1) Build Back Better: Last week, the House passed the Build Back Better bill, with support from all but 1 Democrat and no Republicans. This week, call Congressman Malinowski to thank him for his vote and call our two Senators to thank them for their strong support of the bill. You can read more about what is in the bill here: https://www.nytimes.com/article/build-back-better-explained.html. It includes new support for children and families, investment in climate change programs, expansion of health coverage including the ability for Medicare to negotiate drug prices, immigration changes including formalizing the DACA program, investments in affordable housing, and increased taxes the wealthy and corporations while reinstating the SALT deduction.

2) IGSV December Group Meeting: With the current session of the New Jersey State Legislature drawing to a close in January, the fate of several pending bills relevant to police reform in our state is not yet clear. On December 18 from 3-4:30 pm via Zoom, the IGSV Committee on Policing in America will provide an update on the status of each of these bills, their prospects for passage in this session, and an assessment of their potential impact on policing in our Garden State communities. We look forward to your questions and discussion, as we continue our efforts to learn together what measures might be undertaken to advance a model of policing that more effectively and genuinely protects and serves all members of our communities, while enhancing the safety and well-being of the officers who undertake this challenging responsibility.

Please RSVP by email to indivisiblegsv@gmail.com for the Zoom link.

3) Freedom to Vote Act: Time is running out on passage of a bill to strengthen the right to vote for all Americans. Congressional redistricting is ongoing across the country, and it’s clear that fair and competitive districting is unlikely to occur in many states. The bill has failed to get 60 votes in the Senate to overcome a filibuster, so passage will require Democrats reforming the filibuster in support of voting rights. Call our two Senators this week to let them know that you support the bill and reforming the filibuster to pass it. You can read more: https://www.lwv.org/blog/what-happening-freedom-vote-act.

4) NJ Redistricting: As noted above, the redistricting of Congressional districts in New Jersey is underway. The Commission is holding hearings now for the public to voice their concerns and suggestions. Please sign up so that there is robust representation for NJ7! Information is here: https://www.njredistrictingcommission.org. Note that we want to ensure that NJ7 remains fair and is not skewed toward “giving” the district to Tom Kean Jr. Please also pay attention to discussions on social media, pushing back on any suggestions that NJ7 should be sacrificed by the Democrats to ensure that other Democratic incumbents have a clearer path to re-election.

Quote of the week: “I just voted for the #BBB bill because I believe:

-Working families should have affordable child care

-Medicare should get to negotiate lower drug prices

-The middle class should get tax breaks (SALT!) and Amazon should pay taxes

-America should lead the world to clean energy.”

– Congressman Malinowski, https://twitter.com/Malinowski/status/1461714247642238976