IMV Potluck on Wednesday Rain or Shine

July 14, 2023 Alan Cole

IMV Potluck Picnic Wednesday 5:30 pm

We can't wait to see everyone at:
IMV’s Summer Potluck Picnic
Wednesday, July 19th, 5:30-7:00 pm
Sherrill Brook Park in New Hartford (Birch Pavilion–to the left, near the large playground).

This is our annual fun event with allies, families, and friends. In fact, bring a friend! We’ve also invited local candidates to join us. Being a dish to share. Please bring your own plates, utensils and beverage container if you can, but we'll have extra in case. We'll be there under the pavilion, rain or shine--see you there!

One Easy Email for the Climate this week

The summer is flying by, and our effort to drive public comment on the Governor’s forthcoming “cap-trade-and-invest” program is well underway. As NYSERDA and DEC put together draft regulations, it’s an important time to make our perspective heard.

Click here to send an email telling regulators: No Loopholes for Polluters Under New Pollution Caps

Done right, a cap-and-invest program would make the state’s corporate polluters pay up for their toxic pollution. But done wrong, NY’s cap program could lead to pollution hotspots in Black, brown, and working-class communities. We’re calling for regulators to cut loopholes for corporate polluters, to prevent them from beating the system and snagging extra rights to pollute by trading, selling, or saving their permits for later.

Tell Pres. Biden: No to Medicare Advantage

Medicare is an essential public program that provides universal health coverage to millions of seniors and disabled Americans. But Medicare is under attack from corporate greed through a program called Medicare Advantage. Medicare Advantage plans use hefty taxpayer subsidies to offer consumers cheaper premiums, but then often fail to provide patients with adequate care when they need it and limit patients to small provider networks. Recent investigations have found that the largest insurers in Medicare Advantage have committed widespread fraud and denied patients critical care they were supposed to provide by law.

Medicare Advantage exemplifies why the profit motive has no place in healthcare. The billions of our taxpayer dollars that get spent on Medicare every year should go to providing people with healthcare, not making greedy CEOs richer.

That’s why Be a Hero (organization fighting for health care for all started by Ady Barken) is calling on President Biden to ensure that people and patients on Medicare get the health care they need and deserve. Please take a minute to sign this letter. Thanks for taking action!

Are NY Congressional Districts Getting Redrawn AGAIN?

You may have seen the headline yesterday: "New York is Ordered by Appeals Court to Redraw House Map." Here's the situation according to Jon Lipe, former field organizer for NY State Dems and Brindisi for Congress (and an experienced congressional staffer):

"Will we get new congressional districts again before next spring? Maybe!

Democrats have been arguing in court that the map we used in 2022 was a temporary fix and the Independence Redistricting Commission (IDC) process outlined in the state constitution needs to be used to draw a new map for 2024-2030. Yesterday a mid-level NYS court approved that argument and ordered the IDC to begin their work.

This plan could be derailed a number of ways, however. The NYS Court of Appeals (the highest court) will hear the case next; they are the ones who sided with the Republicans and threw out the old maps last year, although the makeup of the court has changed a bit since then. If they agree with yesterday's ruling, then the IDC can begin their work.

What the IDC would then do is draw the fairest map they can. According to the state constitution, the map would then need to be voted on by the state legislature. The legislature could then vote down the map and substitute their own, by a 2/3rds vote of the legislature. Democrats have a 2/3rds majority in the State Assembly with room to spare, but they only have a one-vote 2/3rds majority in the State Senate.

Some complicating factors include:

- At every step of the way Republicans will be filing legal challenges to the process. They really only have to win one argument at the Court of Appeals to stop the process — that’s what they successfully did last year.

- The legislature is adjourned until next January. That could cause a time-crunch, although they could be called back for a special session.

- The Democrats have the smallest 2/3rds majority possible in the State Senate. If there are any defections or any changes in the makeup of the State Senate, there would not be the 2/3rds support required to change the IDC’s map.

I think getting a new map is far from a sure thing. There are a lot of pitfalls out there, and Albany Democrats don’t have a great recent track record in this area. But there is a decent chance that come next March we will be gathering petition signatures for all new congressional district lines."

No matter how this process comes out in the courts or the state legislature, we will be working as hard as we can to make sure that we elect Democrats to represent the Mohawk Valley in Congress.

MV Reminders

Be sure to join IMV on Wednesday for our annual potluck picnic.
Save the date on Thursday, August 17th, 6-8 pm for our NY22 Democratic Congressional Primary Candidate Forum
Please note that Oneida County Pride Association has a potluck at Kirkland Town Park on Sunday, July 23rd, and a Queer Rights Rally to protest the recent horrible and discriminatory SCOTUS decisions in Utica on Saturday, July 29th. (See the calendar) Email oneidacountypride@gmail.com if you can volunteer as a safety marshal for the rally.

Thank you, as always, for taking action by sending emails and making calls to elected officials, writing Letters to the Editor, and showing up for our political allies and candidates.
Democracy is not a spectator sport.