What We Stand For

This #APAHM we are celebrating Patsy Mink, the first woman of color to be elected to Congress, and a trailblazer for gender equality!

#GenderEquity #APIHeritageMonth #AAPIHeritageMonth

A shocking budget breakdown:

In Baltimore, for every dollar that goes to police, public schools only receive 55 cents.

The office that funds job programs gets five cents.

Programs for substance abuse, mental health, and youth violence prevention each get one single cent.

“In a deep-red state like Idaho, when an initiative succeeds, it succeeds with Republican votes as well as Democratic votes,” said @lukemayville, co-founder of @reclaimID.

https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2021/04/27/gop-works-to-override-voters-on-medicaid-higher-wages-pot

Story by @squinton_states

May is Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. All month long, we'll be celebrating and highlighting the brilliance and trailblazing contributions of our API heroes. Get excited! #APIHeritageMonth #AAPIHeritageMonth #AAPIHM

Austin, Texas voters will decide today whether or not to reinstate a policy banning camping. However, a bill is moving through the state legislature that would ban all encampments--if the bill becomes law, it could invalidate the results of the election.

https://ed.gr/dd2ub

Republican legislators are threatened by the people's success at the ballot. No matter what barriers they try to put up, we are going to keep fighting, and winning.

https://ed.gr/dd2t2

via @pewtrusts

The assault on direct democracy continues in Florida. New legislation will make it nearly impossible to launch a signature-gathering campaign successful enough to place an initiative on the ballot.

#Florida #DirectDemocracy

via @tampabaytimes

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2021/04/26/florida-lawmakers-limits-money-backing-ballot-initiatives/

When state legislatures undermine the will of the people by reversing the results of local ballot initiatives, they are often specifically targeting Black communities, like in this example from Birmingham, Alabama.

#Birmingham #Alabama #DirectDemocracy

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/assault-voting-assault-local-democracy

The city of Berkeley, CA will no longer have armed police conduct traffic stops.

This policy will reduce police interactions with people of color. We hope to see other cities around the country follow in these footsteps as we reimagine public safety.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/berkeley-moves-removing-police-traffic-stops-71796720

In 2020, 121 people were killed by police after they were stopped for a traffic violation.

This must stop.

Criminalizing poverty does not make our streets safer. We must end debt-based license suspension, and stop using the police as collections agents.

https://www.aclu.org/news/criminal-law-reform/new-aclu-report-finds-debt-based-drivers-license-suspension-laws-impose-harm-and-waste-resources/

Polling shows that most Americans are worried about ensuring all voters have access to the ballot.

Anti-voter legislation moving through many states runs counter to the will of the people—legislators should not be passing harmful, racist, and anti-democratic laws.

With a ballot initiative to ban qualified immunity on the horizon in Ohio, let's take a deeper look at what the policy entails, and why we must abolish it for the safety and well-being of our communities.