Situation: According to the National Transportation Safety Board, speeding accounts for nearly a third of all traffic fatalities; and according to FHA, speed cameras can reduce crashes on urban streets by 54%.

State legislation is required to allow speed cameras.

AB 645 authorizes San Francisco and a few other cities to install speed camera systems in school zones, on high injury streets and in areas with a history of speed racing and motor vehicle side shows.
See https://walksf.org/2023/03/29/lets-win-speed-safety-cameras-with-assembly-bill-645/ for more information from WalkSF.

Action: Call (the preferred way) or email the Assemblymembers urging them to pass AB 645 to make our streets safer.

Contact:

Phil Ting, District 19 Assemblymember
415 557-2312
assemblymember.ting@assembly.ca.gov

Matt Haney, District 17 Assemblymember
916 319-2017
assemblymember.haney@assembly.ca.gov 

David Sforza, Assembly Transportation Committee
916.319.2093
David.Sforza@asm.ca.gov 

Jim Metropulos, Office of Assemblymember Laura Friedman
916.319.2044
Jim.Metropulos@asm.ca.gov

THE STORY AND FATE
OF LAGUNA HONDA
presented by former SF City Attorney, LOUISE RENNE

SITUATION: Located on a 62 acre campus, Laguna Honda has been serving seniors and adults with disabilities since 1866. A century and a half later, it remains a civic icon, representing San Francisco’s tradition of service to the underserved–and is gravely threatened by the actions of CMS.

ACTION: San Francisco Interfaith Council is hosting a virtual meeting with featured speaker, former SF City Attorney Louise Renne, to educate participants about both the history and current challenges of this crucial institution.

The meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 9, from 8:30 to 9:45 a.m.

ZOOM REGISTRATION LINK
(Follow the link below to register for the call. SFIC is taking
this extra step to model best practices for holding virtual meetings).
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMvdumqqzkqHdQ-wubmMW3xW3avG5Jb2iTV

(if you experience issues opening the link,
please copy and paste the link into your browser bar or change browser)

For more information, go to San Francisco Interfaith Council, Events,
https://www.sfinterfaithcouncil.org/sfic-online-briefing-storyfate-laguna-honda-louise-renne

SITUATION:  Republicans claim Social Security,  Medicare and Medicaid are “off the table” but their plans to weaken and privatize these valuable programs are far from over. Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, is a well known supporter of privatization and spending reduction on each of these crucial resources for older Americans.
 
ACTION: A National Day of Action, sponsored by CARA, is scheduled for Friday March 17 at Congressman McCarthy’s office in Bakersfield.
 
Join the national rally to tell Congressman McCarthy that older Americans are not buying it.
 
Buses to Bakersfield will be picking up supporters from all over the state. In San Francisco, the bus will load at the Main branch of San Francisco Public Library on Fulton and Larkin at 7 a.m. and load for the return trip at 3 to 3:15 p.m. Buses will also be leaving from the North, East and South Bay, as well as other parts of the state.
 
Click HERE to reserve your spot on a bus taking you to the NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION, or contact CARA Executive Director, Jodi Reid at (415) 515-2156, Jreid.cara@gmail.com
 
A rally and demonstration will start at 2:00 pm at:
Congressman McCarthy’s office
4100 Empire drive, suite 150
Bakersfield, CA
 
Participants will meet at 12:30 pm at:
Yokuts Park 
4200 Empire Dr.
Bakersfield, CA

SITUATION: Despite the recent reprieve in discharges from Laguna Honda, discharges are set to start again on May 19.  Past forced discharges have not only been heartbreaking but deadly due to transfer trauma of fragile residents who consider Laguna Honda their home. 

Important issues remain. Laguna Honda is still at risk for loss of 1/3 of its beds due to new CMS regulations. Laguna Honda is also still under threat of closure if recertification isn’t achieved by Nov. 13, 2023.

ACTION: Email, call, or write to Xavier Becerra-Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, including CMS.

• Laguna Honda Hospital must stay open for San Franciscans in need.
• No forced discharges.  Discharge and appeal rights of patients must be honored.
• The City must be allowed to apply for a waiver from CMS’s 2-bed per room requirement.
• No 120-bed reduction in light of San Francisco’s severe shortage of Medi-Cal beds and appropriate Skilled Nursing beds.

Also: Please share this message with colleagues, friends and family.

Xavier Becerra:

Email: xavier.becerra@hhs.gov
Call: 1(877) 696-6775
Write:
200 Independence Avenue, S.W
Washington, D.C. 20201

“A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars, it’s where the rich use public transportation.”—Gustavo Petro, Mayor of Bogotá

RIDING PUBLIC TRANSPORATION
REDUCES CARBON EMISSIONS SIGNIFICANTLY

SITUATION: Saturday, February 4 is national Transit Equity Day.

SITUATION: Environmental organization 350 Bay Area is celebrating Transit Equity Day and raising awareness of public transit by distributing “I RIDE TRANSIT” sitckers to be worn on outer garments, encouraging riders to be proud and visible in their communities.

ACTION: Contact OWLSF (info@owlsf.org; (415) 712-1695) to request a sticker to wear or stickers to distribute–AND WEAR THE STICKERS.

ACTION: Come to Union Square on February 4th to help 350 Bay Area distribute stickers—Geary and Stockton, 5 p.m.

ACTION: Ride public transit—especially if you usually DRIVE.

ACTION: Share this message with friends, family and colleagues.

SITUATION: Seniors are most at risk when it comes to criminals attempting to steal money over the telephone and the internet. The need to be savvy and vigilant in protecting ourselves from these scams is ever greater.

ACTION: California State Senator Scott Wiener is collaborating with State Assembly Members Matt Haney and Phil Ting to present an online seminar, SENIOR SCAM STOPPER, on Wednesday, January 18 from 11 a.m. to 12 noon (with more time for Q&A if needed). Click HERE to register and receive the Zoom link. Registration is open until the event begins.

ACTION: Share this message with friends, colleagues and family: ALL ARE WELCOME.

For more information: 
•    visit Senator Wiener’s website: HERE
•    Call: (415) 557-1300
•    Email: sd11.senate.ca.gov/contact

SITUATION: Created by Congress 20 years ago in order to provide better care at lower costs, Medicare Advantage has instead resulted in rising costs and private insurance companies siphoning off billions from Medicare.

SITUATION: A recent New York Times report found that of the private insurance companies offering Medicare Advantage Plans: 9 of the top 10 have overbilled Medicare between $12 and $25 billion, and 6 of the top 10 have been accused of fraud by the U.S. government and whistleblowers.

Health care providers have developed elaborate systems to make patients appear as sick as possible, often without providing additional treatment.

ACTION: In order to protect Medicare from corporate greed, we must get private insurance companies OUT of Medicare.

ACTION: Demandprogress.org has created a petition to urge Congress to ban private insurance companies administering Medicare. Sign the petition HERE.

ACTION: Share this message with family, friends and colleagues in the U.S.

SITUATION: For two decades, Net Energy Metering has helped increase the installation of new solar panels by allowing new residential adaptors to receive financial credit for surplus energy they send to the electrical grid.

SITUATION: The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) proposes to slash this crucial credit to future adaptors by 75%, which would send rooftop solar off a cliff.

ACTION: December 15 is the day they vote the proposal up or down. Here’s what you can do:

• Email Governor Newsom.  Tell him the CPUC’s most recent proposal is too extreme and he must step in. Suggested language can be found at this petition link.
• Call the Governor at (916) 445-2841 today.  Say something like: My name is ___ and I live in ____. The CPUC’s latest rooftop solar proposal is still too extreme. We need you to step in. California should be doing more, not less, to promote rooftop solar. Please show us you are serious about rate hikes, blackouts and air pollution. Say no to the utilities’ profit grab, and yes to helping millions of working and middle class people get solar.
• Sign the petition

For more information, here is a recent article in the San Francisco Examiner: SF Examiner: New CPUC Rule Puts the Dimmer on Solar Power

SITUATION: SF has been slow to address our climate crisis—-and it’s going to be expensive. We need to continue to find new ways to plan, and fund planning and implementation. Relevant bond issues will be discussed at the Board of Supervisors’ meeting on Tuesday, December 6.

ACTION: Implore the Board of Supervisors to adopt the resolution urging the Capital Planning Committee to include Climate Action Plan (CAP) funding priorities recommended by the Center for Law, Energy & the Environment (CLEE) Report, in the proposed General Obligation (GO) Bond schedule.

Email letters should be received before the start of the meeting – preferably by close of business on Monday, Dec 5. Suggested subject line: File 221208: Support resolution to include Climate Action funding in Capital Planning. Email to the Clerk of the Board, bos@sfgov.org.

SITUATION: California’s Healthcare for All Commission is charged with determining how to fix our broken healthcare system through a unified financing system that would save money AND provide better benefits and access to providers. This is for our whole health care system in California- not just Medicare.

SITUATION: A coalition of labor and community groups working towards the creation of a guaranteed health care system in California, along with UCSF, created a calculator so that individuals can see how much they could save if we moved toward such a system.  This calculator was expanded specifically for Medicare.

ACTION: Check out the calculator to see how much YOU would save: https://healthyca.org/medicare-for-all-savings-calculator/

ACTION:  Check out the recording of the recent CARA meeting with some of the creators of the calculator: https://californiaalliance.org/

ACTION:  Share this information with others!  

SITUATION: The circumstances that thrust Laguna Honda Hospital into the throes of potential closure by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are largely due to the implementation of the “flow project” process of admitting patients. Implemented in 2004, this process greatly altered the demographic of LHH patients by:

• transferring the responsibility of admissions from LHH Admissions Committee to the Department of Public Health, and
• including patients who prior to FLOW would have been denied admission based on a variety of behavioral health issues, including drug abuse and violence

ACTION: Contact local, state and federal legislators and tell them to halt the FLOW admissions program (all contact info below).

ACTION: Attend the Board of Supervisors’ hearing on LHH’s future on Tuesday, November 1^st at 3 p.m., either in person at city Hall, or online. Click HERE for details about attending online.

ACTION: Share this message with friends, family and colleagues.

Contact info:

Click HERE to contact your San Francisco City Supervisor

Click HERE to find and contact your California State Assembly Member and Senator

Email Xavier Becerra, Secretary of Health & Human Services: xavier.becerra@hhs.gov, or write or call:

200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201
Toll Free Call Center: 1-877-696-6775

Click HERE to contact Governor Gavin Newsom