Indivisibles,

Okay. We'll give you the good news first, and then the bad news.

The good news is that people are mobilizing across our movement to fight for a coronavirus response that serves the needs of people, not corporations -- and momentum is growing for a People’s Bailout. 

Today, United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA) unveiled a proposal for an Essential Workers Bill of Rights to protect frontline workers during the coronavirus pandemic. 

The new proposal includes: 

1. Health and safety protections.
2. Robust premium compensation.
3. Protections for collective bargaining agreements.
4. Truly universal paid sick leave and family and medical leave.
5. Protections for whistleblowers. 
6. An end to worker misclassification.
7. Health care security. 
8. Support for child care.
9. Treat workers as experts.
10. Hold corporations accountable for meeting their responsibilities.

Many essential workers are in high-risk conditions without appropriate equipment, safety standards, or job protections, which is why it is so important that we create space within the next coronavirus legislation package to protect and support them. 

Representative Ro Khanna said, “Nearly 60 million Americans are still working to keep our internet running, to deliver our groceries, to make sure we have electricity, and to care for the sick. In an age of automation, we are reminded of the dignity and importance of work that is not remote."

This is perfectly in-line with our PeopleOverProfits movement and the actions that you can take at home right now that will help push for people-first coronavirus policy and protect our democracy.

All right. Now for the bad news. Spoiler: it's all to do with Trump and his crooked administration. 

This past week, we’ve seen more and more depraved, irresponsible, and corrupt actions from Donald Trump. Every day Trump’s total disregard for oversight measures that could curb his corruption is made more clear. For example, one of the coronavirus recovery packages passed by Congress required an existing inspector general to be selected by a council of other inspectors general to provide oversight for the $2 trillion relief package. In accordance with that law, a council of inspectors general selected Glenn Fine, the acting inspector general at the Department of Defense who has worked under both Democratic and Republican administrations, to lead the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee. 

But earlier this week, Trump abruptly fired him. Recently, Trump also fired several other inspectors general who served as checks against corruption, fraud, abuse, and waste of federal funds. These firings are an appalling erosion of the checks and balances in our government (especially since Trump has made a hobby of ignoring Congressional oversight) and should serve as a serious warning of the dangers of the Trump administration. It’s no exaggeration to say that our republic is in grave danger if Trump is re-elected. 

In addition to this string of firing and punishing whistleblowers, the federal government is also continuing to fail in its response to the coronavirus pandemic and has been woefully ineffective in getting people assistance they so crucially need. Small business loans promised in relief legislation are difficult to apply for, and those who do apply are experiencing delays and uncertainty. Stimulus checks may take months to get to Americans who desperately need immediate relief, and some impacted folks aren’t eligible for them. And, right as the pandemic is starting to reach peak infection and death rates in the U.S., underscoring the importance of increasing testing availability, the federal government has announced it will be ending funding for coronavirus testing, forcing some testing sites to close. It’s clear that the Trump administration has criminally mishandled the response to the pandemic, resulting in untold preventable suffering and death. We can’t let anyone in our lives forget this as we approach November’s election.

Now, here is what you can do about all that: 

 Your weekly to-dos 

1. Call your senators on Friday, April 17 to ensure safe, secure elections for all. The Declaration for American Democracy coalition is coming together for a national call-in week, directing folks around the country to flood the phone lines in Congress. We need everyone on board to get this done. We must ensure that Congress allocates at least $4 billion dollars to implement the reforms needed to ensure Americans can safely, securely, and efficiently exercise their right to vote while still protecting our public health.
2. What to tell your state elected officials to do about coronavirus. The federal government has put out three coronavirus relief packages so far, but there is plenty more that your state and local governments can do to create a more robust and equitable response.
3. Call your senator and tell them to prioritize a coronavirus People’s Bailout. We need a package that prioritizes protecting our democratic systems, providing accessible health care for all, and direct economic support to everyone. Call your senators now to demand they support the People’s Bailout.
4. Call your representative and tell them the same. Millions of people could be left behind while corporations rake in trillions of tax-payer dollars. The House needs to make this right. Call your representatives now and demand that they support the above provisions be included in the next coronavirus package.
5. Record a video demanding your members of Congress prioritize a People’s Bailout and tell us how the COVID-19 crisis has impacted your life. We’ll uplift you and show reporters and members of Congress that even though we’re not rallying in the streets, Indivisibles are still working hard to hold their members of Congress accountable and build a sense of shared community. Use this opportunity to use your voice to control the narrative. 
6. Register for our upcoming National Activist Call on May 7th. The National Activist Call is a monthly space for Indivisible leaders, members and other activists to hear updates and connect with one another. 

 Indivisible Census 

Our movement will play a crucial role in this fall’s election, and one goal we've set out to achieve this year is to be able to evaluate our network and assess our impact so that we can understand where we are right now, and where we are headed. Being able to tell the story of our work this year is a way that we show our power, but in order to do that, we need to build a shared understanding of who we are as a community -- and to provide a way for you, as the leaders of this movement, to share that with us directly. 

To that end, we are excited to work with Dr. Dana Fisher, a prominent researcher on American political movements, and her team at the University of Maryland to launch the Indivisible Census, and we’re asking you to participate. Please, help us tell the story of our movement -- click here to fill out the Indivisible Census now.

 2020 Update 

As of today, April 13, 16 states and Puerto Rico have postponed their primaries, though we're still waiting for the results of Wisconsin's disastrous primary last Tuesday. While we wait, however, Bernie Sanders joined VP Joe Biden for a big announcement. Read on to learn more

• Senator Bernie Sanders endorsed Vice-President Joe Biden today, just a week after dropping out of the presidential race. You can watch the joint virtual address here. While Sen. Sanders’ campaign for the nomination has ended, the fight for a progressive people-first agenda is far from over. There are going to be a lot of pundits out there who want to convince us that the takeaway is that Sanders’ ideas are unpopular. But that couldn’t be further from the truth: progressivism and the ideas that define it are more popular than ever thanks to the grassroots and Sen. Sanders’ historic campaign. And our present crisis shows us that it’s that those ideas (like Medicare for All) are now more important than ever.
• Alaska held its primary on Friday and the results are in! Biden came away with 55% of the vote & 11 delegates, and Sanders garnered 45% & 4 delegates. Alaska Democrats say they received 19,813 ballots, nearly double the number of ballots for this year’s entirely vote-by-mail primary than the total number of 2016 caucus-goers. Expanding access to vote-by-mail is a crucial measure that will allow people to vote and still protect their health and the safety of others. It’s why we’re demanding Congress act to ensure safe, secure elections through universal vote-by-mail.
• After a chaotic and dangerous election last Tuesday, we should be getting Wisconsin primary results tonight! We’re going to be paying particularly close attention to the state’s Supreme Court seat race between incumbent Dan Kelly and progressive challenger Jill Karnofsky. 
  
  The Wisconsin primary was inundated with 11th hour legal challenges to protect voters’ health and safety, but was ultimately struck down by the US Supreme Court. In-person voting took place on 4/7, risking the lives of the thousands of Wisconsin voters who had to endure hours-long lines at the limited polling locations. The state’s largest city, Milwaukee, with a population of half a million, had its polling locations reduced from 180 down to 5. A record 1.3 million absentee ballots were requested by Wisconsin voters, but many ballots were undelivered, sparking an internal investigation by USPS into the issue. All absentee ballots had to be hand-delivered or postmarked by last Tuesday and received by today at 4pm CDT to be counted.

 Find a virtual event near you 

 Trump and the GOP got us here 

With the news moving faster than ever, it can be easy to forget exactly how we ended up here. So we want to be really clear about this one thing: Trump and the Republican Party caused this whole mess. And the only way to fix it is to vote them out.

Republicans have spent years gutting health care and voting rights and auctioning off our democracy to the highest bidder. And now the people are paying the price. While the GOP might not be at fault for this virus emerging, they are responsible for our inability to effectively stop it. We’ve got the plans to stop them in their tracks, but those plans rely on people. If you can, we could really use your support right now -- donate $10 to Indivisible to keep all our work moving this year.

 IndivisiWin of the Week 

Indivisibles in Toledo have been meeting up every Tuesday for three and a half years! Social distancing didn’t stop them - just changed how they met!

At this time of extreme crisis, the nation needs a steady and trusted leader in the White House who tells the truth, is guided by experts and doesn’t cause confusion when people need accurate information. Trump fails that test, and because of his failed leadership, America is less safe than it should be.

It has never been more important for Indivisibles to come together and help where we can. It starts with demanding Congress take action and put people over profits, and continues with calling out Trump for his failure to support this country and then ousting Trump in November.

In solidarity,
Indivisible Team