CAMPUS HIGHLIGHTS…STUDENT VOTING BATTLES…MONTHLY QUOTES & IDEAS…VOTING BATTLES…MONEY ON MY MIND…FACTS YOU CAN USE
CAMPUS HIGHLIGHTS Coalition Building
Creating robust coalitions enables DM chapters to spread our message throughout campus communities.
In celebration of Women’s History last month, DM chapters at Colgate University, Sage College and NY State Universities organized programs in coalition with their sociology, political science, African-American, women’s studies and other academic departments. This month, DMers at Simmons College are collaborating to create programs with a different campus student group – environmental, anti-violence, trans & non-binary, political science, and pre-law – on each of the five days of its April “DM Week of Action.”
And DM chapters also are working closely with college administrators at Vassar, Bard, and Hartwick colleges, and at the University at Albany to implement voter registration campaigns, demand campus voting sites, and promote dialogue to increase student civic and political engagement programming.
https://www.democracymatters.org/action-campaigns
THE QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“I don’t want your hope… I want your action.”
Greta Thunberg on Earth Day
IDEAS OF THE MONTH
Celebrate Earth Day
Each year, Earth Day falls during Democracy Matters’ “April Week of Action.” UAlbany DM is hosting its annual “Fight for Environmental Justice” rally, and University of Cincinnati DMers are tabling that week with interactive climate change quizzes. 0ther DM campuses are writing postcards to Congress (quoting Greta Thunberg), hosting faculty panel discussions on climate change, and organizing open mics for poetry readings and speak-outs on climate change during BYO campus picnics.
Join Democracy Summer (DS)
Congressman Jamie Raskin and 34 other members of Congress invite high school and college students to become DS “fellows” for six weeks this summer. Fellows will work on Congressional campaigns 10 hours a week for a stipend of $500, and participate in exciting virtual seminars to explore political issues.
To apply go to:https://jamieraskin.com/DemocracySummer
THE STUDENT VOTING BATTLES
Alarmed over that fact that young people are increasingly voting for Democrats at the ballot box, lawmakers in red states are erecting obstacles to student voting.
Efforts include rolling back pre-registration for teenagers (VA), preventing out-of-state students from voting (NH), eliminating all college voting sites (TX), and banning student IDs as voter identification (ID). Thus far, only banning IDs has actually become law, not only in Idaho, but in Ohio, Tennessee, N. Dakota and S. Carolina as well.
In contrast, in blue states like New York, legislators are passing laws to ensure that students can exercise their right to vote. New York recently mandated that every college with over 300 registered voters living on campus qualifies for campus polling site.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/29/us/politics/republicans-young-voters-college.html
MONEY ON MY MIND Israel and the Cost of Second-Class Citizenship
Having jUst returned form a fact-finding trip to Israel, Mandle writes that though democracy there is under assault, there is hope that it still might survive. https://www.democracymatters.org/money_on_my_mind/israel-and-the-cost-of-second-class-jay-r-mandle
FACTS YOU CAN USE The “Revolving Door” Lobbyists
The most sought-after Washington lobbyists are those who are able to lobby sectors of the government where they have been previously employed. These individuals “revolve” between jobs – sometimes working in the government and other times working as lobbyists for private employers. The friendships, contacts, and influence developed in their government jobs are used to advantage as they lobby former colleagues for laws and policies that benefit their clients.
Take the example of the Silicon Valley Bank that recently had the largest U.S bank failure since 2008. The seven lobbyists working for the Silicon Valley Bank in D.C. had spent years “revolving” between jobs with the federal government and the private sector. All seven had held important governmen jobs that oversaw and regulated financial institutions. For years, Silicon Valley has hired lobbyists to weaken or eliminate banking regulations. Between 2009 and 2022, the bank paid its lobbying firm over $1.9 million and in 2022 alone, it spent a over $200,000 on federal lobbying.
Revolving door lobbyists have done their job! Senator Elizabeth Warren explains: “These recent bank failures are the direct result of leaders in Washington weakening the financial rules.”