IMV January 2024 Meeting

You're invited to our first IMV meeting of 2024 on Sunday, Jan. 28th, 2-4 pm at Schuyler Commons at 1776 Independence Square (North Utica). There is plenty of accessible parking. We will be tracking weather, so if it looks like it's going to cause challenges for driving, we will send out an email in advance and switch to Zoom. But based on your feedback at our December meeting, in-person meetings were the preference. 

Meeting Agenda for Jan. 28th

1. NY State 
NY ERA Ballot Measure for 2024: What we need to do about talking to voters and how ballot measures can promote turnout
The 2024 election timeline including petitioning

2. NY 22 
Redistricting update
What format do we, IMV, want to use to talk to primary candidates? 
Messaging Summit for NY22

3. Messaging Overview (preview resources below if you're interested)
Words to Win By:  Season 3 of Anat Shenker-Osorio's Podcast has launched just as we are getting ready for the critical 2024 election.  Learn how to message effectively when talking with friends and family or voters at the doors.  You can subscribe on your favorite podcast platform (Apple, Google Play, Spotify, etc.).  Check out the podcast homepage.  If you scroll down you can click on the first episode of Season 3 (Protecting Our Freedoms: Defeating MAGA Republicans in the 2022 Midterms) and listen.  
Confronting Christian Nationalism:  What do we need to know about our Christian Nationalist Member of Congress?  There is an excellent podcast series and a nice set of resources to help us understand a worldview, unfamiliar to most of us, that is shaping our political opponents--and many voters. Includes resources on how to talk to people who are falling under the sway of these views.  

4. Climate Crisis Working Group Updates

Sunday, Jan. 28th, 2-4 pm.  Carpool!  Bring a friend!  We can't wait to see you and get started right, making political activism local, bite-size, and fun!

 Climate Crisis Working Group Updates

• NY HEAT Act

Governor Hochul has made a start, and now it's up to the legislature to do their part by putting the full NY HEAT Act in their "one-house" budgets. Join us in Albany on Tuesday, January 23rd for our Rally and Lobby Day! 

There will be a bus going from the Westmoreland Thruway exit at 9:15am on January 23rd. Please let Maggie Reilly, Margaret_reilly@mac.com or Jennifer Geiger, jgeiger777@gmail.com know if you are going to attend.  RSVP today to reserve your seat on the bus. 

Here's the Link to Register

The NY HEAT Act is THE MUST PASS CLIMATE BILL for 2024 and getting it into the state budget is the best chance of passing it. Here's our most up-to-date one-pager on the bill, which you can download.

• NY RENEWS MASS CALL: January 22, 2024

Join us for our mass call on January 22, 2024 at 6 pmas we strategize to pass NY HEAT and the full Climate, Jobs, and Justice package, share updates on the cap-trade-and-invest regulatory process, and respond to Governor Hochul’s budget proposal. Millions of New Yorkers now have a real chance at accessing clean energy and good, green jobs, with the passage of the Climate, Jobs & Justice Package. Join our mass call and stand with us as we put another foot forward towards Climate, Jobs & Justice, and the People’s Climate Justice Budget.

• CCWG MEETING

The CCWG (IMV) is having their first meeting of 2024 in February instead of January. More details to follow shortly!!

Disinformation Conversation with Prof. Luke Perry Tomorrow

All are welcome to attend the League of Women Voters Conversation on Misinformation & Disinformation with Luke Perry, Saturday, Jan. 20th, 10 am-12 pm, at NY Energy Zone, 35 Utica Zoo Way.  (Lower level STEM classroom).  Dr. Perry will highlight several challenges regarding political misinformation and strategies for addressing these. He will then answer questions and discuss the topic as a group. Be prepared for an interactive conversation as part of this general membership meeting.

Stacey Abrams at CNY Labor Council Legislative Breakfast in Utica

The CNY Labor Council is featuring our Indivisible movement builder political activist hero, Stacey Abrams, at its annual Legislative Breakfast next month on Friday, Feb. 9th at 7:30 am.  The event will be held at the Delta by Marriott, 200 Genesee Street, Utica. Please RSVP and pay by Monday, February 5. Make checks ($40 per person) payable to: Central New York Labor Council.  Send to: 287 Genesee St, Utica, NY 13501.  Link to Register for Tickets HERE. It will be a popular event, so act quickly!
 

Help Flip NY03 Blue In the Special Election!

With our eyes on New York taking back the House, it's time to make the first domino fall!  Even though we are hundreds of miles away from Long Island and Queens, each of us can help flip NY03 with the February 13th special election.  

Phone banks using Hubdialer will be every Thursday from 6-8pm. Use this link to choose your shifts.  

Indivisible texting party on Tuesday, February 6th starting at 6:30pm. Register here. We use the TextOut platform, which requires a computer or tablet--no phones

Why flipping NY03 matters
When we flip NY03 blue on February 13th, it will create a shockwave of dread for the MAGA freshmen here in NY but also to the vulnerable Republicans in other states. They will be scared at their re-election chances because they know that this win will fuel us to win some more. Let's get the ball rolling on our 2024 House wins!
 
The Wrap Up

First, congratulations to IMV LTE Work group leader Dick Meili, on his excellent letter published in the Daily Sentinel on January 12th about President Biden and high food prices.  In just a few short paragraphs he outlined the current situation, explained the real causes, and concluded that: "The likely solution is to have wage increases make food prices more affordable.  That is now happening, thanks to Biden's middle-class economic policies.  Last year, wages increased faster than food prices, 4.1% versus 3.3%. President Biden did not cause high food prices, but his economic policies are delivering much-needed relief."  

Keep those Letters to the Editor coming, friends!  

And definitely read the calendar closely. 

• There are some excellent opportunities to phone and text bank to help out our Indivisible, labor, and Dem/WFP colleagues in NY03.  We'll all benefit if we can come one seat closer to flipping the House in 2024. 

• We have our first Unrepresentatives Cohort Call of the year coming up on February 1st.  Sarah Reeske is now the Indivisible staffer for that national call (NY has more of the 18 Unrepresentative seats than any other state).  If you join that call you'll get the inside scoop on strategy and planning to flip the House in 2024.

• The Climate Crisis Working Group is involved in all kinds of lobbying, as we heard at our December IMV Meeting.  So sign up to go to Albany, or attend the NY Renews mass call on Monday from the comfort of your own home.  The climate crisis doesn't have to be scary or depressing. It can be a source of global and local inspiration and creativity--in business and technical innovation and in legislation and movement mobilization. 

Remember, Democracy is not a spectator sport! 

 Follow us on Instagram's Threads.net/@indivisiblemohawkvalley, on X (Twitter) using @indivisiblemv and of course on our Facebook page and IMV Activism Group.