Hey, everyone, and happy…well, actually, Monday. Also HAPPY PRIDE! 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
I’m on a red-eye flying to D.C.—thanks again to all who helped make this trip possible—and it’s currently 3AM PT. Yikes! I’ll be red-eyed tomorrow, indeed!
I’m sorry this email is getting out so late. It’s been a crazy weekend, with some unexpected family stuff that had to be prioritized, and I’m behind on everything.
But finally, here’s your good-news rundown. And folks, WE HAD A HUGE WEEK! One well worth celebrating. There were so many victories— not just the one in New York City. But that one was, I’ll admit, particularly sweet. Still, enjoy all of them! Savor them! Share them!
And know that we will have so many more, if we simply keep doing the work.
Jess
P.S. —I have, as usual, popped an 🪓 next to every item folks like you helped make happen, or that got done by lawmakers you helped elect.
P.P.S. — No audio version, I’m afraid, due to travel.
Read This 📖
A day after Trump’s verdict the Biden campaign finally decided to take the gloves off. As part of their new approach they sent out a press release listing "34 Lowlights from Convicted Felon Donald Trump's" speech. Here they are:
Celebrate This! 🎉
👏🏼👏🏼 A New York jury found Trump guilty of all 34 felony counts in the hush money case — marking the first time a former U.S. president has ever been criminally convicted. 👏🏼👏🏼
We made our 10K matching fund goal for Run For Something! THANK YOU!! And thanks to the kind donor who put up the 10K match! 🪓
Postcards to Voters candidate Anthony Gutierrez won his election to the Kennesaw City Council. This was his third run for the seat. 909 votes secured the victory for him, his team, and his constituents. 🪓
Last year, the US economy grew by 2.5 percent while the total carbon emissions by decreased by 2-3 percent. 🪓
Siding against Amazon, a federal judge has ruled that the FTC can proceed with charges that the company used “dark patterns” to dupe people into signing up for Prime subscriptions, and also thwarted subscribers' attempts to cancel. 🪓
Nate Cohn, who spent the last year saying Trump is winning, admitted that the polls are not actually so rosy for him.
Two of Washington’s most powerful Republican-leaning industry groups are gearing up to defend President Joe Biden’s climate law if the GOP retakes the White House next year. Their motives are mixed, but I’ll take it.
The EPA has formally denied Alabama’s plan to allow Alabama Power and other utilities to continue storing toxic coal ash in unlined pits at sites across the state. 🪓
Consumer confidence in the U.S. rose in May. 🪓
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed a ban on the gay and trans panic defense. The state becomes the 19th to do so. 🪓
Wind power overtook gas as the UK’s largest source of electricity in 2023.
A criminal case has been filed against the CEO and directors of the French oil company TotalEnergies, alleging its fossil fuel exploitation has contributed to the deaths of victims of climate-fueled extreme weather disasters.
Solar power is on track to provide most of the increase in total power demand in the Middle East.
Trump’s outreach to the Libertarians was a train wreck.
Melinda French-Gates announced she will be giving away a billion dollars to help fund women’s and reproductive rights organizations.
In Texas, Democratic State Rep. Shawn Thierry was defeated by primary challenger Democrat Lauren Ashley Simmons, denying the Houston rep a fifth term after she sided with Republicans last year on a handful of bills opposed by the LGBTQ+ community. 🪓
Twenty doulas of color will be trained to work in Lancaster County, PA and subsidized doula services will be provided to at least 100 low income people of color due to a $200,000 American Rescue Act grant given to a local nonprofit. 🪓
Tortoises living in a 3.5 million-acre area of California’s Mojave Desert will soon receive greater protections thanks to a new partnership that includes state, local, and federal government agencies, conservation groups, military organizations, and more. 🪓
Delaware is joining Tennessee in offering baby diaper benefits to residents enrolled in Medicaid.
The Biden-Harris Administration released a new Climate Capital Guidebook to provide a simple, comprehensive map of capital programs across the federal government that are available to climate-related start-ups, small- and medium-sized businesses, and their investors. 🪓
The Small Business Administration is lifting its cap on the number of 504 loans that small businesses may receive for “energy public policy projects,” which include projects that reduce energy consumption such as retrofits and/or renewable energy projects such as adding solar. 🪓
The White House unveiled nearly $900 million in awards to 530 school districts to replace thousands of aging, gas-fueled school buses with cleaner, mainly electric models. 🪓
The Biden administration announced $99.2 million in federal funds towards Southern California’s plan to build the largest wastewater recycling plant in the nation. 🪓
After a push from students concerned about environmental impacts, Drexel University is phasing out herbicides and pesticides on campus grounds. 🪓
A solid majority of Americans, including 59% of independents, support holding fossil fuel companies legally accountable for climate change, according to a new poll.
The Biden-Harris Administration has launched a Federal-State Modern Grid Deployment Initiative to strengthen the U.S. power grid. 🪓
Jenna Ellis has had her law license suspended in Colorado.
A federal judge struck down New York's line-warming ban that prohibits handing food and water to voters waiting in line at the polls. The judge ruled the law violates the U.S. Constitution.
An Arizona appeals court effectively thwarted a brazen attempt by former Trump advisor Stephen Miller’s right-wing legal group to sue Maricopa County over election administration procedures in a more conservative district.
Vermont became the latest state to ban guns in and near polling places after Gov. Phil Scott (R) allowed a bill passed by the Democratic-controlled legislature to become law without his signature. 1 🪓
A Gulfport teen received a National Geographic award for her plan to save Mississippi’s oyster reef population.
The Biden administration announced that the IRS is making its free tax-filing platform permanent and open to all 50 states and D.C.! Whoooo! 🪓
Staffers at Joe Biden’s campaign headquarters in Delaware finalized a union contract after collective bargaining negotiations, making Biden the first incumbent to run for reelection with a unionized workforce. 🪓
Thanks to pressure from the Biden administration, three of the world’s largest inhaler makers will cap the out-of-pocket cost for the most commonly used inhaler products at just $35 per month, lowering health care costs dramatically for millions of families impacted by asthma, COPD, and other respiratory conditions. 🪓
Lawmakers in Vermont passed the “Vermont PRO Act”—strong pro-labor legislation—with a veto-proof supermajority, and this week it became law. 🪓
The Kansas Supreme Court ruled that a provision curtailing voter registration efforts by civic organizations is likely unconstitutional.
Washington, D.C.'s law licensing board recommended that Rudy Giuliani be disbarred from practicing law in the nation's capital.
The ACLU of Nevada reached a settlement with Elko County Jail in a lawsuit over the county’s policy regarding incarcerated voting. Under the settlement, all eligible incarcerated voters will be able to cast a ballot.
Vermont just officially became the first state to enact a law requiring fossil fuel companies to pay a portion of the damage caused by climate change. 🪓
The state of Michigan has offered to take over the remaining lead service line removals in Flint, promising to finish the work by next year. 🪓
Over 1,000 complaints have flooded into Judge Aileen Cannon's court, seeking her recusal from the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case against former President Donald Trump. Umm….you guys!! SOME OF THOSE WERE YOURS! 🪓
The conservative media company behind the book and film “2,000 Mules,” which alleged a widespread conspiracy by Democrats to steal the 2020 election, has issued an apology and said it would halt distribution of the film and remove both the film and book from its platforms.
The Illinois state legislature passed a bill requiring local newspaper owners to notify employees and the state far ahead of time if the paper is set to be sold to an out-of-state buyer. 🪓
SCOTUS struck down attempts by big banks to escape regulatory oversight, in a case that experts worried could recreate the 2008 financial crisis if it had gone the other way.
Massachusetts’ new “millionaire tax” has generated more than $1.8 billion in revenue this fiscal year, which far exceeds initial expectations of $1 billion in new annual revenue. Based on the original ballot measure, the state must use this funding for transportation and education.2 🪓
A critically endangered whale was spotted off the California coast. It’s one of the rarest whales in the world, belonging to a species with a population around 500.
Convicted felon Donald Trump has suffered losses in three separate polls in the 48 hours since his guilty verdict in his Manhattan criminal trial.
Mexico has its first female President!
UC Riverside scientists have discovered a highly effective, nontoxic, and less expensive way to get rid of termites.
Ron DeSantis banned rainbow Pride lights on bridges, but that didn't stop Jacksonville. Citizens took to the Main Street Bridge with flashlights and colored gels on the first day of Pride Month, and proceeded to light it up anyway. [H/T
] 🪓
Watch This! 👀
Good one from the folks at the Kimmel show.
This and the two above from The Lever’s “You Love to See It!”
Go get 'em, Jess!!
Soooooo much fantastic winning here. My favorite is the citizen-led PRIDE 🏳️🌈 lighting of the bridge in Jacksonville! Inspiring and energizing. We can all do this type of nonviolent civic action. Together, we will win in November!!!
Thanks for all the good news this Monday morning!