Extra! Extra! July 7
A light in the storm
Hi, friends, and happy Sunday.
I’m sending a slightly shorter version of this good news roundup than usual; I haven’t been quite up to my normal level of information-gathering. Covid really took it out of me this week.
Still, there’s quite a bit to celebrate below.
I know we’re in a time of deep uncertainty. I know events are unfolding in ways that feel scary and unpredictable. I also know that this moment of limbo will pass. We don’t know what things will look like in two weeks, but we know they’ll have taken some more solid sort of form. And whatever that form is, we’re going to make it work for us. We have to.
In the meantime, let’s take a moment or two to cleanse our mental palates with some hopeful news, shall we? We need it to keep going. And keep going we must.
Your mental health right now is paramount. Tend to it carefully, my friends. Remember, it’s dark, now, but there’s a reason we speak of “darkness right before the dawn.”
Because the phenomenon is real.
In the meantime, let this bit of light give you a new perspective.
Finally, don’t just read this—share it, PLEASE—keeping morale up is critical right now. Then add additional items in the comments. I know I’ve missed things. Help me fill in the blanks, please.
As usual, I’ve popped an 🪓 next to every item that everyday activists like you helped make happen, and a 🪣 next to every one that got done by lawmakers or administrations that we helped elect.
Enjoy, my warrior team. And never forget the lists to come—lists we’re building right now with our hard work.
Read This 📖
Something to soothe our frazzled nerves from the always wonderful
:
Celebrate This! 🎉
The Biden administration announced that they are extending overtime protections to 1 million workers making less than $43,888 a year. And next year, they will extend protections to another 3 million workers by increasing the overtime threshold to $58,656. 🪣
Acadia National Park will electrify its bus fleet using a $23 million federal grant from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. 🪣
The Biden administration announced $5 million in federal government funding from the American Rescue Plan Act for a housing assistance program in Detroit. 🪣
Local education agencies across Rhode Island will receive $2.5 million in federal grants from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to support children’s health services in local schools. This funding comes from President Biden’s Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. 🪣
Illegal crossings along the U.S. southern border fell to a 3-year low in June.
New York City libraries will have their budgets restored and resume seven-day service, thanks to public advocacy. 🪓
Uber and Lyft drivers in Massachusetts secured a minimum wage, as well as sick leave, accident insurance, and health care benefits. 🪓
Oregon advocates launched an effort to enshrine abortion rights and protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in the state’s constitution. 🪓
The group behind a proposed constitutional amendment to protect abortion access in Montana said it had submitted 117,000 signatures from every county in the state – nearly double the number needed for the measure to make the ballot in November. 🪓
Michigan’s 24-hour waiting period before receiving an abortion, as well as mandates to give patients illustrations of fetuses and adoption information, were blocked after a Michigan Court of Claims judge said that the laws contradict the state’s constitutional right to an abortion that voters approved of in 2022. 🪓
The White House Office of Public Engagement, in collaboration with the American Red Cross, held its first LGBTQ-inclusive blood drive. 🪣
Two major ordinances went into effect in Chicago this week: One guarantees up to five days of paid leave and five days of paid sick leave to the city’s workers, while another kicks off a years-long transition to ultimately phase out the tipped wage, in favor of guaranteeing service workers and others who rely on tips a real minimum wage.
Abortion will officially be on the ballot this November in Nevada, where state officials have signed off on a proposed pro-choice amendment. 🪓
Abortion rights advocates in Arizona say they’ve collected more signatures than any other initiative in the state’s history! 🪓
The Delaware Supreme Court reinstated in-person early voting and a permanent mail voter list, overturning a lower court decision.
Voters in Rhode Island will have expanded ballot drop box access and more time to apply for mail ballots under new laws signed by the governor. 🪣
A judge in Nevada dismissed a lawsuit brought by political groups seeking to force officials to conduct voter purges.
Team Biden-Harris announced that it raised $264 million in the second quarter of 2024, pulling in $127 million in the month of June alone – the campaign’s best month of the cycle.
Rudy Giuliani was disbarred in New York for his efforts to overturn 2020 election. GOOD!
A bill just enacted in Michigan will prohibit HOAs in the state from banning rooftop solar and other energy efficiency updates, like heat pumps, electric vehicle chargers, and clotheslines. 🪣
Sierra Leone just banned child marriage.
President Biden announced new measures to combat the impacts of extreme weather exacerbated by climate change. 🪣
Citizens Not Politicians, the group behind a ballot measure to create an independent redistricting commission and end gerrymandering in Ohio, submitted over 700,000 signatures to the secretary of state for review. Only around 400,000 signatures were required. 🪓
The Federal Trade Commission unanimously blocked mattress giant Tempur Sealy from a $4 billion acquisition of Mattress Firm, arguing that it would create a monopoly. 🪣
A panel of three federal judges blocked Mississippi's legislative gerrymanders, determining that Republicans violated the Voting Rights Act by discriminating against Black voters.
President Biden announced his 52nd round of judicial nominees. 🪣
The Biden administration announced a significant new security assistance package for Ukraine, marking the seventh such package authorized by President Biden. 🪣
President Biden approved an offshore wind project in New Jersey that would power 1 million homes. Interior department secretary Deb Haaland touted the project as “yet another step toward our ambitious goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore energy by 2030.” 🪣
Amazon has announced that it will stop using puffy plastic shipping pillows. The retailer says the move will avoid the use of almost 15 billion air pillows a year in North America. Woot! 🪓
A Maricopa County judge rejected failed Republican candidate Abe Hamedeh’s fourth legal attempt to overturn his loss in the 2022 election for Arizona attorney general.
A new law going into effect in California this week will require bars and nightclubS to offer date rape drug testing kits – for free or minimal cost — so customers can check their drinks to make sure they’re not spiked with a date rape drug. 🪣
It’s now illegal to declaw a cat in Virginia.
Tennessee became the first U.S. state to sign off on legislation to protect musicians from unauthorized artificial intelligence impersonation. The bill is called The Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security—or ELVIS—Act.
In the wake of the Supreme Court decision on EMTALA, the Biden administration has sent letters to hospitals reminding them of their legal duty to provide emergency abortion care. 🪣
Renewable energy was the leading source of electricity in the EU in 2023, according to new preliminary data from Eurostat.
California high school students will soon have to complete a financial literacy requirement in order to graduate.
The Vatican excommunicated pro-Trump archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò.
The reformist Masoud Pezeshkian has pulled off a stunning victory in the Iranian presidential runoff, reflecting deep dissatisfaction with the direction of the country in recent years and opening potential new avenues of cooperation with the west. 🪓
For the first time in history, the Olympic Village will feature a nursery for athletes and their families, complete with diapers, play spaces, and a private breastfeeding area.
In the UK elections LABOUR WON HUGELY!! 🪓
Thanks for the shout-out! And we should all take great HOPE in the results of the French elections! Voters are defying the polls and the pundits and pushing back against right wing extremism. If they can do it, so can we! BELIEVE.
And the French voters —- in ONE WEEK — between round one & two — stopped the far right from taking over their government. A coalition of left & center groups came together to defeat LePen’s nearly-Nazi party .