August 13, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Rose Colacino, Statewide Co-coordinator
[email protected], 773-343-9849
Senate Recesses Without Passing For the People Act, Schumer Promises Prompt Action in September
Indivisible Illinois grassroots continue to push for the passage of S.1.
Early Wednesday morning, Senate Republicans blocked a public floor debate on S.1, the For the People Act bill, as well as blocking consideration of a standalone campaign finance transparency bill and a standalone gerrymandering bill. Sen. Chuck Schumer immediately committed to bringing S.1 back as soon as the Senate returns from recess in September.
To compound the problem, the Census Bureau on Thursday released the census data used by states for redistricting. Without passage of S.1, states remain free to gerrymander their way to Republican victories despite voters’ wishes.
“S.1 is still a live bill—it has not been defeated,” says Indivisible co-founder Ezra Levin, “but we are now in a weaker position to stop the coming GOP gerrymandering.”
Levin notes, however, that other parts of S.1 still remain strong: automatic voter registration, universal vote by mail, election day as a national holiday, and national voter protections to undo newly passed voter suppression laws.
Says Indivisible Illinois’s Statewide Co-coordinator Rose Colacino, “It’s clear we need to make a big push right now to swamp the Senate with phone calls and emails to get this bill passed. We’ve been told by insiders that it’s all the pressure the grassroots have been placing on the Senate that’s prevented this bill from dying in the first place. We can’t let up now.”
Here are some actions you can take right now!
- Joan’s Democracy Cafe, Thurs. at 2p – Phonebank for S1 and against voter suppression
- Field Team 6 uses the power of social media to create storms of messages. Whether it’s calling out upcoming registration deadlines or pressuring our representatives to act, we’re all about it. Follow this page to post assets any time and check Volunteer Ops for upcoming Social Storms.
- Swing Left – Wisconsin and Virginia
- Suppression-Free Democracy/ Roadmap to 2022 – Join @IndivisibleSJA on Saturday, 8/14 at 12PM CDT for an important discussion on how together we can strengthen our democracy. Register here.
- Contact Pres. Biden, your Senators and Congressperson today and everyday with this link and script: “I urge you to do whatever it takes to get the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act passed and signed into law. I also urge you to eliminate the filibuster, a Jim Crow relic.”
Indivisible Illinois is part of the locally-led, people-powered Indivisible Project network, a grassroots American movement founded in 2016, with thousands of chapters in urban, suburban and rural areas, with at least two groups in every congressional district. Indivisible Illinois engages and empowers people in the Land of Lincoln, the Home of Obama, the Heart of the Midwest, to promote a progressive agenda, elect progressive leaders and realize progressive government.
###
