No Bad Budget Bill and NO KINGS!

Written By Alan Cole

Weekly Rallies: Thursdays 4-5 pm in Utica

Thanks to the 40+ people who turned out for our pop up rally on Memorial Day in Utica!  One veteran wore a t-shirt that said " All gave some. Some gave all. One had bone spurs."  Other signs called attention to the Republican attack on Medicaid, the Trump family corruption, the horrible Trump budget and the lawlessness of this administration.  

The event was such a success that we are making it a weekly rally! Join us as often as you can and invite your friends.

Every Thursday, 4-5 pm
10 Broad Street, Utica
Pirnie Federal Building & Courthouse
Public parking across the street (Broad & Railroad) 

Keep sharing information with family and friends about how the Republicans' terrible, horrible, no good, very BAD budget bill harms them.  Just looking at how their Medicaid cuts hurt people in NY21 and NY22, it's clear that these cuts will impact all of us. Thousands of our neighbors and family members will lose Medicaid coverage.  Our local hospitals will lose more than $25M (NY21) and $34M (NY22), respectively. Some of them will not be able to keep their doors open in that scenario.  Let that motivate you to show up with your sign!
 

NO KINGS!  Rallies June 14th

We have some updates! 

NEW LOCATION-Utica
We had to change the location of our Utica/New Hartford rally.  The entire length of our protest area on Burrstone Road is blocked off by New Hartford Highway Dept for road improvements.  So, the site will be down the road in Utica at the intersection of Memorial Parkway and Genesee Street.  We expect people to gather at all four corners of the intersection as well as in the median near the statue.  Parking lots are all around --from near the old bowling alley to Sunset Ave and Bennet St. to those around Price Chopper on Genesee.  First, we are asking everyone to pitch in and make sure that you and your friends are registering for the events. 

PLEASE REGISTER!
Why register instead of just showing up?

1) That's the best way for your rallies hosts to reach you if there are any changes related to weather, road construction, or other last minutes issues. 
2) You'll get reminders so you don't forget to attend or forget to bring appropriate items like rain jackets, signs, or water.
3) Having people registered is some of the best evidence we'll have for showing our numbers. We want evidence of at least 11 million showing up for more than 1000 rallies nationwide.  That just won't be credible if we only have a very small number registered to attend. 

REGISTER NOW.   Our rallies are all 12-1:30 pm on Saturday, June 14th. There are three locations:
 

If you are not free during the 12-1:30 pm time block please consider heading to Hamilton, NY where they have their June 14th No Kings rally scheduled for 2:00-3:30 pm on the Village Green: https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/event/787820/

Regardless of where you participate on June 14th, please remember to bring:

  • Signs/posters (but not on sticks)

  • American flags to wave 

  • appropriate attire for the weather (rain gear, sun protection, comfortable shoes, water, etc.)

It's time to figure out how you are going to get at least three other people to one of these rallies on June 14th--people who have not been to a protest against this administration yet. Widening our circle of people standing up for democracy is the only way we are going to get to 3.5% of the population--one of the key indicators that we can stop the slide into authoritarianism! We also encourage everyone to learn more about safe, non-violent demonstrating by attending one of the national zoom trainings on safety and de-escalation (see calendar below). 

Poster Making Party on Wednesday

Wednesday, June 4th, 6-9pm, IMV Poster Party for June 14th No Kings Day Rally, Cherrywood Club House, 1 Cherrywood Blvd, Clinton (just off Rt 5). Questions?  Email Teresa:  tvane27@hotmail.com.  If you can bring any of the following items it will be appreciated: foam core board, markers, rulers, and /or yard sticks, pencils and erasers, clear packaging tape and clear plastic garbage bags to cover posters in case of rain. 

Signs are really important because they tell people why we are doing the mass demonstration, including how we and our families are impacted, what we are protesting, and what our values are -our deep universal and historical values--and our commitments and dreams for future generations. Posters tell our story and catch the public's attention!  Plus, it's fun to make them together!
 

Climate Crisis Working Group

SAVE THE DATE FOR CLIMATE RALLIES JUNE 3rd and JUNE 7th:

Rally and Hearing Tuesday, June 3rd in Syracuse:

Next week, hearings across NY are set to kick off to determine how major polluters are required to report their greenhouse gas emissions, i.e. the emissions that pollute our people and our planet. New Yorkers shouldn’t have to pay ever-rising energy bills, breathe polluted air, or brace against extreme heat, wildfire, floods and other catastrophic climate events, while big polluters make record profits. The public hearing for Syracuse for Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting Regulations will be Tuesday, June 3rd. 

Citizen Action will also hold a rally in Syracuse before the hearing to demand that Governor Hochul release regulations for the state’s cap and invest program. The delay in doing so has held back millions from communities that need climate justice and resiliency funding now. There will also be an opportunity to provide testimony at the hearings.

Join the rally at 12 noon on Tuesday, June 3rd in Syracuse or testify at the hearing by signing up here.  For more information, email Maggie Reilly at margaret_reilly@mac.com

Rally Thursday, June 5th in Albany for the NY HEAT Act:

Join us in Albany Thursday June 5th for a final push for NY HEAT ACT before the legislative session ends! Sign up here for more info!

The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act Passes in the State Senate!

The PRRIA, as the bill is commonly called, now needs to be brought to the floor and voted on in the Assembly. Members of the  IMV CCWG were in Albany last month lobbying for the bill. It is the strongest plastics reduction bill in the country. The fossil fuel industry has responded by putting almost $1 million into lobbying against the bill. If your Assemblymember is Marianne Buttenschon, please call her office and let her know that you support the bill. Albany 518-455-5454 or Utica 315-732-1055

In other good news, Senator May’s Bottle Bill took a step forward when it passed out of the Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee yesterday. 
 

Oneida County Dem Committee Summer Fundraiser 

You're cordially invited to the Oneida County Democratic Committee's Summer Fundraiser, which will be held at the Hart's Hill Inn in Whitesboro from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM on Tuesday, June 17! The three featured speakers are: New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, Rep. John Mannion (D-NY-22), and Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY-10)! See more information about our special guests via the links below:

NYS Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli: https://www.osc.ny.gov/about/comptroller-biography
Rep. John Mannion (D-NY-22): https://mannion.house.gov/about
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY-10): https://goldman.house.gov/about

To register for the fundraiser, please visit this link: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/oneidadems2025


Summer Festivals: Participate in Community!

 It's that time of year again when there are many local festivals and parades happening throughout each month.  IMV encourages tabling at events to encourage people to get involved in the defense of democracy.  We staff tables at Pride and Jewtica in Utica and have done so at other events, often registering people to vote, at events like Juneteenth, MVLA Latino festival in August, and Harvest on the Hill in October. 

Attending events that celebrate the religious and cultural diversity of our community, and the freedom movements of our history, is one way we can counteract the current assault on diversity, equity, and inclusion. We also encourage progressive activists and Democratic party groups to walk in small town and small city parades and show that BLUE can be patriotic TOO. As we will show at NO KINGS, the American flag is a symbol of what is possible when everyone's rights are guaranteed equally under the law, and no one, and no one branch of government, is above the law. 

Here's what you need to know about Pride in Utica on June 7th.
Jewtica is the following day on June 8th. 
Thanks to the IMVers who have volunteered to organize and staff tables at both events.  
 

Wrap Up and Motiviation

We hope you saw this excellent article in The Guardian about our pro-democracy Indivisible movement.  If not, please check it out!  The Indivisible movement continues to grow, with local groups like ours starting or expanding in hundreds of communities like ours across the country. We have to keep showing up, though, and June 14th will be a major demonstration of the power of our movement. If you are on vacation and not in the Mohawk Valley on June 14th, please look at the No Kings map and find a rally where you will be on that day.  If you have not signed up to attend a rally yet, please do so now.  The host of your particular event site needs to be able to communicate with you on logistics right up until the start of the local event.  

Congratulations to our Letter to the Editor writers! We saw letters to educate and influence the public from Carole Gehrig, Mike Cobett, amd Lauren Waszkiewicz in The Daily Sentinel this week. Lauren's letter included a call to action at the end. It's a powerful letter with excellent messaging. Here's the text:

   'Most people agree that if you work hard and follow the rules, you should be able to take care of your family. That's true in big cities and it's true here in Oneida County.
   But the "One Big Beautiful Bill" passed by the house does the opposite.  It makes life harder for regular people and gives more tax breaks to those at the top. It cuts help for families, seniors, and workers trying to get by.
   In Oneida County, more than 70,900 people rely on Medicaid. These are our grandparents in nursing homes, our disabled neighbors, and our children. Another 38,000 people here depend on SNAP to help feed their families. The bill makes it harder to access both programs.
   And what do we get in return?  An average tax cut of about $1,300.  That might sounds nice--until it's wiped out by higher out-of-pocket costs for food and healthcare, and the Emergency Room visits we taxpayers will end up covering when people lose access to care.
   This isn't reform. It's a raw deal.  It sends more money to military contractors and wealthy donors while squeezing the people who keep our communities going.
If you live in New York's 21st Congressional District, tell Congresswoman Elise Stefanik: We don't want cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. These programs help real people in our region every day.  We need policies that lift families up--not political stunts that push them down."   --Lauren Waszkiewicz, Rome. 

Pretty persuasive, huh? Now that you see the argument laid out like that, don't just call Rep. Stefanik. Call Sen. Schumer and Sen. Gillibrand. Tell them both to fight hard against this bill. They should both be on social meida and giving press interviews daily about how bad this bill is and why not a single Democratic Senator should vote for it. The country will be on their side. There's not even one congressional district in the country where more than 15% of the population supports cuts to Medicaid. So all they have to do is tell the truth about what Republicans put in this bill.  And they should be doing that every.single.day. 

Here are your To Dos:

1) Call your three members of Congress and tell them what you think of this bad budget bill.
2) Register for one of our No Kings rallies on June 14th

3) Recruit your friends to attend as well. Show up to make posters on Wednesday.  Sign up for an Indivsiible Zoom to learn more about safety at the rallies.  
 

Democracy is not a spectator sport.
But it is a team sport. We're all in this together. 
Let's show up on June 14th together and bring others along. 
"No one let go of anyone's hand." 

 
Follow us on Bluesky: @Indivisiblemv.bsky.social, on Instagram's Threads.net/@indivisiblemohawkvalley, on X (Twitter) using @indivisiblemv and of course on our Facebook page and IMV Activism Group. 

Alan Cole
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Who Will You Bring to Our No Kings Rally?