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One Person, One Vote
August 3rd, 2010
A major victory was won in the name of democracy today as the Legislature – finally – adopted the revenue portion of the state budget. Through that bill, New York State has put an end to the undemocratic, antiquated, and racist practice of prison-based gerrymandering.
When Governor Paterson signs the bill, New York will join Maryland and Delaware as the only states to reallocate people in prison back to their home communities for the purpose of drawing legislative district lines.
For too long prison-based gerrymandering not only left incarcerated people in New York State to be used as a means to hog undue partisan power, but also left too many New York communities with a diluted share of representation in their government – a direct violation of the democratic principle of ‘one person, one vote.’ Today, democracy was restored to New York.
Through sponsoring this legislation, Senator Eric Schneiderman and Assemblymember Hakeem Jeffries have proven themselves as true progressive champions who have an unfettered commitment to the best interests of all New Yorkers. And, we look forward to working to ensure that Eric Schneiderman is New York’s next Attorney General.
Each and every email sent, phone call dialed, legislative visit made, and donation you gave made an impact on today’s remarkable success. Along with representatives and members from the broad coalition of over 70 statewide organizations that made up the Coalition to End Prison-Based Gerrymandering in New York, your support and presence is what kept this legislation on the minds of each and every legislator in New York State.
When New York State draws new district lines in 2012, you will know that those lines will be drawn more accurately than ever before – that all communities in New York will get the representation they deserve.
When those who say that the voices of Every Street have no power, and that the likes of Wall Street have completely corrupted our political way of life, tell them about this victory. Tell them about this victory and the rally of New Yorkers behind it who organized themselves into an effective voice and ensured ‘one person, one vote’ be restored in New York.
Our government belongs to each of us equally. Now, in delegating legislative representation, we’ve ensured that each and every vote will have its equal force.
Thanks for all you continue to do,
Karen Scharff
Executive Director
Citizen Action of New York
Our Victory is the Vote
December 22nd, 2009The Senate is moving their health care bill forward. The bill is not what we envisioned when we first started this fight.
Because the bill is a far cry from what we wanted, it’s hard to see past our desire for comprehensive reform and look at what we’ve achieved.
But, we have to realize that this marks the first time in decades that meaningful health care reform won a vote on the Senate floor.
With all of it’s shortcomings, this bill will result in 30 million people in the United States having health coverage who didn’t before.
Through our battle so far, we’ve shown that our values are shared by a majority of people in this country. We’ve pushed Congress to start voting on progressive issues. And we’ve won an important shift toward our view that government has a responsibility to meet public needs. Our victory is the vote.
Because the larger fight for health care reform is far from over, we need to take a moment now to realize that this is just one step on the way to everyone in America enjoying the right to quality, affordable health care. We can’t let our disappointment today cause us to walk away.
Fighting among ourselves about the merits of the legislation will only result in the right-wing claiming victory. I’m not going to let that happen, and I’m sure you won’t either.
So, take some time this week to enjoy your family and friends. Rest up. We have a hard fight ahead – this is just the beginning.
Thanks for all you do and happy holidays,
Karen Scharff
Executive Director
Citizen Action of New York
The Right-Wing Can Organize… Who Knew?
August 6th, 2009
Angry Protester Holding a Sign Portraying Congressman Doggett as a Devil
Last week, the House of Representatives went home without voting on health care reform.
As Members of Congress arrived back in their districts to begin conversations with constituents about how we can work together to make sure everyone in America has access to quality, affordable health care, they were ambushed by corporate-organized mobs with the intent of stopping conversation and blocking meaningful reform.
We need to fight back – we need to make sure our Representatives know that a large majority of Americans support health care reform. We need to make sure they know how urgent this is – that 14,000 people are losing their health coverage every day!
But, countering right-wing, corporate-supported, organized attacks against our Members of Congress isn’t cheap. We need your support right now to make sure we can continue this fight through the end of the August recess.
Click here to make your contribution now!
Winning real health care reform isn’t a battle we can risk losing. There’s just too much at stake.
For 60 years big corporations and wealthy lobbyists have been able to make huge profits while the American people have been left to pay skyrocketing health care costs. Health care reform can’t wait any longer.
Even if you already have health insurance, health care reform will lower your health care costs because of the competition created by a public plan. And the cost of doing nothing is high – really high. The average family will pay $10,000 more in premiums by 2019 if nothing is done.1
We have a winning strategy in place to make sure that H.R. 3200 is passed when the House returns, but we need your support right now to execute this strategy.
Click here to contribute to winning real health care reform!
We’ll be in touch with more actions next week.
Thanks for all you do,
Karen Scharff
Executive Director
Citizen Action of New York
1. Center for American Progress, Health Care Premiums Run Amok: The Cost of Doing Nothing About the Health Care Crisis
Final Budget Results
March 30th, 2009Dear Friend:
Over the weekend, a battle that we all have been fighting for the past five months was won. State leaders in Albany came to an agreement to enact a personal income tax increase for the wealthiest New Yorkers that will raise an additional $4 billion in sorely needed state funds.
This additional money will allow many of the initially proposed cuts – cuts to health care, programs for low-income people, and services for working families that would have caused tens of thousands of layoffs and devastating, unnecessary suffering – to be averted. And it will make our tax system fairer.
Unfortunately, the budget delays the Campaign for Fiscal Equity settlement, providing zero dollars over the next two years in court ordered school aid. The small amount of money added for schools is distributed based on politics rather than a fair formula. The federal stimulus package helped make up a lot of the initially proposed cuts to education funding. But, that money was a one-time deal. The state cannot continue to put off its constitutional obligation to fully and fairly fund our kids’ education.
The two new tax brackets, for those earning over $300k and $500k respectively, combined with winning substantial reform to the Rockefeller Drug Laws, expansion of the Bottle Bill, a $5 million increase to Advantage funding for after-school programs, and the potential expansion of Family Health Plus coverage to 400,000 more New Yorkers, all represent a marked shift in the way state government is operating and the incredible power of our grassroots movement.
The hard work of millions of New Yorkers and Americans last year to bring the opportunity for progressive change in our society, and the persistent demand for that opportunity to become reality since, has provided us with our first tangible success: proof that every rally we attend, every phone call we make, every email we send, and every door we knock on does help build a better government and a better society.
As always, when one battle is complete, another is heating up. With the legislature in session for almost three more months, we’ll be working to win Clean Elections this year. Very soon I’ll be in contact about how you can help start our major push for full public financing of campaigns in New York!
Your hard work truly paid off during this very long budget season. We all should be very proud of the campaigns we’ve waged and the change we’ve won. Our battles aren’t over just yet, but we know that going forward, we’ll be fighting in a better, stronger, more just New York.
Thank you,
Karen Scharff
Executive Director
Citizen Action of New York
