Action Items to choose from (or do all of them: your choice!) Scroll down to the matching number of your option:
- Push for the release of the full Epstein files
- Fight for a permanent extension to the ACA tax credits—without conditions
- Protest the Trump administration’s extra-judicial killings in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific and the military buildup in the waters off of Venezuela
- Sign a petition to demand that Chuck Schumer step down as Minority Leader
- Join a new boycott against companies enabling Trump’s illegal power grabs
- Maine-specific Action
Reminder: When you call vs when you email via our reps’ websites (best way to contact them in writing), don’t forget to begin with: “Hi, my name is [name] and I’m a constituent calling from [zip code]. That is important, because if they don’t know you’re actually a constituent, your opinion will be ignored.
Contact info: Angus King
DC: (202) 224-5344
Augusta: (207) 622-8292
Susan Collins
DC: (202) 224-2523
Augusta: (207) 622-8414
Bangor: (207) 945-0417
Chellie Pingree
DC: (202) 225-6116
Portland: (207) 774-5019
Waterville: (207) 873-5713
Jared Golden
DC: (202) 225-6306
Bangor: (207) 249-7400
Caribou: (207) 492-6009
Lewiston: (207) 241-6767
Find your State Representative:
By name: Here
By district: Here
(Please note that for those of you receiving this email who are not represented by Senators or House members in our district, I have to leave it up to you to find the contact info for your own representatives.)
Actions
1) Push for the release of the full Epstein files:
With the House of Representatives back in session, Adelita Grijalva has finally been sworn in and, as she promised, has provided the 218th signature required to force a vote on the bill to compel the release of all the Epstein files. Since those 218 signatures include 4 (if I recall correctly) Republicans, in all likelihood, the bill will pass. Speaker Mike Johnson announced on Wednesday that he will bring HR 4405, the Epstein Files Transparency Act, next week. Despite intense pressure on Republicans by Trump, it looks likely that the bill will pass. Unfortunately, it still will need to be passed by the Senate, where no one is even promising to bring it to a vote, and signed by Trump, who obviously has every reason to obstruct it and is continuing to denounce it as a Democrat hoax and claiming that only “very bad, or stupid” Republicans would fall into an Epstein “trap.”
Contact House Rep Jared Golden to urge him to follow up his signature on the discharge petition with a YES vote on HR 4405.
Contact Senators King and Collins to urge them to support bringing S 2557, the Epstein Files Transparency Act, to a vote once the House version passes, and then to vote YES to release the files. The American people have had enough obfuscation and downright lying. Trump campaigned partly on the promise to release these files, and a lot of MAGA folk want to see this happen. So do we. In the words of Representative Grijalva, “Just this morning, House Democrats released more emails showing that Trump knew more about Epstein’s abuses than he previously acknowledged. It’s about time for Congress to restore its role as a check and balance on this administration and fight for we, the American people.” Make sure our Senators know how important we think this is.
2) Fight for a permanent extension to the ACA tax credits—without conditions:
The 2021 American Rescue Plan Act increased tax credits for ACA plan premiums, making health insurance more affordable for millions. However, these credits are set to expire at the end of 2025, and Republicans refused to extend funding for the credits in their recently-passed budget reconciliation bill. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that 4.2 million people will lose coverage by 2034 if the tax credits are not renewed. In addition, with the loss of those participants in the ACA, health insurance premiums will rise even further for everyone else.
A number of Republicans are on the record as being open to discussing extending the ACA tax credits once the shutdown was ended. That has happened. Now Senate Republicans say they’re open to extending a pot of Affordable Care Act funds that will expire at the end of the year — but only if Democrats acquiesce to stricter abortion restrictions on insurance plans. The influential Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America group, whose goal is to ban abortion entirely in the U.S., is pushing hard to condition Republican support for ACA funding on tougher abortion restrictions: They are threatening GOP lawmakers with having their votes “scored, and double-weighted, in each member’s profile on SBA Pro-Life America’s National Pro-Life Scorecard.” (You can read more about it here: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/republicans-demand-tougher-abortion-restrictions-extend-obamacare-fund-rcna243206)
Contact Senators King and Collins and House Rep. Golden to pass a permanent extension of the ACA premium tax credits and block any additional abortion restrictions or attempt to sabotage the ACA. Remind them that the Hyde amendment already prevents federal funds from covering abortions, and that states should be free to shape their own laws about healthcare coverage within their own borders.
3) Protest the Trump administration’s extra-judicial killings in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific and the military buildup in the waters off of Venezuela:
Since late September, draft legislation has been circulated at the White House and on Capitol Hill that would hand Trump sweeping power to wage war against drug cartels he deems to be “terrorists,” as well as against any nation he says has harbored or aided them. In the meantime, over a dozen civilian boats have been struck in international waters, summarily killing all those aboard (nearly 70 people so far) without evidence of legal investigation or any due process. These attacks lack legal authority, are killing people without due process, and highlight this administration’s lawless use of military force. Also, Trump has been moving major military resources into the waters off Venezuela and has ordered covert CIA operations inside Venezuela.
Contact Senators King and Collins and House Rep. Golden to object to the Trump administration’s repeated military strikes on civilian boats in international waters and demand that Congress step up to protect its own powers to be a check on presidential overreach. We don’t want to be at war. Trump boasts about being a war ender—he can’t be allowed to get us into a new war just because he wants to distract the US people from his deep unpopularity and the Epstein files, while also continuing to consolidate executive power in his own hands. No kings, no wars.
® A specific note to Susan Collins: Last week the Senate rejected legislation that would have required approval from Congress before Trump could take military action against Venezuela, despite bipartisan misgivings about the administration’s secretive efforts in the region. Just two Republicans broke ranks: Lisa Murkowski and Rand Paul. Susan Collins voted with the rest of her GOP colleagues, basically supporting Trump’s claim that he can kill whomever he wants whenever he wants as long as he has declared them an enemy. Let her know that her support of Trump’s lawlessness is unacceptable. If the U.S. ends up in a war in Latin America, the blood of any Mainers who die in that war will be on her hands.
4) Sign a petition to demand that Chuck Schumer step down as Minority Leader:
https://www.change.org/p/demand-that-chuck-schumer-step-down-as-minority-leader
5) Join a new boycott against companies enabling Trump’s illegal power grabs:
“We Ain’t Buying It” is a cross-coalition action to boycott Home Depot (for cooperating with ICE), Target (for betraying their DEI commitments), and Amazon (for funding the regime). The boycott is set to begin on Black Friday and continue through the end of the month. Learn more here: https://weaintbuyingit.com/
6) Maine-specific action:
We don’t want masked men roaming the streets of Maine claiming without proof that they are law enforcement.
- Call Maine Speaker of the House Ryan Fecteau and Senate President Mattie Dougherty to ask them to reverse the decision of the Legislative Council and allow LR 2591, a bill to require that ICE and Border Patrol Agents operate unmasked in Maine, to be heard and voted on when the next Maine Legislative session opens this January.
- Call your Maine State senators and representatives to ask them to advocate for allowing this bill into the January session.
- Call Governor Janet Mills to ask her to support LR 2591. Also urge her again to sign LD 1971: An Act to Protect Workers in This State by Clarifying the Relationship of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies with Federal Immigration Authorities (This act limits the degree to which Maine State and Local Law Enforcement are allowed to cooperate/collude with Federal Immigration agencies.)
Maine State-level Contact Info:
Governor Janet Mills: 287-3531 or https://www.maine.gov/governor/mills/contact/share-your-opinion
Attorney General Aaron Frey: 207-626-8800 or email attorney.general@maine.gov
Secretary of State Shenna Bellows: 207-626-8400 or https://www.maine.gov/sos/about-us/contact-us-form
State Controller Douglas E. Cotnoir: 207-626-8420 or douglas.e.cotnoir@maine.gov
State Treasurer Joseph C. Perry: 207-624-7477 or Joseph.C.Perry@maine.gov
Commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services Sara Gagné-Holmes: (207) 287-3707
And, of course, contact your representatives in the state legislature, which depends on your district.
Find your State Representative:
By name: Here
By district: Here
Yours in Civic Action,
Bold Coast Civic Alliance
