After the Supreme Court, in an unexpected turn for the extremely conservative majority, rejected the "independent state legislature" theory in a case about gerrymandering, Democrats felt a hint of relief. It's possible that case might have bearing in TN with the partisan and possibly racially discriminatory gerrymander that the TN Leg did this past year.
Unfortunately after that, the SC followed up by negating affirmative action in college admissions, allowing discrimination against LGBTQ humans, and cancelling the Biden administration's attempt to help student loan borrowers. They also left in place some Jim Crow voting laws and may well decide that people convinced of domestic abuse are fine to own guns, despite how many victims of domestic abuse, mostly women, are killed by their partners' guns. NBC has a decent summary page of articles that describe recent decisions by the SC if you want an easy place to skim.
WCDP as an organization tries to keep its finger on the pulse of local events and rulings, but the broad sweep of the Supreme Court's decisions definitely affects our friends and neighbors here in the Volunteer State. It also drives home the fact that every election matters and sitting them out because there's no perfect candidate or voting for protest candidates allows more harm to come to vulnerable citizens affected by conservative policies.
That is why WCDP will never give up encouraging and registering voters -- all voters -- and having the belief that everyone should vote, that voting is a right and not a privilege, and that the pathway to voting should be easy. Voter fraud is a very rare thing here in the United States, for many reasons, and the more people who vote, the more democratic our nation becomes.
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Is affordable housing a concern you share with many Democrats? You can check out this Think Tennessee article about the "Missing Middle" and efforts to repair this issue in our infrastructure. It's particularly painful here in Williamson County, which might not be in the top ten counties for high priced real estate, but the high prices definitely outpace the income level, especially for roles like teachers, police, firefighters, grocery workers, child care, store clerks, and other occupations that exist to serve and improve our day to day lives. We need a lot of employees for those jobs, but they can't afford to live here.
Got Broadband? No? Maybe you will soon!
Tennessee will receive $813,319,680.22 in federal funding to expand access to high speed internet across the state. High-speed internet service is no longer a luxury—it’s a necessity. We need it for jobs, entertainment, education, and just day to day life. But millions of us live in places that have no broadband at all, and some families who do simply cannot afford the high costs.
President Biden's Investing in America Agenda has made a commitment to bring affordable, reliable high-speed internet to ALL Americans -- to the tune of over $40 billion in funding allocations to each U.S. state, territory, and D.C.
In addition to helping connect everyone in America to high-speed internet, this new funding will support good jobs deploying fiber and by using materials Made in America. Third-party analysis estimates the overall investment will create upwards of 150,000 good-paying jobs
Needless to say, many conservative lawmakers now touting this investment as a boon for their constituents voted against it, like Marsha Blackburn. Luckily Governor Lee has accepted the federal funds, while rejecting other federal funds for things like healthcare.
RVSP EMAIL: [email protected]
Want to know what's going on with the WCS School Board and WCS in general? May we recommend the newsletter produced by Kristi Bidinger, which is informative, up to date, and relevant. Here is an example of the latest newsletter discussing the failure of the latest attempt to ban books in our high schools as well as the extension of the superintendent's contract and approval of the Strategic Plan. You can see past issues as well as subscribe yourself on this page.
July 10 @ 12 PM - So You Want to Run For Office, a workshop presented by the NDTC.
July 13 @ 12 PM - How to Have Meaningful One on One Conversations, another workshop presented by the NDTC as we gear up to talk to voters, canvass for candidates, and find volunteers!
July 13th @ 6 PM - Middle Tennessee Women's Political Caucus meeting.
July 15 - Save the Date! African American Heritage Society's Annual TE Murdich Scholarship Prom Night, Embassy Suites Cool Springs
July 16 @ 3-5 PM - D8 Dem Get Together! RSVP to [email protected] for directions and specifics.
July 18 @ 7 PM Zoom - PFLAG presents Reading Rainbow! Contact PFLAG to find out the Zoom link and more about the wonderful reading material: Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde.
July 20 - Filing Deadline for candidates in the nonpartisan Franklin Municipal elections. Community service doesn't have to be political! Current Alderman at Large are Gabriel Hanson, Clyde Barnhill, Ann Peterson, and Brandy Blanton and the current Mayor is Ken Moore. FAQs can be found here.
August 10-13: Biennial convention for the National Women's Political Caucus. Omni Hotel, Richmond, VA. Elect more women! Find out how to register here.
August 26 @ 6 PM: TNDP Three Star Fundraising Dinner. County parties can buy a table at a discount but individuals can also get tickets.