Hi All! As near as I can ascertain, Assemblyman Tim Donnelly's AB351 bill is still in the Appropriations Committee. The bill would go beyond the symbolic resolutions passed by the cities of San Francisco, Berkeley, Fairfax, and Santa Cruz against the indefinite detention of American citizens for providing "substantial support to terrorism or belligerent acts against the United States." AB351 originally called for a fine of $10,000 or one year in county jail for state employees that aid federal agents in kidnapping American citizens under sections 1021 and 1022 of the NDAA, but the bill was amended in the Public Safety Committee and the fine and jail time were removed. Nevertheless it's as close as we are going to get to full nullification of the NDAA in California, and it's a giant push-back against the federal government by prohibiting all state employees from aiding the feds if they try to whisk "belligerent" folks off to military prison
without charge or trial.
Please help to get a majority vote of YES on AB 351 so it makes it out of this committee to a full vote on the Assembly floor. Otherwise the bill will die in the committee and that will do it for this legislative session. Here is a link to all the members on the Appropriations Committee: http://http//beforeitsnews.com/libertarian/2013/05/california-do-or-die-to-stop-ndaa-indefinite-detention-2503224.html. Please try to call as many as possible and voice your support for AB351. I called about half the names on the list the other day, and it didn't take that long (I will finish up the other half today). Usually a staff person answers the phone and asks which bill you're calling about and what city you're calling from. They say they keep track of the calls and note the support or opposition to various bills. It would be nice if they asked why you support (or oppose) a bill but none asked me--at least that makes the process quicker, if less
interesting. Please help to protect our civil liberties and keep federal kidnappers out of California.
Thanks!
Aubrey
The link below has a small flaw that makes it not-clickable. I think it is simply because "http" is listed twice. I was able to find the web page. I called some of the members of the Appropriations Committee. I thank Starchild for making it easy for us to do this.
I also hope those of us in San Francisco will telephone either Tom Ammiano or Phil Ting, and ask them to vote "No" on AB 1038. It may receive a vote on the floor of the Assembly on Monday, May 20. It makes it illegal for us, or any group, to pay registration drive workers on the basis of how many people they persuade to register into any particular party.
Phil Ting's Sacto office is 916-319-2019. His SF office is 415-557-2312. Tom Ammiano's numbers are 916-319-2017 and 415-557-3013.
The LP got on the ballot in 1979 by hiring people to go out and talk people into registering Libertarian. We just barely have enough registrations in California right now to stay on the ballot. We may have to do a registration drive when the requirement goes up in 2014. We testified against AB 1038 in Assembly Elections Committee but it passed anyway, with all the Democrats voting "yes" and all the Republicans voting "no."
When anyone phones a legislator and requests either an "Aye" or a "Nay" vote on a bill, the employee always asks where the person lives. So it makes sense for us in San Francisco to phone the two San Francisco assemblymen. Neither one is on the Elections Committee so we don't know their feeling about the bill. Governor Jerry Brown vetoed similar bills in 2011 and 2012, but one never knows what he will do, so we should try to stop it before it gets to him. Thank you.
Richard Winger
415-922-9779
PO Box 470296, San Francisco Ca 94147
Hi Richard! Thanks for the post. I did make the calls to the offices of Ting and Ammiano--it was easy and only took a few minutes to call both offices and leave a message for each one. Please keep us updated on how this bill goes.
By the way, I finished my calls to the balance of the members of the Assembly Appropriations Committee regarding AB351 (nullification of sections 1021 and 1022 of the NDAA in California) and found out what's going on with the bill right now from one of the staff members I spoke to. It is currently in a "Suspense" status because someone has come up with a $150,000, "cost" to the bill, which is beyond the threshold, I was told. The reasoning is that, if California employees were to refuse to help the feds kidnap "belligerent" folks, the feds could withhold funding for the California National Guard. Apparently the bill's author Tim Donnelly will have to work with the Chair of the committee Mike Gatto to resolve this issue, but the bill could still come to a vote in the committee this coming Friday. I would still advise folks to call members of the committee and voice your support for the bill. I found all the staff people I spoke with to be
pleasant and long, drawn-out conversations were unnecessary. It's about the easiest kind of activism you can do.
Thanks!
Aubrey
On Monday, May 20, evil Assemblymember Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) didn't bring up AB 1038 on the Assembly floor. The Assembly next meets on Thursday this week. So there is still time for others besides Aubrey and myself to phone either San Francisco Assemblymember.
Three times, AB 1038 has been on third reading in the Assembly but it wasn't brought up. It may be that a few Democratic Assemblymembers are telling Dr. Pan (he is a dentist) they don't support his bill. So even a few phone calls might make a difference. It is very easy to do and takes less than a minute. Thank you.
Richard Winger
415-922-9779
PO Box 470296, San Francisco Ca 94147