Jun 3, 20194 min read

Read the latest from OSTPDX

Dear OSTPDX Members,

The 2019 Legislative Session has begun wrapping up so at this point, only bills that have moved on to the Revenue, Rules, or Ways and Means Committees are able to be passed, with the session formally ending on June 30th . There will still be some informational hearings held to hear ideas for the 2020 Session.OSTPDX and other Indivisible Groups throughout the State of Oregon have signed onto this letter to Governor Kate Brown to hold her accountable by demanding that she sees that both the vaccine and omnibus gun bills pass in the 2020 session.

Announcements

OSTPDX June CELEBRATION Meeting-June 11, 2019 6:30 PM – 8:30 (please note early start) Subud Center 3185 NE Regents Drive

2019 Oregon Legislature: The Final Push and Celebrating our Successes!

Come join us and hear from Mary Chaffin, chair of the OSTPDX Legislative Task Force, and members of the team as they present the remaining (and probably some of the most important) issues left for the 2019 Oregon Legislature.

We will be starting early at 6:30 “happy hour” time to celebrate all of the success we have so far achieved. We will provide the beverages and some finger foods to socialize before and after the short program by Mary and other task force members.

Members of the Task Force will be there with posters about the major issues the task force tackled. We’ll ask everyone to indicate on the posters what you did to support the work of the Task Force. If you were a citizen lobbyist who gave testimony, or emailed or called legislators, attended a rally or lobby day, attended an OST meeting to learn about bills & the legislative process, wrote letters to the editor, promoted bills on social media, volunteered with advocacy groups, etc., we want to know about it and celebrate it!

You will also find out what bills still need your support; what committees could be swayed by your passionate testimony and which legislators require a persuasive phone call. Your involvement has already and could still make the difference before the end of this legislative session by June 30.

If you want, feel free bring an appetizer to share. We will raise a toast to everyone’s hard work and enjoy social time with the folks who made make One Small Thing such a special community of activists. We will be taking July and August off from membership meetings, so hope to see you in June!

To help us plan food and setup for this meeting, please take a moment to RSVP using the “Other” section of this form to indicate what you’re offering to help with.

Questions or want to help set up/clean up that night? Contact jacque.abel@comcast.net

Actions

Tell the Oregon legislature: Don't go home without renewing and raising the Oregon Earned Income Tax Credit. Enact House Bill 3028.

The measure would increase the percentage of the federal earned income tax credit allowable as a credit against Oregon personal income tax liability. For an eligible resident individual, the percentage would increase from eight to 12 percent (8-12%). For an eligible resident individual with a dependent child, the percentage would increase from 11 to 15 percent (11-15%) or 11 to 18 percent (11-18%), depending on the age of the (youngest) child. This would help the working poor--at least 900,000 Oregonians every year.

Actions by Indivisible Oregon

OSTPDX, along with other local progressive grassroots groups, are collaborating to help Indivisible Oregon highlight their Tuesday action call of the week in email communications and across social media. We ask that you visit their website indivisibleor.org/actions every Tuesday morning where the action of week will be posted by 6AM, take the action and share on social media and/or via email with your circle. Indivisible Tuesday message: Trump, his administration and his GOP lie and ignore the truth. Everyday there is a not an impeachment inquiry Congress is saying truth doesn't matter. We need all of our Members of Congress to speak out and call for an impeachment inquiry. Contact Your Elected Officials

Activities

Rally to Support Climate Change Lawsuit-June 4th at 1:30 Director’s Plaza

The rally is being organized being organized by Our Children's Trust (www.OurChildrensTrust.org) based in Eugene with the support of several local organizations, such as 350PDX and Indivisible97201, to show public support for the 21 young people who are suing the federal government.

The CBS program 60 Minutes reported on March 3, 2019 that it is “the climate change lawsuit that could stop the U.S. Government from supporting fossil fuels.”

Come together with family and friends to show your support and greet the young plaintiffs.

The next meeting of the OST-PDX Activist Reading Group will be on Wednesday, July 24 at 7pm.

READING: Bhaskar Sunkara, The Socialist Manifesto: The Case for Radical Politics in an Era of Extreme Inequality, Basic Books, April 2019, $28 list price.

Jim Russell says: Bhaskar Sunkara is the founding editor of Jacobin. I heard him give a book talk at Powell’s last week. He is 29 and the talk was smart and personable. It convinced me to buy the book which might be a good choice for us to read as a group. It starts with a tongue-in-cheek fantasy of what a socialist transition might look like in the U.S., then goes into a history of Marxism, communism, and European social democracy. The final part is about the history of socialism in the U.S. and what the future would look like. He sees the creation of social democracy in the U.S. (catching up with Europe) as the next step over 30 to 40 years. Then it would be to push further into more fully socialistic developments.

Let me know if you would like to host the July 24 meeting - Ken

Other Upcoming Events