Politics don’t just happen in Washington, DC! The purpose of this weekly newsletter is to promote progressive policies in the State of Michigan by contacting our state representatives and state senators directly.
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Look up your state representative and state senator and put them in your phone book for all future calling.
We recognize that calling your representatives and senators can be intimidating. For the pieces of legislation we highlight each week, our goal is to provide you with some basic data, analysis, and talking points for you to steer the conversation, but we encourage you to personalize your message in ways that make sense to you. When applicable, it’s particularly powerful to share your personal experiences and expertise related to given legislation.
~When calling your representative and senator, also ask them about upcoming coffee hours!~
This permit was denied Tuesday, April 18.
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) will be taking public comments until 5pm on April 21 on Nestle’s request for a permit to use more of Michigan’s groundwater for use in its bottled water. The proposed new draw represents a 167% increase in the volume of groundwater pumped daily---from 218 gallons per minute to 582 gallons per minute. Nestle pays just $200 per year in administrative fees for this water and a one-time $5000 application fee.
How to comment (from DEQ site):
Written comments must be emailed to deq-eh@michigan.gov or mailed to:
MDEQ, Drinking Water and Municipal Assistance Division
Environmental Health Section
P.O. Box 30421
Lansing, Michigan 48909-7741
It’s best to personalize your message, but here are a few talking points below.
Talking Points (adapted from SumOfUs):
Some press on the subject:
March 7, Detroit Free Press: Nestle wants more Michigan water
December 23 (2016), MLive: Why Nestle pays next to nothing for Michigan groundwater
Under current law, polluters can simply restrict access to a site or an aquifer instead of treating or removing pollutants. House Bill 4123 would require that pollution be cleaned up as much as technically feasible (link, link). We believe it has the potential for bipartisan support as our state has recently realized the vulnerability and importance of drinking water quality.
Talking Points
There are a few distinct actions to take to help support this bill:
(1A) This bill is currently in committee after its first reading. This means, to get anywhere, the committee needs to push it forward. If your representative is on the natural resources committee (see below) call them in support of this bill, as they currently have the power to advance or kill this bill.
Natural Resources Committee (Michigan House of Representatives)
(1B) If your representative is not on this committee, call, fax, email, or write a postcard to the committee chair in support of this bill:
The Honorable Gary Howell
State Representative
State Capitol
P.O. Box 30014
Lansing, MI 48909-7514
Toll-Free: (877) 248-0001
Phone: (517) 373-1800
Fax: (517) 373-9981
E-Mail: garyhowell@house.mi.gov
(1C) If your representative is not already a cosponsor (see list of cosponsors below), call them and ask them to cosponsor the bill.
(1D) Finally, thank the cosponsors of this bill, especially if one of them is your representative!: Stephanie Chang, John Chirkun, Scott Dianda, Fred Durhal, Brian Elder, Jim Ellison, Pam Faris, Abdullah Hammoud, Jon Hoadley, Jewell Jones, Donna Lasinski, Frank Liberati, Peter Lucido, Sheldon Neeley, Kristy Pagan, Ronnie Peterson, Yousef Rabhi (primary), Rose Mary Robinson, Bettie Cook Scott, William Sowerby, Robert Wittenberg, Adam Zemke.
On April 3, President Trump signed a bill blocking the implementation of 2016 Federal Communications Commision (FCC) ruling under President Obama, which required Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to get your explicit permission before collecting and selling your data. The law also blocks the FCC from implementing privacy rules in the future.
This means that your ISP will continue to have unmitigated ability to monitor and sell your location data, search history, app usage, and browsing habits to advertisers without your permission. One argument made to Congress was that the ISPs cannot compete with companies like Google and Facebook. However, there is a key difference: Google and Facebook see only the traffic you send them, and you can opt not to use them. Your ISP has access to all of your data and many people do not have a choice between ISPs.
But states are starting to fight back. The day after the bill passed the House, the Minnesota Senate passed an amendment to a state law (58-9) enacting their own internet privacy laws.
Take Action:
Call your state Representative and Senator and ask them to introduce similar legislation. Note that this is a bipartisan issue, as the Minnesota vote shows, as did the 15 Republicans in the House of Representatives that voted with the Democrats against repealing the FCC ruling. The text Minnesota used is a good simple starting point that you can share with them (see below). If Minnesota can do it, then so can we!
No telecommunications or internet service provider that has entered into a franchise agreement, right-of-way agreement, or other contract with the state of Minnesota or a political subdivision, or that uses facilities that are subject to such agreements, even if it is not a party to the agreement, may collect personal information from a customer resulting from the customer’s use of the telecommunications or internet service provider without express written approval from the customer. No such telecommunication or internet service provider shall refuse to provide its services to a customer on the grounds that the customer has not approved collection of the customer’s personal information. (link)
Some press on the subject:
April 12, ACLU: What Individuals Should Do Now That Congress Has Obliterated the FCC’s Privacy Protections
March 31, PBS: Before you lament the end of your internet privacy, read this
March 29, Privacy News Online: Minnesota Senate votes 58-9 to pass Internet privacy protections in response to repeal of FCC privacy rules
March 28, NBC News: House Votes in Favor of Letting ISPs Sell Your Browsing History
March 23, NPR: Senate Votes to Repeal Obama-Era Internet Privacy Rules
March 17, Electronic Frontier Foundation: Three Myths the Telecom Industry is Using to Convince Congress to Repeal the FCC’s Privacy Rules, Busted
Each week we share some recent media we’ve found worthwhile. We’ll keep it short! We know many of you already have long reading lists.
There’s so much to read, watch, and listen to on the internet! This week’s suggestion is something a little bit different. In creating this newsletter, we are learning all kinds of civics lessons we never learned about in school. One resource we’ve recently turned to is the handbook our legislators receive when they enter office. This might sound like dry reading (and, admittedly, it is…), but it’s also a concise, straightforward account of how our state legislature works. We recommend reading pp. 23-32 of the PDF file (pp. 15-24 as written in the footers) about how a bill goes from idea to law. Educating ourselves about the mechanics of state politics makes us better able to take effective action.
While the focus of this newsletter is “armchair activism” we’ll also share a featured in-person action each week for those interested and able.
Around the country people will be marching for science on Earth Day, April 22. “The March for Science champions robustly funded and publicly communicated science as a pillar of human freedom and prosperity. We unite as a diverse, nonpartisan group to call for science that upholds the common good and for political leaders and policy-makers to enact evidence based policies in the public interest.” Michigan has several satellite marches.
If you’ve never protested in person, it’s not as scary as it sounds. Make a sign (here are some ideas), gather some friends, pack snacks and water, and arrive early. These satellite marches promise to be nonviolent, inclusive, and wonderfully nerdy.