatedly win in a Trump district in a battleground state. He’ll tell us how he does it. He needs our support to keep doing it. A Must-Win House Race. To hold the Democratic Majority,
we need to win races like this one.
Force Multiplier invites you to meet Matt Cartwright (PA-08)
Thursday, April 21, 7:00 – 8:00pm, ET on Zoom
REGISTER + DONATE https://secure.actblue.com/donate/forcemultiplier2022cartwrightevent?refcode=MP_DTUR
Suggested donation $100. Please be as generous as possible.
Cartwright belongs to the Progressive Caucus + has won five terms…twice in a district that voted for Trump! Let’s find out how he does it. Cartwright is the Co-Chair of the Democratic Policy + Communications Committee! Let’s talk to him about messaging + how to tell the Democratic story to win. Cartwright has introduced the most pieces of bi-partisan legislation in the House! Let’s hear from him about leadership + working across the aisle to get things done.
Let’s support Matt Cartwright + Reelect a Democratic House!
Please pass this invite on to others in your world who might be interested.
forcemultiplierus.org Follow us + help spread the word!