The Progressive Iowa Network Organizing Summit Saturday, June 9, 2007
Iowa City Public Library 123 S. Linn St. Iowa City, IA
52240
9 AM – 3PM
Agenda:
1. Welcome 2. Introductions 3. Why a Progressive Network is important for Iowa 4. Democracy for America – Support for Iowa’s Progressive Network 5. 2007 Iowa Legislative Review (Legislators) 6. Overview of Top Progressive Legislative Priorities (Progressive Activists) 7. Envisioning Progressive Power in Iowa (Ed Fallon & Denise O'Brien) 8. Break 9. Top Progressive Legislative Issues - Workshops
VOICE (Voter Owned Iowa Clean Elections) CAFO/Farm Bill Health Care Media Reform Fair Share
Please note: If you are interested in discussing potential state-wide initiatives that will pressure our Congress to end the war in Iraq, please come to this event. Peace groups can strategize during the workshop hour (#9) and also report back to the larger group after lunch. This will be an excellent opportunity for all of us to be united for peace.
We will start gathering at 9am - coffee and bagels / breakfast treats. The summit will begin promptly at 9:30am. Please let us know if you intend to come:
Establishing our Progressive Iowa Network (PIN) - Update By Caroline Vernon
This Saturday, June 9th, progressive leaders, legislators and activists from various organizations across Iowa will come together for the first DFA-Iowa Networking Summit.
We will be gathering at theIowa City Public Library from 9am to 3pm(the last hour will be devoted to DFA-IA administrative business).
Some of our great leaders who will be in attendance include Charlie Chamberlain from Democracy for America, Ed Fallon, Denise O’Brien, and Senator Joe Bolkcom, just to name a few…
Once again, the purpose of this gathering is to establish a Progressive Iowa Network which will serve to better unite progressives across the state in order to support each others efforts around important issues, particularly if we hope to be more effective moving into the next legislative session. Besides providing an excellent opportunity to connect with fellow progressives, one direct benefit of an Iowa Network would be the enhanced ability to articulate our progressive world view by creating a state-wide echo chamber that will carry our unified message to all Iowans.
As previously indicated, we have identified 5 issues in Iowa that require urgent action:
1. VOICE (Voter-Owned Iowa Clean Elections) 2. CAFO regulations / Farm Bill 3. Fair Share 4. Healthcare 5. Media
Also, due to the recent vote on the Iraq supplemental bill, it is our hope that peace activists from across Iowa will take advantage of this opportunity to come together to discuss potential state wide initiatives that will effectively pressure those in Congress who voted for the bill.
In addition to addressing the above issues, we are tracking organizations by their particular area(s) of focus. This list has also evolved since my last blog:
1. Policy / Research 2. Lobbying 3. Media & Blogs 4. Grassroots Organizing
These 4 areas have been added:
5. Direct Action 6. Education 7. Funding (to identify potential sources of funding) 8. Political Campaigns (organizations who can be involved with campaigns)
We are working on compiling a comprehensive list of all participating organizations, including contact information, primary areas of focus and primary issues of concern. If you or your organization will be attending the summit, we ask that you submit your information using the example below (4 stars = primary focus)
Example:
Organization: Progressive Action for the Common Good Address: 3707 Eastern Ave, Davenport, IA 52807 Contact Information: (name/position/phone/email): Caroline Vernon, Organizer, 563-676-7580, carolina1961@gmail.com. James Lee, Executive Director, 563-650-3922, jlee6367@yahoo.com
Please send the above information to carolina1961@gmail.comby Thursday, June 7thso we can be sure to include your information in the hand-out.
It is important to note that we encourage ALL progressive organizations to attend this meeting and become part of the network even if we may not be focusing on your specific issues at this time. The goal of the network is to create a framework designed to support all progressive initiatives. We need everyone’s participation in order to succeed.
If you have any questions, please call Caroline Vernon at 563-676-7580.
Establishing our Progressive Iowa Network (PIN) – Mark the Date!
By Caroline Vernon
On Saturday, June 9th, progressive leaders, activists and legislators from across the state will converge on Iowa City for our first 2007 Democracy for Iowa Organizing Summit. We are still working out the details on the venue (forthcoming) but we will be meeting from 9am to 3pm (the last hour will be reserved for DFA-IA members to discuss administrative business so it will not be necessary for everyone to stay for that segment).
The purpose of this gathering is to establish the Progressive Iowa Network (PIN). This network will serve to better unite progressive organizations, legislators, and leaders across the state so we can support each other’s efforts around progressive issues in Iowa.
Currently,
we have an unprecedented opportunity to get progressive legislation
passed in our state. However, in order to achieve legislative victories
on the issues that we care about, we must establish an effective
framework that allows us to better organize our efforts, clarify our
message, mobilize our base, educate the public and influence our state
officials.
We have identified the following 5 issues as requiring urgent action:
1. VOICE (Voter-Owned Iowa Clean Elections) 2. CAFO regulations / Farm Bill 3. Fair Share 4. Healthcare 5. Media
Please note: we want ALL progressive organizations to attend this meeting and become part of this network even if we may not be focusing on your specific issues at this time.
The Summit Agenda will cover the following:
I. Why is PIN important?
The first part of this summit will discuss why PIN is important. Groups/Individuals will be asked to introduce themselves and identify their main areas and issues of focus:
This will NOT be an informational meeting about the issues, but rather a strategy session on how we can support each other moving forward.
II. Update & Evaluation of the recent Iowa Legislative Session
• What went well? • What would we do differently?
III. Break-Out Sessions by Issue
• Strategize with other progressives around the state that are working on the same issue. • What kind of help do you need from other organizations/leaders who may not be directly involved in your issue.
Lunch
IV. Report back to larger group identifying specific needs
• What do you need from PIN?
We will not have time to hear specific plans but rather will want to hear your list of needs on how other organizations/leaders can help you make progress around your issue.
V. Where does PIN go from here?
We will discuss logistics, network structure and set a date and time for our next meeting(s).
VI. DFA-Iowa Administrative Planning Session (for DFA-IA members)
This last segment will be for DFA-IA members to discuss by-laws, how we can better support Blog for Iowa, and other administrative details.
Outreach around this summit has been underway for awhile -- many progressive organizations/individuals in Iowa have already been notified. However, if you have not yet heard from us directly, please email Caroline Vernon ASAP: carolina1961@gmail.com. We need every progressive organization, leader and legislator in Iowa to participate in order to achieve maximum effectiveness as a network.
Senate File 601 - Child Care Provider Payments By The IFL
Dear Readers,
URGENT! PLEASE CONTACT GOVERNOR CULVER!
Registered child care providers play an essential role in our economy, making it possible for parents to earn a living, while giving tens of thousands of children a strong start in life.
Running a family child care program requires not only a strong personal commitment to children, but also a large financial investment that covers supplies such as cribs, books, educational toys, changing tables, safety gates, diapers and food. For providers who care for children under the state subsidy program, there is little left over from their meager payments.
When state payments are late, it is almost impossible to get by. Currently, providers work for an entire month before they can submit a payment claim. Then they must wait several weeks or more to receive the check. In a recent survey, 72% of respondents report that they have had trouble receiving their payments for state-subsidized child care in a reasonable time.
The Legislature agreed that late payments are inexcusable and passed a provision in SF 601 that would allow child care service providers receiving state payments to elect a biweekly or monthly billing and payment plan. In addition, unless there is a problem, the state would be required to remit payment to a provider within 10 days of receiving a bill for services paid.
Please help make sure the Governor retains this section in SF 601. Send an e-mail today!
Send a letter to the following decision maker(s): Governor Chet Culver (if you live in Iowa)
Below is the sample letter:
Subject: Senate File 601 - Child Care Provider Payments
Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted here],
Child care providers who care for children through state subsidy programs deserve to be paid in a timely manner. They depend on their child care payments to pay their bills and provide for necessities.
Please keep the child care provider payment provision in SF 601.
Senator Grassley, Protect Medicare Beneficiaries, NOT Drug Company Profits! By Caroline Vernon
On Thursday, May 10th, a coalition of concerned citizens representing various organizations came together to hold a press conference in front of Senator Charles Grassley’s downtown Davenport office. The purpose of this press conference was to urge the Senator to reconsider his vote on repealing the provision within the 2003 Medicare Modernization Act that forbids Medicare from negotiating prescription drug prices. Coalition groups included organizers and members of Iowa Citizens Action Network (ICAN), Working Families Win (WFW), Illinois Alliance for Retired Americans (ARA), Quad Cities Federation of Labor (QC-Fed) and Progressive Action for the Common Good (PACG).
Unfortunately, the funeral of Katie Soenksen, the young soldier from Davenport (one of the most recent victims of the Iraq war), was held at the exact same time of our scheduled press conference so we had no press at the event, although Charlie Wishman of ICAN was interviewed on WVIK, a local radio station. Although disappointed at the lack of media coverage, we accomplished exactly what we set out to do; to let Senator Grassley know that his vote forbiding Medicare to negotiate drug prices is unacceptable.
I hope seniors everywhere are paying attention... our senior Senator seems to believe it is more important to protect drug company profits than to protect Iowa’s medically needy and senior citizens who depend on life-saving medication. The costs of some drugs are so outrageous that many are forced to either go without their medication or forego paying other bills. Meanwhile, drug companies are making huge profits at the expense of the elderly and infirmed.
Based on a recent report by the Institute for America’s Future (read the whole report at: www.ourfuture.org), ..."repealing the provision within the 2003 Medicare Modernization Act that expressly forbids Medicare from negotiating lower prescription drug prices could save American taxpayers $30 billion a year." This paper also examines the savings from the Veterans Administration to show that Iowa residents could save $399 million each and every year if Medicare was allowed to negotiate for the same low prices that are obtained by the VA.
The potential annual savings from negotiating are also evident from looking at several particular drugs. Merck’s Zocor and Pfizer’s Lipitor are both top-selling prescriptions that, if sold at the VA’s negotiated price would save U.S. taxpayers and seniors more then $2.8 billion annually, enough to fully fund the shortfall states face with the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). To give you a glaring example of the difference in cost, refer to the comparison below: VA Med D Med D (low) (high) Merck Zocor (20 mg) $127 $1,275 $1,776 Merck Zocor (40 mg) $191 $1,275 $1,711 Pfizer Lipitor (10 mg) $520 $749 $927 Pfizer Lipitor (20 mg) $782 $1,068 $1,302 This information was relayed to Senator Grassley’s aide. In addition, Jim and Doris Hughes, Davenport residents, shared their growing concerns over their drug costs which actually increased from just under $4,000 in 2005, when they had no drug coverage, to over $9,000 in 2006 under Medicare Part D.
This is so outrageous… we cannot continue to allow the well-being of our most vulnerable citizens to be held hostage to the almighty dollar. I don’t know how Senator Grassley or anyone else can rationalize and then justify this kind of exploitation. Senator Grassley has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the pharmaceutical industry. It’s time he gets his priorities straight and chooses to represent the good people of this state instead of drug company profits. Please call Senator Grassley and tell him exactly that!
Senator Grassley's Washington DC Office: 1-202-224-3744
As many of you may know, PACG has put out many calls to action on VOICE - Voter Owned Iowa Clean Elections. The passage of VOICE - SF 553 , in the state of Iowa would have a HUGE impact
on every issue across the spectrum - the passage of this bill
would give the people of Iowa an unprecedented opportunity to take back
control of our legislature from the special interest groups that have
too often dominated the outcome of policy. There are MANY reasons to
pass VOICE - passage of this bill would free-up our legislators
from the all consuming cycle of fundraising so they can spend more
time working on the actual issues that affect their
constituents, and citizens would have more faith in the system and
the legislators that represent them. Legislators would no longer be
beholden to the special interests that help get them elected. In other
states where similar bills were passed, they are seeing a big increase
in people running for office than ever before and in Arizona
voter turnout has increased by as much as 20%. The passage of
VOICE is a win-win for everyone involved... that's why WE NEED YOUR HELP NOW.
The VOICE
bill, SF 553, is in an Appropriations sub-committee comprised of
Rep. Dave Jacoby (D-chair), Rep. Jo Oldson (D) and Rep. Dwayne Alons
(R). It will come up for a vote in that committee
either Tuesday (3/27) or Wednesday (3/28). If passed, it
then goes to the full committee and becomes "funnel-proof." That
means the likelihood for debate on the floor of the House
increases. However, we learned on Friday that the Appropriations
sub-committee plans to "kill" the bill, at the request of
leadership.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
PLEASE make a push to call the committee members and the leadership on MONDAY,
urging them to support SF 553. Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy is a firm
supporter of the bill so please call him, thank him for his
support and urge him to continue pushing for passage of the bill.
MOST IMPORTANTLY - contact Senator Mike Gronstal in the Senate and Speaker Pat Murphy in the House - urging them to support passage of the bill. We need to make a VERY BIG PUSH in order to make a difference.
VOICE has overwhelming support from citizens and community leaders - we need to remind leadership that people matter more, money matters less.
PLEASE call the Appropriations Sub-Committee members and House & Senate Leaders on MONDAY! - These
are only 6 telephone calls that will take up very little of your time
-- the small effort required on our part can make a BIG difference for
the future of our state! Please refer to the Word document (see
attachment) that outlines the general information and primary
benefits of the bill, SF 553.
Rod Roberts (R)
Rod.Roberts@legis.state.ia.us
House Switchboard: (515) 281-3221.
Speaker of the HouseRep. Pat Murphy (D) House District 28 – Dubuque County Pat.Murphy@legis.state.ia.us Home Telephone: (563) 582-5922 House Telephone: (515) 281-5566
House Majority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (D) House District 67 – Polk County Kevin.McCarthy@legis.state.ia.us Home Telephone: (515) 953-5221 House Telephone: (515) 281-7497 (PLEASE THANK HIM FOR HIS SUPPORT!)
Senate Majority Leader Senator Mike Gronstal (D) Senate District 50 -- Pottawattamie michael.gronstal@legis.state.ia.us Home Telephone: (712) 328-2808 Business Telephone: (515) 281-3901
Take action! Call,
your local legislator today! Find out where they stand on the
bill, urge them to support it and ask them to urge leadership and
committee members to do the same! It's not
enough to simply ask them if they support the bill --- if they do,
ask them what they are doing to ensure passage of this bill.
Tell your Representative Iowa needs Fair Share. By the IFL
Current Iowa law prohibits a union, which is and exclusive collective
bargaining representative, from negotiating the inclusion of a “fair
share” clause into a collective bargaining agreement with an employer.
In addition, other laws require a union, which negotiates and
administers collective bargaining agreements, to do so on behalf of all
the employees covered by the contract without regard to their
membership or non-membership in the union. But, because they do
not pay union dues, nonmembers, who are covered by the contract,
receive the services of the union and the benefits of the contract free.
The legislation permits unions and management to negotiate regarding
the inclusion of a fair share clause in their collective bargaining
agreement. The legislation does not mandate inclusion of a fair
share clause in any collective bargaining agreement. As with any
other bargaining proposal, if both the union and management agree to
include a fair share clause in the contract, then it becomes
operative. A fair share clause is treated in all respects in the
same way as any other mandatory subject for collective bargaining.
By allowing fair share to be negotiated, the union has an opportunity -
if it chooses to bargain about it and is successful in negotiations –
to require that nonmembers pay their fair share of the costs to a union
in securing and enforcing the benefits of the collective bargaining
agreement.
Please send a letter to your legislators urging them to vote in support of SSB 1120.
Beccuase this issue is so important, please forward it to your friends
and fellow union members to ask them to contact their legislators too.
Send a letter to the following decision maker(s): Your Representative (if you live in Iowa)
Below is the sample letter:
Subject: Support SSB 1120
Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted here],
I am writing to urge you vote for SSB 1120.
The proposed legislation does not force anyone to become a union
member. It simply allows the fair share issue to be part of the
collective bargaining process. It cannot be part of the union contract
unless both parties - labor and management - agree. If they agree, such
a clause would require that nonmembers pay their fair share of the
costs to the union in securing and enforcing the benefits of the
collective bargaining agreement.
This bill simply reinforces fundamental values of fairness. It is fair
to allow Iowa unions to negotiate about the fair share issue - just
like unions in a majority of the rest of the country. It is also fair,
if both labor and management agree, to allow the collectively bargained
agreements in Iowa to include fair share clauses - just like a majority
of states in the rest of the country allow.
*IBLTV is a group of citizens from the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids area who are concerned about the decline in the quality of local television. Fight local media consolidation, as it leads to an unaccountable medium that enriches itself while disregarding the need to serve the public good.
*The rational counter to 'The Point,' 'The Counterpoint' critiques and corrects the daily editorial by Sinclair Broadcasting's corporate vice president, Mark Hyman, that is broadcast on all Sinclair-owned television stations across the country
