We say this every month, we know, but this is a really important meeting for all members and friends of IMV.   We will devote some time to our REI (Race, Equity & Inclusion) conversation, and as usual there is a lot to discuss!   We are also looking ahead to the 2021 elections and how we can be effective as campaign volunteers.  Local candidates need and appreciate all the help we can offer them.  We'll be more effective and impactful if we plan, organize, and coordinate together. 

We are posting this special message on a Sunday because we know you don't want to miss our two Local Candidate Meet & Greets. This is your reminder to make sure the events are on your calendar. We have a terrific lineup of candidates for you.  Our goal is for every IMV activist and supporter to volunteer their time and energy on at least one local campaign in 2021.

It's finally here! Our joint NYS Indivisible & NY Renews Week of Action for Climate, Jobs, and Justice, April 5th-9th.

With less than a week until the New York state budget deadline, New Yorkers from across the state sent over 3,000 tweets on Wednesday calling on and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie to fight for the Invest in Our New York Act in their negotiations with Governor Andrew Cuomo. IMV members have sent letters and helped with phonebanking for months. Let's help get this revenue bill over the finish line in the final days.

If you were on the Indivisible NYS call with Majority Leader Schumer on Tuesday then you know just how amazing the American Rescue Plan is for the American people.

For years IMV has been focused on very specific, large targets: resist the Trump-GOP agenda, flip NY22, win the Presidency and Senate. All along we have paid attention to local, state, and federal policy. However, with trifectas in Washington and Albany committed to passing as much legislation as quickly as possible to help people and invest in our future, there are even more issues to track. Our local grassroots group tries to focus on actions where our efforts at this time will matter or on long-term projects, such as Invest in Our NY (IONY), or the Climate & Community Investment Act (CCIA), that are game changers. Still, there is a lot going on!

The House (with no thanks to Claudia Tenney who voted not to help Americans and our communities) passed the American Rescue Plan, a package of relief legislation based on President Biden’s proposal to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis. This bill represents a strong start towards finally taking these twin crises seriously. Even better, progressives in the House were able to protect some key provisions.

Can you volunteer for two hours, 6-8 pm on Monday, March 1st?  Sign up here. You can sign up for other Mondays in March as well, but our official IMV hosted event is March 1st.  We'll be calling fellow New Yorkers, along with our Coalition allies from across the state, and asking those frequent voters to call their state legislators about the Invest in Our New York Act.  IONY is a package of six bills that end tax breaks for the wealthiest New Yorkers and raises more than $50 billion to invest in our housing and healthcare, our schools and teachers, our towns and cities, our workers and youth. 

It's time to write letters! The letters are being sent to New York voters represented by state legislators who should be contacted to support the #InvestInOurNewYork bills.

We have a super-packed, exciting agenda for our meeting on Sunday. Please join us on Zoom. Here are some of our key agenda items:

NY22 election update

Invest in Our New York mini teach-in (with ways to get involved)

Overviews of three local social justice programs IMV supports

Updates on the 2021 elections

Race, equity and inclusion: Black History Month

This week we’re calling on Governor Cuomo to invest in education, as part of our #InvestinOurNY campaign. Decades of disinvestment even before COVID-19 wreaked havoc on our K-12 and higher education. Ending tax breaks for the wealthy and investing in education means thousands of jobs, care for our children, affordable universities and economic mobility for working class New Yorkers and communities of color.

Did it seem that the long national nightmare would never end?  It did!  Thanks to all of you, who pushed and pulled, called and marched, showed up and hung in.  What a beautiful inauguration!  IMVers joined together for an inauguration watch party on Zoom, and toasted each other from six feet away in their yards.  We sang and danced, heard poetry and music, watched a woman take the oath as Vice President, and cried, and cried some more.