“We’re outraged that this is even a conversation. President Biden won in 2020 by campaigning against Trump’s racist immigration and asylum policies. It is unconscionable for Majority Leader Schumer and the Biden Administration to even consider trading necessary protections for refugees and asylum seekers for foreign military aid. Democrats should not give in to Republican demands for more suffering for migrants.

“People’s Action is a network of community organizations fighting for justice. We worked hard in 2020 to elect candidates that will build a stronger country where everyone belongs. These callous and dangerous negotiating tactics that will harm many people are exactly the wrong direction for this country, and we will remember this moment in November.”

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People’s Action builds the power of poor and working people in urban, rural, and suburban areas to win change through issue fights and elections. We are a national network of 40 state and local grassroots power-building organizations in 29 states–united in the work of building a bigger “we.”

Contact: press@peoplesaction.org.

The post People’s Action: Trade Off on Asylum, Refugee Protections is Unacceptable and Immoral appeared first on People's Action.

“Our organizing for over three years with poor and working people suffering from sky-high health care costs finally resulted in federal action. This guidance is a strong first step towards lowering drug prices. Now the administration needs to finish the job, expand it to all government-funded drugs, and exercise its compulsory licensing authority. 

“We applaud the Biden administration for reining in Big Pharma. We need this kind of heat on private health insurance corporations who deny people life-saving care, and we look forward to working with the administration to make sure everyone can get the care they need when they need it.”

People’s Action is a member of the Make Meds Affordable coalition consisting of Center for Popular Democracy, Indivisible, PrEP4All, Public Citizen, Social Security Works, and T1International. The coalition’s organizing helped win this federal action. People’s Action will continue fighting for people in need of health care and against greedy corporations denying their care through the Care Over Cost campaign.

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People’s Action builds the power of poor and working people in urban, rural, and suburban areas to win change through issue fights and elections. We are a national network of 40 state and local grassroots power-building organizations in 29 states–united in the work of building a bigger “we.”

Contact: Johanna Kichton, press@peoplesaction.org, 202.660.0605

The post People’s Action Cheers Biden Announcement to Lower Drug Prices appeared first on People's Action.

New Jersey Organizing Project worked hard on the phones to turn their members out and elect Vin Gopal, and the results speak for themselves: the state senator won 17 of 19 towns in a “competitive” district. 

Gopal won his race by only 4 percentage points in 2021; this November, he won 60 percent to 39 percent. 
This organizing-driven win created a coattails effect for down-ballot races and demonstrated the power of an organized, activated base.

Read the New Jersey Globe piece to learn more.

The post New Jersey Organizing Project: Blockbuster Win in a Tight Race appeared first on People's Action.

Progressive Maryland members and organizers helped bring home wins for Izola Shaw’s bid for Rockville City Council and Tim Adam’s race for mayor of Bowie. 

As Progressive Maryland wrote, “Their commitment to progressive values shone through, and we couldn’t be prouder.” These campaigns helped Progressive Maryland build base and prepare for fights ahead.

Read more in Progressive Maryland’s weekly write-up.

The post Progressive Maryland: Local Progressive Wins appeared first on People's Action.

Pennsylvania Stands Up had some truly impressive results for their slate of local candidates. 

Many of their winning candidates will now serve on school boards–and as organizers know, school board races can be messy battles.

PASU’s previous local wins have paved the way for policy wins like tenant protections and better emergency response services, and the November races will make it easier to get federal funds spent on our priorities.

That means PASU’s work is helping to advance our big idea that government can be a force for good in people’s lives. These races also served as important stress tests for upcoming state legislative fights.

The post Pennsylvania Stands Up: Wins and Warming Up for 2024 appeared first on People's Action.

The crew at Pennsylvania United helped elect Sara Innamorato as the first female county executive in Allegheny County! This was a tight race where organizing made the difference.

With the backing of our members, Sara took on corporate polluters and led in the fight for sustainable, affordable housing as the author of Pennsylvania’s Whole Home Repairs bill in the state house.

Our members’ investment in this race continued a longer-term, co-governing relationship. (For example, watch her previous appearance at our midterm election livestream where she talked about the importance of backing movement candidates.) The election of a new movement partner gives our base a better shot at pulling down federal resources into our communities.

Congrats, Pennsylvania United!

The post Pennsylvania United: Electing Sara Innamorato to Allegheny County Executive appeared first on People's Action.

As part of their commitments to a White House tenant protections initiative, FHFA is considering attaching tenant protections to federal financing, potentially benefiting 12.4 million rental homes in the country. Rent continues to be the most enduring and significant factor in overall inflation.

“If there’s no strategy on rent, there’s no strategy on the economy,” said People’s Action Homes Guarantee campaign director Tara Raghuveer. 

On Wednesday, the Homes Guarantee campaign hosted a congressional briefing with former FHFA economist Alexei Alexandrov and acting executive director of Groundwork Collaborative Kitty Richards. Tenant leaders Jackie Floyd (Louisville Tenants Union), Lilly Durka (Bozeman Tenants United), Bennita Watford (Neighbor to Neighbor), and Oklahoma City Councilor JoBeth Hamon testified. Afterwards, the campaign hosted a press conference with U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal D-Wash. where Iris Espada (Neighbor to Neighbor) and Demetrius Mosely (Louisville Tenants Union) spoke. 

“Mountain View Apartments got a 2.6 million dollar loan from Fannie Mae. They are profiting off of our rent, while our conditions are not improving,” said Bozeman Tenants United leader Lilly Durka. “Bozeman has one of the highest rates of new construction in the country. These new units aren’t affordable to me or anyone else who keeps the town of Bozeman running. Tenants are making impossible choices about where to live and how to pay the rent.”

Today, the campaign hosted a direct action at the D.C. headquarters of corporate landlord Starwood Capital Group. Starwood Capital is one of the largest residential landlords in the country, with more than 115,000 apartment units and single-family rental homes across the country. Tenants held a short program where four speakers shared their stories on the floor of the office building, while other tenants held signs and chanted outside the building. 

“It’s not right that I work hard every single day, living paycheck to paycheck to make corporate landlords like Starwood Capital and Barry Steinlicht even richer. It’s not right that the federal government is in business with the slumlords who would have us live in squalor while they brag about raising our rents,” said Louisville Tenant Union member Elizabeth Olvera Perez.

Polling on the economy shows that people care less about job creation and more about prices – and the biggest cost people continue to face is their rent. Polling from Data for Progress and Bipartisan Policy Center point to bipartisan voter appetite for federal action to mitigate rising housing costs. In addition, high mortgage rates are putting homeownership out of reach more than ever before and pushing would-be owners into the rental market, allowing landlords to hike rents. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice announced their investigation into corporate landlord price gouging. 

View photos from the Tenant Takeover here and live-streams here.

The post Homes Guarantee Demands FHFA Protect Tenants and Regulate Rents appeared first on People's Action.