OWL ALERT FEBRUARY 20: FIGHT BACK AGAINST PREDATORY JUNK FEES

“Junk fees” are predatory. They hurt consumers.
They hit the most vulnerable hardest. And they lead to spiraling debt.

SITUATION: Credit card companies, banks, ticket vendors and other entities are charging customers myriad hidden fees related to their purchases. In 2019 alone, banks and credit card companies charged Americans almost $30 billion in late fees and overdraft charges.

SITUATION: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), headed by Rohit Chopra, is now accepting comments about the billions of dollars in junk fees that Americans pay on credit cards, bank accounts, and loans.

ACTION: Submit a public comment to CFPB if you have ever been charged unexpected fees by banks, credit card companies or other corporations. You can also help by leaving comments on Twitter or Facebook. See below for links to CFPB comments, Twitter and Facebook.

Your feedback will inform their use of rulemaking,
guidance, and enforcement tools to combat junk fees.

ACTION: Encourage friends and family to add their voices to this fight.

Click HERE to leave comments for the CFPB.
Click HERE to leave comments on Twitter.
Click HERE to leave comments on Facebook.

URGENT OWL ALERT February 9, 2022: DEMAND TRANSPARENCY IN SOCIAL SECURITY

SITUATION: MEDICARE is increasingly moving seniors and disabled people into Direct Contracting Entities (DCEs), which are private, for-profit corporations.  The President and Congress have been silent.  Even the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, a federal agency in the Department of Health and Human Services administering Medicare, has not objected. 

SITUATION: We need to know the facts behind this movement and STOP it if it does not serve those Medicare is supposed to help.

ACTION:  Contact Speaker Pelosi and insist she call a halt to this process and hold fully open and transparent hearings on this important issue:

90 7th Street, Suite 2-800
San Francisco, CA 94103
phone: (415) 556-4862
https://www.speaker.gov/contact

NOTE: California Alliance for Retired Americans is holding a Valentine’s Day campaign to generate a storm of letters, emails, Facebook posts and tweets to Speaker Pelosi, demanding she stop DCEs, and hold Congressional hearings on this dangerous plan. Click here and scroll down to find out more about this campaign. OWL needs you to be a part of that campaign, but DO contact Senator Pelosi about holding open hearings, even if you miss the Feb. 14 date!

OWL ALERT FEBURARY 8: TAKE ACTION FOR EQUAL RIGHTS

Congress must remove the ratification deadline of the Equal Rights Amendment to get it across the finish line and added to the Constitution. 

SITUATION: This country has waited too long for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to become a part of the Constitution. More than 100 years after (some) women gained the right to vote, women and nonbinary people are still not guaranteed equality under the law.

SITUATION: First passed by Congress in 1972, in January 2020, the final state voted to ratify the ERA. Then, on March 17, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation to remove the ratification timeline attached to the ERA.

ACTION: Now the Senate must act to remove its ratification timeline so it can pass once and for all.  S.J. Resolution 1 is the companion bill in the Senate that would remove the timeline. We need 60 votes to pass the resolution.

ACTION: Contact your senators and ask them to cosponsor S.J. Resolution 1 and ensure that the ERA is a part of our Constitution.

OWL ALERT JANUARY 16: SUPPORT SINGLE PAYER HEALTH CARE

ACTION NEEDED FOR UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE

SITUATION: Today’s U.S. health care system is a complex, fragmented multi-payer system that leaves wide gaps of coverage and poses significant issues of affordability.

SITUATION:  AB 1400, the California Guaranteed HealthCare For All legislation—which sets in motion a single-payer health care coverage system in California—has passed the Assembly Health Committee and must pass the entire Assembly no later than January 22, 2022. 

With Medicare under attack on a national level,
it is especially urgent for California to lead the nation on behalf of healthcare.
OTHER STATES WILL FOLLOW.

ACTION: Urge Governor Newsom to support AB1400!

ACTION: Contact your Assemblymember and say urge full and vigorous support for AB 1400.

ACTION: TELL FRIENDS AND FAMILY IN CALIFORNIA

OWL ALERT JANUARY 8: MEDICARE UNDER ATTACK

SITUATION: The Trump administration launched a plan to move up to 30 million seniors and disabled people into Direct Contracting Entities without their knowledge or consent.  These DCEs are private, for-profit corporations which would be able to pocket up to 40% of what they charge Medicare, compared to 2% by Traditional Medicare providers.

SITUATION: The Biden administration is continuing this process!

 THIS IS EGREGIOUS FOR MANY REASONS! Here are just a few:

  • DCEs would generate profits by denying care and charging more.
  • They would have no Congressional oversight.
  • This is part of a movement to completely privatize Medicare by 2030.

ACTIONS:

CONTACT Speaker Pelosi at and insist she call for a halt to this process and hold hearings:

90 7th Street, Suite 2-800
San Francisco, CA 94103
phone: (415) 556-4862
https://www.speaker.gov/contact

CONTACT your own Representative and tell her/him to insist Pelosi hold hearings while forcing a pause in this process which is already underway:

https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative

CONTACT Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and thank him for pausing the process and sounding the alarm:

HHS Headquarters
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C.  20201
Phone: (877) 696-6775
xavier.becerra@hhs.gov

IMPORTANT:

Urge your friends across the country to
contact their own Representatives, and tell them to
STOP THE ATTACK ON MEDICARE!

ALERT DECEMBER 18: STOP DIRECT CONTRACTING ENTITIES (DCE’s) FROM TAKING OVER TRADITIONAL MEDICARE

SITUATION: In 2020, the Trump Administration launched a new policy “experiment” designed to privatize traditional Medicare. Under this model, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) could move more than 30 million traditional Medicare beneficiaries into mostly commercial, for-profit plans called Direct Contracting Entities (DCE) without the enrollees’ understanding or consent.

In ways similar to commercial Medicare Advantage plans, DCEs have the potential to interfere with care decisions and waste taxpayer money when compared with the efficiency of traditional Medicare.

The Biden Administration is moving the DCE program forward, threatening the future of Medicare as we know it.

ACTIONS: 

DON’T PRIVATIZE MEDICARE, SUPERSIZE IT!

1. Call your member of Congress, Democrat or Republican: House Capital Switchboard 202-225-3121 and tell them to sign Representative Jayapal’s letter to Secretary Becerra. He has the power to end Direct Contracting Entities and protect Medicare for everyone!

2. Call the Secretary yourself: Comment line is (202) 205-5445. Put an end to Direct Contracting Entities and stop the privatization of Traditional Medicare.

3. Sign the petition to HHS Secretary Becerra:  https://pnhp.salsalabs.org/DCEpetitionSeptember2021/index.html

4. Please pass this on to your family and friends. 

OWL ALERT DECEMBER 11: STOP RACE-BASED CRIMINAL CONVICTIONS AND SENTENCING

EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW

SITUATION: The California Racial Justice for All Act prohibits the State from seeking or obtaining a criminal conviction, or from imposing a sentence, based on race, ethnicity or national origin (AB2542). This landmark Act made it possible for a person charged or convicted of a crime to challenge racial and other specified bias in their case, but it did not apply to judgments or actions before January 1, 2021.  

AB256, as Amended would remove this limitation and allow those impacted by unfair convictions and sentences prior to January 1, 2021 to seek redress.

ACTION:  Everyone deserves equal justice under the law. Tell the California Senate to pass AB256 when it reconvenes in 2022.

ACTION: Please encourage California friends and colleagues to support this important upcoming legislation.

OWL ALERT DECEMBER 5: SEATING FOR SENIORS AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

SITUATION:  People with disabilities and seniors need shelters and seating while waiting for public transportation. At this time, only 34% of current bus stops have seating, and these are distributed inequitably, with the northern half of the city twice as likely to have shelters as the southern half, particularly Bayview/Hunters Point.

ACTION:  Contact the SFMTA Board of Directors and tell them that:
1) Bus shelters and seats should be distributed equitably throughout San Francisco,
2) Bus shelters with seats are especially needed to accommodate seniors and people with disabilities.

CONTACT: 
Office of the SFMTA Board of Directors
Phone: 415.646.4470
Email: MTABoard@SFMTA.com

 

OWL ALERT NOVEMBER 27: CELEBRATE SMALL VICTORIES: They add up to big ones!

SITUATION: The State of California, since July, 2021, has denied 109 permits for fracking.  The Older Women’s League is part of the campaign to end fracking because it uses enormous quantities of water, injects chemicals into our water supply, and promotes use of fossil fuels.

ACTION:  Kudos to everyone who responds to the OWL ALERTS.  Together we can be a part of bringing healing and justice to the Earth and all that is within it.  Give thanks with a grateful heart and contact Governor Gavin Newsom with a word of thanks for this action.

ACTION: Forward to friends in California.

CONTACT:
Governor Gavin Newsom
1303 10th Street, Suite 1173
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 445-2841

2021-11-22 OWL ALERT NOVEMBER 22: HUMAN MIGRATION AND IMMIGRATION

SITUATION: Executive Director Rev. Deborah Lee and the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity need OWL’s support to, among other things, address the root causes of human migration from Honduras, as well as the transfer of released green card holders from prisons to ICE–for deportation–after completion of their sentences.

ACTION: Open the links below, provided by Rev. Lee after her November 20, 2021 presentation on immigration at the OWL monthly meeting.

ROOT CAUSES – Eight page recommendations and Report (sent to Congress) – with more stories from our root causes pilgrimages:
U.S. Responsibility and Roadmap for Change Blog
KEEP EFRAN HOME – (this is urgent- he could be deported to Colombia as soon as next week):
bit.ly/KeepEfrainHome
KEEP CHARLES HOME:
Script and Toolkit: bit.ly/KeepCharlesHome  
Film about Charles’ transfer to ICE:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JTC9OV-mxM

ACTION: Ask Congress to pass H.R. 1574 (previously H.R. 1945), the Berta Cáceres Human Rights In Honduras Act which would suspend U.S. Security Assistance to Honduras until human rights violations by Honduran security forces cease and perpetrators are brought to justice.

ACTION: ASK FRIENDS AND FAMILY NATIONWIDE TO DO THE SAME.

OWL ALERT NOVEMBER 9: SPEAK OUT ABOUT YOUR TRANSPORTATION NEEDS

SITUATION: The San Francisco County Transportation Authority is seeking public input on a draft spending plan for the city’s half-cent sales tax, which will go on the ballot for renewal as soon as next June. The SF Board of Supervisors, acting as the Transportation Authority Board, directs revenue toward projects city-wide, such as construction on the Central Subway and the purchase of new MUNI vehicles.

SITUATION: San Francisco voters first passed the half-cent sales tax in 1989 and renewed it in 2003. Current plans are to develop the 30-year spending plan, formally called an Expenditure Plan, and the Board of Supervisors are expected to vote by the end of February on whether to place the Expenditure Plan and sales tax renewal on the June ballot.

ACTION: San Francisco residents can:

A 27-person Expenditure Plan Advisory Committee will then make recommendations next month to the SFCTA Board.

OWL ALERT OCTOBER 25: PHASE OUT FOSSIL FUELS NOW!

PHASE OUT FOSSIL FUELS NOW —Some success, more needed!

SITUATION: After years of advocacy from environmental justice frontline leaders and allies (including OWL), Governor Newsom announced a draft rule to impose a 3200-foot setback for new oil and gas operations near sensitive receptors, like homes and schools.

This is great news for California’s children and frontline communities.

However, this rule must apply to ALL new wells, not just those “with new surface locations” and the state must also protect the millions of residents living near existing wells.

ACTION: After taking a moment to celebrate this forward progress, please join Mothers Out Front CA in calling on Governor Newsom to do more.

Help us flood his office with calls!

ACTION: Urge Governor Newsom to finalize a rule that ends ALL neighborhood drilling and all permitting for fossil fuels.

http://ca.mothersoutfront.org   CALL 877-434-0011

OWL ALERT OCTOBER 18: FREE WIFI FOR SENIORS AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

SITUATION: The pandemic has made it more important than ever to have access to the internet. For many seniors and people with disabilities, getting online is already full of challenges, but the lack of affordable internet has made it nearly impossible for us to access information, services, and connections online.
 
We know that internet access is an essential right today.
 
ACTION: We ask AT&T to provide FREE Internet at a minimum to senior buildings, single room occupancy hotels and supportive housing in San Francisco and the greater Bay Area.  AT&T can do this now!
 

ACTION: Please join Senior and Disability Action and SIGN THIS PETITION that will go to the AT&T Western Region President: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/we-need-free-wifi.  This petition provides more information and a way for you to express your concerns and needs for fast and reliable Internet access.

 

ACTION: There will be a rally and action on Monday, October 18, 12:45 pm at the AT&T flagship store at Powell and Market, San Francisco. For more information, CLICK HERE .

OWL ALERT OCTOBER 3: HELP SENIORS AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES AGE IN PLACE

SITUATION: The U.S. Senate is currently working on a Reconciliation Package, including $400 billion for Medicaid Home and Community Based Services (HCBS), funds which will allow seniors and people with disabilities to age in place, but the amount allocated to HCBS is in jeopardy, with opposition proposing less than half those funds, $150 billion.

The full $400 billion will:

  • Increase federal matching funds to states for HCBS
  • Expand and strengthen caregiving jobs for workers who provide these services and have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, a workforce which is predominately female, low-wage and BIPOC

A lower figure is simply inadequate to address the entrenched issues in the HCBS service system.

ACTION: Call our U.S. Senators ASAP to tell them we need the full $3.5 Trillion Reconciliation Package, especially the $400 Billion for HCBS.

ACTION: Send this email to friends and family in the U.S.

Contact information for California Senators:

Senator Dianne Feinstein
One Post Street, Suite 2450
San Francisco, CA 94104
Phone: (415) 393-0707
click here to email Dianne Feinstein

Senator Alex Padilla
333 Bush Street, Suite 3225
San Francisco, CA 94104
Phone: (415) 981–9369
click here to email Alex Padilla

 

 

 

 

OWL ALERT September 13, 2021 ADVOCATING FOR VACCINE GLOBAL EQUITY

 Advocating for Vaccine Global Equity

SITUATION:  The United Nations General Assembly meets tomorrow, September 14, and continues until September 30.

High on its agenda is ensuring fair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines around the world.  Global vaccine equity is the best way to make sure that this deadly virus is eradicated for good.

ACTIONS:  

1) Please urge President Biden to strongly support worldwide vaccinations at the UN General Assembly through their partnerships with WHO, COVAX, UNICEF and others–and to encourage other nations to do the same.

2) Ask President Biden to scale up vaccine production in the USA, share excess vaccine with countries that do not have vaccines, and encourage voluntary sharing of intellectual property rights worldwide during this global crisis.

Call the White House at: (202) 456-1111

Email the White House by clicking HERE

Write to the White House at:

The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20500

OWL ALERT AUGUST 30, 2021: FIGHT VOTER SUPPRESSION!

SUPPORT OUR VOTING RIGHTS!
Contact your U.S. Senator to urge their support for the
JOHN LEWIS VOTING RIGHTS ADVANCEMENT ACT

After years of dangerous Civil Rights activism, The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was enacted to secure the right to vote for racial minorities throughout the country, especially in the South.

In 2013 and again in 2021, The U.S. Supreme Court gutted this landmark legislation, resulting in:

  •     The closure of thousands of polling places, many of them in predominantly Black counties
  •     Eighteen states across the country enacting laws THIS YEAR making it harder for Americans to vote
  •     A significant increase in the number of citizens being illegitimately purged from voting rolls
The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act responds to current voting conditions by restoring the full protections of the original, bipartisan Voting Rights Act of 1965.

It is crucial to pass legislation to protect the voting rights of citizens in all states.  


Share this with your family and friends in other states!
Contact info for California Senators below


See a helpful one-page summary of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act at:
https://www.leahy.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/John%20Lewis%20Voting%20Rights%20Advancement%20Act%20one%20pager.pdf

Senator Dianne Feinstein

One Post Street, Suite 2450

San Francisco, CA 94104

Phone: (415) 393-0707

click here to email Dianne Feinstein

Senator Alex Padilla

333 Bush Street, Suite 3225

San Francisco, CA 94104

Phone: (415) 981–9369

click here to email Alex Padilla

OWL ALERT August 16, 2021

SUPPORT TAX CREDITS FOR UNPAID FAMILY CAREGIVERS AND STUDENTS

On July 23, 2021, Congresswoman Gwen Moore introduced a very important bill, The Worker Relief & Credit Reform Act (WRCR), which will modernize the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). This crucial tax credit helps low income individuals and families receive from $538 to $6,660 each year.
 
For the first time, the WRCR will allow the EITC to reach more workers by:
  • Expanding the definition of work to make unpaid family caregivers eligible (work largely done by women)
  • Expanding the age range for this eligibility to include anyone 18 years or older
  • Including low income college students who struggle to support themselves while learning
WRCR is co-sponsored by 13 House members, including California Representatives Karen Bass, Judy Chu, Ro Khanna and Barbara Lee.
 
Please urge your Representatives to support this much needed legislation, and encourage friends and family to do so as well.
Contact information for Bay Area Representatives listed below.
 
For details, look for the Care Income Now! campaign of the Global Women’s Strike: Global Women’s Strike: Care Income Now!

 

U.S. REPRESENTATIVES, San Francisco and surrounding area:

Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi

90 7th Street, Suite 2-800

San Francisco, CA 94103

phone: (415) 556-4862

click here to email Nancy Pelosi

Congressman Jared Huffman

999 Fifth Avenue, Suite 290

San Rafael, CA  94901

phone: (415) 258-9657

click here to email Jared Huffman

Congresswoman Jackie Spier

155 Bovet Rd # 780,

San Mateo, CA 94402

phone: (650) 342-0300

click here to email Jackie Spier

Congresswoman Barbara Lee

1301 Clay St # 1000N

Oakland, CA 94612

phone: (510) 763-0370

click here to email Barbara Lee

Congressman Ro Khanna

3150 De La Cruz Blvd, Suite 240
Santa Clara, CA 95054
Phone: 408-436-2720

 

OWL ALERT August 10, 2021

YOUR CALIFORNIA VOTE IS CRUCIAL SEPTEMBER 14th!

Your mail-in ballot for California’s September 14th Gubernatorial Recall Election will arrive very soon.
Your vote is crucial!
Here is why:

The recall election will present voters with two questions.
The first will ask whether Gavin Newsom should be recalled from the office of governor.
A simple majority of votes will win for this issue.
If people do not exercise their right to vote, this decision could be made by a minority of voters.

The second will ask who should succeed Newsom if he is recalled.
The candidate with the most votes on the second question would win the election, no majority required.
There are 46 candidates on the ballot to replace Newsome if the recall passes.
This makes it possible for someone with less than 3% of the vote to become our next governor.

And this is at a time in the U.S when laws limiting voting rights are being enacted in states across the country.
EXERCISE YOUR RIGHT TO VOTE!!!

Please help us encourage every registered voter in California to participate in this election!

For more information, see California Recall Election Details.

OWL ALERT July 19, 2021

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE IS A HUMAN RIGHT – RIGHT NOW!

Senator Cory Booker and Congressman A. Donald McEachin

are re-introducing the

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE LEGACY POLLUTION ACT

 
In our nation, the biggest determining factors of whether you live near toxic pollution, drink contaminated water, or breathe dirty air are the color of your skin and your economic status.  Communities of color, Indigenous communities, and low-income communities disproportionately bear these burdens, resulting higher rates of cancer, birth defects, autism, and countless other avoidable illnesses.
 
If included in infrastructure legislation currently being created, this act would would allocate $200 billion to:
  • Accelerate the cleanup of toxic Superfund sites
  • Remediate lead-based paint hazards in low income housing
  • Build and renovate sanitation infrastructure, which will bring safe drinking water and adequate sewage systems to every American Indian and Alaskan Native household, and more
Encourage our elected officials to co-sponsor this legislation, addressing both the climate crisis and structural racism.
Senator Dianne Feinstein

One Post Street, Suite 2450
San Francisco, CA 94104
Phone: (415) 393-0707

 
Senator Alex Padilla
333 Bush Street, Suite 3225
San Francisco, CA 94104
Phone: (415) 981–9369
 
Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi
90 7th Street, Suite 2-800
San Francisco, CA 94103

phone: (415) 556-4862

click here to email Nancy Pelosi

Congressan Jared Huffman
999 Fifth Avenue, Suite 290
San Rafael, CA  94901
phone: (415) 258-9657
 
Congresswoman Jackie Spier
155 Bovet Rd # 780,
San Mateo, CA 94402

phone: (650) 342-0300

 
Congresswoman Barbara Lee
1301 Clay St # 1000N
Oakland, CA 94612
phone: (510) 763-0370

 

OWL ALERT July 11, 2021

BREAK THE CYCLE OF GUN VIOLENCE

2020 was the deadliest year for gun violence in the U.S. in decades, denying so many people their basic right to live.
 
Senator Cory Booker (NJ), and Reps Lisa Rochester (DE), and Lucy McBath (GA), have reintroduced the Break the Cycle of Violence Act providing billions of dollars over eight years for proven community based programs for gun and violence intervention:
 
  • The Bureau of Justice Assistance must award grants for coordinated violence reduction initiatives in units of local government that are disproportionately impacted by gun and group-related violence.
  • The National Institutes of Health must award grants for hospital-based violence intervention programs that reduce the risk of violent injury and retaliation among high-risk patients.
 
Action: Contact your Senators and Representatives,
urging them to co-sponsor the Break the Cycle of Violence Act.
 
No more heartbroken mothers, fathers, siblings, friends, widows!
 
Senator Dianne Feinstein

One Post Street, Suite 2450
San Francisco, CA 94104
Phone: (415) 393-0707

 
Senator Alex Padilla
333 Bush Street, Suite 3225
San Francisco, CA 94104
Phone: (415) 981–9369
 
Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi
90 7th Street, Suite 2-800
San Francisco, CA 94103

phone: (415) 556-4862click here to email Nancy Pelosi

Congressman Jared Huffman

999 Fifth Avenue, Suite 290

San Rafael, CA  94901

phone: (415) 258-9657

click here to email Jared Huffman

 

Congresswoman Jackie Spier

155 Bovet Rd # 780,

San Mateo, CA 94402

phone: (650) 342-0300

click here to email Jackie Spier

 

Congresswoman Barbara Lee

1301 Clay St # 1000N

Oakland, CA 94612

phone: (510) 763-0370

click here to email Barbara Lee

 

Congressman Ro Khanna

3150 De La Cruz Blvd

Suite 240
Santa Clara, CA 95054

Phone: 408-436-2720

click here to email Ro Khanna