#WomensMarchFlorida with #Everytown and #MomsDemandAction March 28 2017 Emergency Daily Action!

The Florida Senate recently passed a bill intended to make its already robust Stand Your Ground law even more friendly to people who say they killed in self-defense.

Under the current law, someone in this situation can avoid a trial if he proves at a pretrial hearing that he was acting in reasonable fear of death or great bodily harm. The new Republican-sponsored bill would flip the burden of proof. It would make the prosecution responsible for proving that someone who used deadly force instead of retreating from an attack was not behaving reasonably. If the prosecution could not do so, the killer would walk free.

The American legal system’s handling of violent self-defense has long favored white, property-owning men. Nonwhite, female, poor or gender-nonconforming people have always been more likely to be punished for defending themselves and less likely to see the courts come to their aid when they are harmed.

Today, our moms will be testifying in opposition to Open Carry in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. We feel like we may have the votes for the bill to fail in committee. The meeting is at 3pm today and we have been driving calls to Senate Judiciary members since yesterday.

An incredibly urgent matter is the expansion of Stand Your Ground in FL. This has passed committees in both chambers and has been voted on by the Senate. Its next stop is the house. Read more about it : https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/23/opinion/a-stand-your-ground-expansion-that-expands-inequality.html?_r=0

We are trying to convince house leadership to send the bill to appropriations for review. This is our best chance to derail the bill. We have testified in every committee that this expansion of SYG will burden prosecutors and overwhelm the courts costing taxpayers money while exacerbating the disproportionate impact SYG has on communities of color.

Today, RIGHT NOW, text FLORIDA to 644-33 will connect callers to a recording explaining that we want to ask house leadership to send the bill to appropriations for review and then connect them to either the Speaker of the House, the Minority Leader or the chair of the appropriations committee.

Follow up by tweeting this : @WMW_Florida stands w @MomsDemand txt 64433 to send Stand Your Ground Bill to appropriations cease injustice against vulnerable communities

Don't Forgot to share the attached image!

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#womensmarchfl MARCH 27: CALL TO ACTION: Proposed Energy Bill *Bad* for All Floridians
From our partners at AARP Florida! Seeking to Protect All Ratepayers
The proposed Utility Investment in Gas Reserves legislation (House Bill 1043) by Rep. Brodeur could cost residential ratepayers millions. If passed, this bill would set up a regulatory framework that would allow public utilities (Florida Power & Light, Duke Energy, Tampa Electric and Gulf Power) to invest in oil and gas exploration (which involves fracking) in other states and recoup the cost from residential customers.
Under this legislation, utilities would have to rely on natural gas to generate at least 65 percent of their electricity to be eligible to recover money from customers for such investments. Currently, Florida Power & Light is the only electric utility that uses that much natural gas.
Last year, the Florida Supreme Court rejected a move by Florida Power & Light to invest ratepayer money in a controversial Oklahoma natural-gas project. Justices ruled that the Florida Public Service Commission didn't have legal authority in 2014 to approve FPL's request to invest in the drilling and production of natural gas in what is known as the Oklahoma Woodford Gas Reserves Project.
If passed, this legislation would allow public utilities to charge you for the cost of risky investments. This is bad public policy and a risky business venture that would be funded by you, the residential ratepayers. This bill is up for a vote in the House Energy, and Utilities Subcommittee on Tuesday, March 28 at noon ET. Call the Representatives on the committee today and tell them to vote NO!
Tell the Committee Members:
- Florida electric companies shouldn't be allowed to use ratepayer dollars to invest in risky natural gas reserve development (much less in Oklahoma).
- FPL has already lost hundreds of millions of dollars on this venture that was struck down by the courts.
- Gas exploration is the purview of private companies and developers, not investor owned electric utilities.
- We should not let a regulated monopoly use our electric bill as a source of financing for risky business ventures.
- We should not have to pay to support fracking in other states.
- This is not allowed anywhere else in the country.
STEP ONE: CALL/EMAIL Representatives on the 2017 House Energy & Utilities Subcommittee TODAY! *You do not have to live in their district! Committee members are accountable to ALL Floridians! **
Kathleen Peters (Chair) (R) 850.717.5069 Kathleen.Peters@myfloridahouse.gov
Eric Eisnaugle (Vice Chair)(R) 850.717.5044 Eric.Eisnaugle@myfloridahouse.gov
Lori Berman (D) 805.717.5090 lori.berman@myfloridahouse.gov
Bryan Avila (R) 850.717.5111 Bryan.Avila@myfloridahouse.gov
Kimberly Daniels (D) 850.717.5014 Kimberly.Daniels@myfloridahouse.gov
Bobby DuBose (D) 850.717.5094 Bobby.DuBose@myfloridahouse.gov
Nicholas Duran (D) 850.717.5112 Nicholas.Duran@myfloridahouse.gov
Jason Fischer (R) 850.717.5016 Jason.Fischer@myfloridahouse.gov
Erin Grall (R) 850.717.5054 Erin.Grall@myfloridahouse.gov
Joe Gruters (R) 850.717.5073 Joe.Gruters@myfloridahouse.gov
Stan McClain(R) 850.717.5023 Stan.McClain@myfloridahouse.gov
Bobby Payne (R) 850.717.5019 bobby.payne@myfloridahouse.gov
Sean Shaw (D) 850.717.5061 Sean.Shaw@myfloridahouse.gov
Jackie Toledo (R) 850.717.5060 Jackie.Toledo@myfloridahouse.gov
Frank White (R) 850.717.5002 frank.white@myfloridahouse.gov
STEP TWO: Stay involved in Environmental Protection across the state and in your local area by joining your chapter Environmental Issue Group! (Ask your Chapter captain how to join!)
#womensmarchfl #imarchforourenvironment

*** VERY URGENT CALL TO ACTION FROM THE FLORIDA EDUCATION ASSOCIATION! ***

Tell legislators to VOTE NO on HB 373!!! CALL BEFORE 9AM THURSDAY!! LEAVE A VOICEMAIL IF THE OFFICE IS NOT OPEN.

Tomorrow, Thursday, March 23, the House Education Committee will meet at 9:00 am to vote on HB 373. HB 373 threatens superintendents’ ability to offer job stability to highly effective and effective teachers. The bill interferes with local decision-making by prohibiting school districts and local unions from providing any annual contract teacher job stability based upon teachers’ performance evaluations.

WE NEED YOU TO TAKE ACTION. If your state representative is on the House Education Committee, please take a moment to contact them. This issue is critical, and it is imperative that we try everything in our power to stop it.

It's easy. Click on the FEA Action Center link and type in your home address. You will either have the option to call or email them. You can click on the "call" button to find out your rep's district office phone number, or you can click the "email" button to send them a short email. Tell your representative to vote NO on HB 373.

FEA Action Center - http://feaactioncenter.org/act/retain-good-teachers/

NOT SURE IF YOUR REP IS ON THE COMMITTEE? Find your Representative: http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/sections/representatives/myrepresentative.aspx

Committee Members (Tallahassee phone, home district phone):

Larry Ahern (District 66) - (850)717-5066; Seminole (727)395-2512
Bruce Antone (District 46) – (850) 717-5046, Orlando (407) 445-5313
Robert Asencio (District 118) – (850) 717-5118, Miami (305) 222-4122
Kamia Brown (District 45) – (850) 717-5045, Ocoee (407) 905-3806
Manny Diaz, Jr. (District 103) – (850) 717-5103, Hialeah Gardens (305) 364-3072
Byron Donalds (District 80) – (850) 717-5080, Naples (239) 417-6270, LaBelle (863) 675-5267
Chris Latvala (District 67) – (850) 717-5067, Clearwater (727) 724-3000
Larry Lee, Jr. (District 84) - (850) 717-5084, Fort Pierce (772) 595-1391
Rene Plasencia (District 50) – (850) 717-5050, Titusville (321) 383-5151
Mel Ponder (District 4) – (850) 717-5004, Fort Walton Beach (850) 833-3713
Elizabeth Porter (District 10) – (850) 717-5010, Lake City (386) 719-4600
Jake Raburn (District 57) – (850) 717-5057, Valrico (813) 653-7097
Barry Russell (District 95) – (850) 717-5095, Lauderhill (954) 497-3367
Charlie Stone (District 22) – (850) 717-5022, Ocala (352) 291-4436
Jennifer Sullivan (District 21) – (850) 717-5031, Eustis (352) 742-6275

#4EveryStudent #womensmarchflorida #whyimarch

#womensMARCHfl MARCH 22: #ReflectandResist

The feminist movement has a complex history. It is a powerful movement that has gained monumental victories, yet one cannot speak about feminism without acknowledging the dismal lack of representation for, and at times an active sidelining and silencing of the issues facing women of color, women with disabilities, and the LGBTQIA+ community.

The Women's March is committed to learning from this history in order to guide our collective work with an intentionally intersectional approach, which is why "Action 5" is titled "Reflect and Resist." The ways in which oppressive institutions are interconnected and perpetuate oppression cannot be examined separately from one another. When we examine issues of oppression in silos, people fall through the cracks and into the margins. We commit to focusing on those cracks and margins. In doing so, we strive to unfurl an umbrella under which individually powerful movements - racial justice, gender justice, disability justice, labor justice, and more - can unite, with a collective emphasis on the people and communities that are so often left behind or treated as an afterthought. We ask you to commit to this as well.

Today, PLEASE SHARE your book, article and film selections related to this topic, and let us know how you’re participating in the "ReflectAndResist" Action. Use the hashtag #ReflectAndResist #womensmarchflorida on social media- don't forget to tag us on Instagram and Twitter! (@WMW_Florida)

#womensMARCHhistoryfl #mywomenshistoryMARCHfl

https://www.bustle.com/p/the-womens-march-organizers-launched-reflectandresist-as-their-fifth-action-heres-how-you-can-participate-45279

Women's March Florida Partners with The March For Science!
#womensmarchflorida promotes environmental sustainability and believes that climate change is real. We pledge to protect and sustain the land, air, water, and creatures that share the Earth with us.
To that end we are proud to announce our Statewide Partnership with The March for Science.
Please contact your local chapter to find a Science March to participate at in your area!

#womensMARCHfl On March 17, we MARCH for the ENVIRONMENT!
At Women's March Florida, we promote environmental sustainability and believe that climate change is real. We pledge to protect and sustain the land, air, water, and creatures that share the Earth with us.
To put our money where our mouth is, today chapters across the state will join together in a day of action against the banks funding the Sabal Trail pipeline, specifically BANK OF AMERICA, to urge individuals to divest and defund pipelines across the country.
Bank of America is one of the top lenders of the destructive Sabal Trail Pipeline in Florida and the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota. The banks funding these dangerous pipelines must understand that their careless investments put us all at risk. Through our actions today we hope to increase public awareness of why divestment is so incredibly important, and we hope to inspire many to join local credit unions.
Women’s March Florida believes that when it comes to climate change, Florida has more at stake than any other state. We need to stop destrutive pipelines and invest in solar now! 70% of the state voted in favor of solar energy in the last election. If Bank of America does not divest, we will.
Together with partners at Greenpeace Florida, ReThink Energy and a coalition of groups organized as state and local water protectors, we call upon our members across the state to protest Bank of America, and urge BoA customers to #divestFlorida and shut down their accounts. 
#DivestFlorida #NoDAPL #StopSabalTrail
You can divest on your own at any Bank of America branch (be sure to tell them WHY you are divesting!), or join a protest at one of these chapters:
TALLAHASSEE: https://www.facebook.com/events/1818522291805919/
TAMPA: https://www.facebook.com/events/1737939989851835/
#womensMARCHhistoryfl #mywomensMARCHfl #imarchfortheenvironment