WMMN-AF Blog
Real stories. Bold action. Powering all women & their communities to dismantle oppression.
End of session but not the end of legislative work
Take a Minute to Take an Action
Couldn’t be with us last Tuesday but want to take action on important issues? Here are the instruction sheets for the three issues we took action on last night - MN Environment and Natural Resources omnibus; expansion of Medicare; THRIVE Act. Please use them to contact MN state and federal policymakers to affect change:
Have You (and your friends and family) Contacted Your GOP Senators Lately?
SF970 Public Safety Omnibus bill (Omnibus judiciary and public safety policy and finance bill) is still being heard in the conference committee. Big discrepancies remain on the issue of police accountability measures. The DFL-controlled House wants them included, and the GOP-controlled Senate doesn’t. We need to change that.
Inaugural Time to Act – made friends and important calls to policymakers
Hear that sound? It’s democracy zooming into action. Tuesday night from 6-7pm, a group of Women’s March MN members took Time to Act. We met via Zoom. We introduced ourselves. It felt great to hear the voices of women. We made sure everyone was confident with the technology and the process and we got down to work.
Update on WMM 2019 Legislative Priorities
WMM entered into the 2019 legislative session with nine priorities. Sadly, with the split legislature, only one of those bills - Taskforce on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women - was passed. 2020 is coming! We need to vote out the lawmakers who obstruct legislation that is good for Minnesotans.
Here is how our priorities fared:
Keep going with pressuring the Senate about hearing gun safety bills - it’s working!
Good news! Senate Majority Leader Gazelka says he will allow the Senate to hear gun safety bills, IF they pass in the House. (The House versions, HF8 + HF9, have already passed a number of committees). Read more about it.
Thank you! Your calls and emails have helped make this happen. Please keep them coming!
Equal Rights Amendment - Celebrations and time to roll up our sleeves!
Last week, one of the two ERA bills (HF13 - to establish gender equality under the law, and propose a constitutional amendment) passed in the House. Hooray!!!!
Sign a virtual postcard for Freedom to Drive MN
This is the year to turn back the clock. Before Governor Pawlenty changed the rule in 2003, Minnesota residents didn’t need to be US citizens in order to obtain a driver’s license.
Women’s March MN and the Freedom To Drive MN Coalition wants to return the privilege of a driver’s license to eligible Minnesotans. The bill is moving quickly as it is important to Minnesotans, such as members of law enforcement, business owners and leaders of faith communities. Each hearing has been packed with supporters.
Restore the Vote (HF40/SF856) - Support this bill in the MN House and help get it a hearing in the Senate
HF40/SF856 is a bill to restore the vote to 52,000 Minnesotans (11,000 women) (who’ve been convicted of a felony) either upon their release from prison, or when they’re on probation, living in the community. It also requires notifying people when their right to vote has been restored. Many groups are supporting this bill - law enforcement, correctional offices, attorneys, civil rights groups, and it has 35 sponsors in the House.
Here’s how you can show your support too!
The Equal Rights Amendment bills need a hearing in the MN Senate!
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) bills - HF13, SF200 and HF71, SF280 - are doing well in the MN House but need a hearing in the Senate.
HF13/SF200 puts an ERA into the Minnesota Constitution. HF71/SF280 resolves that the deadline in the Federal ERA be removed and that ratification of the ERA in the US Constitution advances.
Driver’s licenses for all, regardless of immigration status! Support HF1500!
HF1500 is one of Women’s March Minnesota’s 2019 legislative priorities. This bill is about improving public safety, bolstering economic development, and building stronger families and communities for EVERYONE
Did you know that approximately 82,000 residents of Minnesota are eligible for a driver’s license or state ID, but cannot get one because they are undocumented immigrants. Many have been living here for decades and were able to obtain a driver’s license, until Governor Pawlenty changed the law in 2003. Imagine having your driving privileges and access to an ID stripped away. For undocumented immigrants, having access to a Driver’s License or State ID is both a matter of convenience, access and dignity to move around the state.
HF40/SF856 (Restore the Vote) gets 2nd hearing in the House this week. Can you help it get a hearing in the Senate?
There is a lot of support for this bill and it gets its second hearing on Tuesday, Feb. 19 at 9.45 a.m. in the Government Operations Committee, Basement Hearing Rm, State Office Building, St.Paul (map). Please attend the hearing if you can. And, some other actions you can take.
Restore the Vote Minnesota is looking for women to testify. Can you help?
HF 40 will have its first hearing at 9.45am next Wednesday, February 13th, in the House Elections Committee. See details of the hearing here. Please attend the hearing if you can, to show your support for this important bill. Restore the Vote will be there with free T-shirts for supporters of the bill to wear, to send a strong message to our representatives.
The MN Equal Rights Amendment bills need your help!
Super fun ERA MN event on Sat 2/2 at the Hook and Ladder! The news is that the senate bills need your help!
Please contact your MN senator and urge them a) to support SF200 and SF208, b) to keep them clean with NO amendments and c) ask them to demand a hearing for the bills asap.
Please support the work of Natives Lives Matter Coalition as they address the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
Tuesday, the bill to fund a Task Force on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (HF70) passed in the MN Public Safety Committee. Next, it goes to Ways and Means. The Senate version is yet to have a hearing. See more details on Tuesday’s hearing and the powerful testimony,
Meanwhile, money is needed to fund the important work being done by Native Lives Matter Coalition and others to raise awareness, support families and Indigenous women-led organizations on the front-line of this work and find solutions. Some of the funds raised will be used to organize the upcoming MMIW Memorial March and RED Ribbon Memorial.
Support HF70 to help end the epidemic of violence against Indigenous women in Minnesota
For centuries Indigenous women (and girls) have been victims of violent crime - going missing and being murdered at a much higher rate than any other group, with very little accounting of the extent of the problem.
Based on the limited data that exists, Indigenous women are 2 ½ times more likely to suffer violence than any other group in the US. In some parts of Minnesota, the murder rate of Indigenous women is over 10 times higher than anywhere else in the country.
Although the topic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women has gained awareness in recent years, and while sex trafficking and the fossil fuel industry go hand in hand, in fact this issue has been plaguing Indigenous communities for hundreds of years.
Tuesday, January 29, bill (HF70) will be heard by the Public Safety Committee to appropriate funds to enact a task force to start collecting data and make reports to the legislature regarding how to stop this epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous women.
Post-March actions you can do now
THANK YOU! Women’s March Minnesota deeply appreciates the support of the many individuals, communities, and organizations who join in our purpose of harnessing the power of women and their communities to create transformative social change.
We came together SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, in unity to fight all forms of oppression and injustice, because when we are together we are UNSTOPPABLE!
Here are actions you can take now.
Interested in legislation and the MN legislative process or want to learn more about it?
WMM works with the brilliant Watch Your Reps MN (WYRMN) and her team of volunteer legislative trackers (from a number of different activist groups). WYRMN is gearing up for the 2019 session and is calling for volunteers. Do you want to join us?
What's On My Ballot?
The Primaries are coming up!
There are a bunch of races that are having primary elections on Aug 14th - federal offices, state and county offices as well as some local offices too. Find out who and what is on your ballot.