Indivisible
We wanted to give you an update on our state plan.

Indivisibles,

We were floored by your incredible response to our new plan to take our fight to the state legislatures... and we wanted to give you an update.

You stepped up in amazing numbers, contributing to make this plan real. It’s paying off. Today, we want to share two tales of victories in the states -- Arizona and New York. (But if you’re in a hurry and ready to donate, please click here to help expand our state-by-state Indivisible initiative.)

Stopping anti-democracy bills in Arizona

Anti-democracy bill after anti-democracy bill has been dropping in the Republican-controlled Arizona legislature this session. Indivisibles have been on the clock, organizing to stop them at every turn.

Recently, SCR 1023 was placed on the agenda -- a bill that would make ballot initiatives nearly impossible to secure by imposing geographic distribution requirements for signatures. Ballot initiatives are the biggest opportunity to pass progressive policy in Arizona -- until we flip the legislature (hopefully in 2020). Republicans know this, which is exactly why they're trying to undermine them.

So we sent out the text alert, and Indivisibles answered.

In less than an hour, dozens of calls had already flooded Senate office lines. And poof! Just like that, the agenda changed and the bill disappeared. This was just one example of how AZ Indivisibles are fighting in the trenches, with phone calls, offering testimony, showing up to in-person hearings, and lobbying against an anti-democratic Republican agenda. This is an important win, but this fight is far from over — Republicans are still trying to undermine early voting and ballot initiatives. Arizona Indivisibles will continue to defend our democracy at the state level and we’ll continue to mobilize activists in rapid response moments.

Expanding voting rights and fair elections in New York

Sometimes you organize for years, and then a million things change in one remarkable day. That’s what happened in New York. On the first day of the legislative session -- New York took a great leap forward in expanding democracy to those left out of it for far too long.

In one fell swoop, the legislature adopted:

  • Holding state and federal primaries on the same day, which will increase turnout
  • Pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-olds
  • 10 days of in-person early voting, which will increase accessibility and turnout
  • Same day registration and voting by mail, which is the first step towards constitutional amendments to implement these policies

This was done thanks to Indivisibles who worked tirelessly organizing to push the state Senate and flip seats, resulting in a Democratic Senate and a true blue trifecta. It never would’ve happened without years of coalition building and on-the-ground, grassroots-centered organizing.

But there’s much more to do. Now, New York Indivisibles will aim the full force of their grassroots energy to advance access to voting and campaign finance reform at the state level.

Finally, our humble request...

Look, our state-level strategy is working. Now the next step is to roll out the best tactics to all 50 states (more on that below). But the total cost of the 50-state program is $1,194,622 (!!!).

The last time we wrote you about this plan, thousands of Indivisibles rose to the challenge. But the truth is we need more of you to step up. We don’t take money from corporations or political figures. That means this plan depends on you, the movement, contributing what you can.

Can we count on you now to help fund our 50-state plan? Use this link to add your donation.

Contribute >>

To many more wins to come,
Indivisible Team

 

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Indivisible Team
Date: Thu, Feb 21, 2019
Subject: New plan to take our fight to the states **drumroll please**

 

Indivisibles,

Today, we’re thrilled (okay, and a tad nervous) to announce our brand new Indivisible Initiative (see what we did there?): Taking our fight to state legislatures around the country. We’re rolling out new strategies and support to remake our democracy and circumvent Trump’s agenda, state by state -- all 50 of them. Yep. Really.

Below, we’ll cover the key elements of the plan. We’ll share some backstory, the opportunity at hand, the strategy to win, and finally, the budget required to pull it off. We want to make sure you’re bought in, so we’re sharing the details as transparently as possible.

If you’re already on board with the plan, please donate to help us fund it. (We don’t take any money from corporations or political figures, so we’re depending on small-dollar donations from the movement to pull this off). For all the juicy stuff, scroll on!

The backstory

For decades, Republicans entrenched their power by artfully taking over state legislatures. They weaponized their control to roll back voting protections, institute suppressive voting rules, and gerrymander district lines to maintain GOP power while losing popularity.

And it worked... until we built the blue wave, which swept the House and State Houses, too. We won:

✅ 350+ state legislative seats

✅ 7 new governorships

✅ 7 state legislative chambers

✅ 6 Democratic supermajorities

✅ 6 Democratic trifectas (total one-party control of the state government)

The opportunity

With the state-level wins we scored in 2018, we have new leverage for states to stop Trump’s agenda, turn back the Republicans’ damage, and go on offense to advance bold progressive ideas and policies that’ll shape the progressive landscape in 2019, 2020, and beyond.

To save our democracy, we have to organize at the state level. Our federal work will continue, but taking our fight to the state level, we can:

🇺🇸Expand voting rights

🇺🇸Draw fair district lines

🇺🇸Protect communities under attack by the Trump administration

🇺🇸Demonstrate our bold, progressive vision for the future

What it’ll take

💪Mighty organizing support from our team. We’re doubling our organizing team (to the tune of 14 organizers, 3 training organizers, and 2 digital organizers) to provide critical support to strengthen statewide coalitions, coordinate actions, lead targeted online and in-person trainings on state advocacy tactics, and more.

💪Strategic policy guidance. We’ve hired 3 policy staff to help strategize full campaigns from start to finish, identify and track priority legislation, develop targeted policy resources to help Indivisibles take action, and organize strategy calls.

💪Innovative digital and communications support. We’re hiring 3 communications staffers to propel massive online engagement in the states, provide email and text recruitment for events, and amplify campaigns via the press.

💪Critical state and local legislation tracking tools. We’ll be using the best software available to provide important bill tracking and updates to groups carrying out state-level work on the ground.

We’ve developed a three-pronged strategy that groups the states based on potential for impact, existing organizing infrastructure, and Indivisibles’ appetite for state-level work -- so we can put our muscle behind the best tactics and strategies to win real change.

We’ll provide advanced support to target states to bolster models for a progressive future, advance pro-active democracy reform, and defend against attacks on democracy and vulnerable communities. We’ll offer other states working on key pieces of legislation our national-level organizing, policy, and communications support for specific issues or bills, and we’ll offer scaled support to the rest to build foundational statewide organizing infrastructure.

How we know it’ll work

We tested the model in a few key states -- Virginia, California, and Arizona. The results were pretttttyyy awesome...

In Virginia: In 2018, Indivisibles pushed for their top priority -- expanding Medicaid. With targeted resources and messaging from our Policy Team, Indivisible groups partnered with a range of organizations to press the state legislature to include Medicaid expansion in the budget. This coalition held four actions at the Capitol, getting the attention of local media and legislators. This pressure was so powerful that legislators who had stymied this vote for five years switched their vote, which passed 61 to 31. State Representative Danica Roem specifically cited Indivisible as the reason for successfully passing the expansion.

In California: Indivisible groups formed Indivisible CA: StateStrong, an active coalition of over 40 California Indivisible groups. Indivisible Policy staff worked with groups to identify key issue areas, guide them to use their constituent power strategically, focusing on five priority bills. Indivisible partnered with California organizations to coordinate lobby days and targeted calling campaigns pushing for progressive policies like net neutrality and renewable energy.

After Indivisibles sent 36 letters to the committee considering a bill Indivisible co-sponsored that would provide better community oversight of policing, a committee consultant said "I've never received this many letters before. I don't know who you Indivisible people are or how you are organized, but it's working." Of the five bills prioritized by Indivisible, four made it to the governor’s desk, and three became law. They also played defense, killing two bills that would have allowed more corporate money into politics and given away control of California’s electrical grid to the federal government.

In Arizona: Indivisibles stopped two voter suppression bills. Indivisible staff provided rapid-response digital recruitment to organize Arizonans and partner organizations to fill the floor, provided on the ground strategy support, developed calling resources, and helped with live coverage. Neither of the bills passed the Senate floor because of our grassroots defense -- a major victory for defending democracy in the states. While we got an early win, this fight is far from over -- and Arizona Indivisibles will continue to defend our democracy at the state level.

Now we’re ready to roll out the best tactics to make change at the state level to all 50 states.

We ran the numbers, and the total cost of the new 50-state program is $1,194,622.

That probably sounds steep. But you know what? We believe, at the deepest level, that it’ll be worth it. Working group by group, state by state, is how we’re going to reverse the Republicans’ damage that eroded voting rights and entrenched their power. It’s how we’re going to build momentum for the bold, progressive policies we need. It’s how we’re going to remake our democracy and build power for years to come.

That’s a vision we can’t skimp on, and we have to get started now. That’s why we’re asking everyone reading this email to click and donate. It’s an ambitious task, but in the past, you’ve always risen to the challenge.

Can we count on you now to help fund this work? Follow this link to add your donation today.

Contribute >>

Right now, our small-dollar fundraising is critically important to sustaining and building our work (and to be honest, we’re a bit worried that it’s slowed down in recent weeks). By stepping up to donate today, you are saying that you want to be a leader in this fight. Every contribution, from $5 to $500, matters.

Thank you for believing in this work. Now let’s hit the ground running. It will take all of us, but together we can remake our democracy and fundamentally shift what’s politically possible in this country.

Get. Ready.

Indivisible Team


Indivisible Project is a locally-led, people-powered movement of thousands of local groups in red, blue, and purple states, and in urban, suburban, and rural areas. Our mission is to power and lift up a grassroots movement of local groups to defeat the Trump agenda, elect progressive leaders, and realize bold progressive policies.

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Indivisible Project is a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. Donations are not tax-deductible. To give by mail, send a check to Indivisible Project, PO Box 43884, Washington, DC 20010.