Take Action, 3/14

House Republicans voted to gut the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law this past summer with legislation called the “Financial Choice Act.” Now, on the heels of a huge giveaway to the rich and corporations with the #GOPTaxScam, the Senate is back with its own version of Wall Street de-regulation.

With the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) repeal of net neutrality rules that required all internet traffic to be treated equally, internet service providers (ISPs) now can slow down or charge more for access to certain websites. Although the FCC order prevents states from explicitly establishing their own net neutrality laws, there are still steps that Maryland can take to protect the freedom of information that is essential to our democracy. States can provide incentives to ISPs that are net neutral and encourage competition in the broadband market. They can also withhold state benefits from, refuse to do business with, or even (depending on the state) block access to utility poles for ISPs that are not net neutral. Urge our state representative to propose and support legislation designed to maintain net neutrality.

Gun violence experts are now renewing their calls for a nationwide ban on these types of weapons – and Americans agree – recent polls show at least 2/3 of Americans support a nationwide assault weapons ban. In November of last year, Senator Dianne Feinstein introduced an assault weapons ban (S.2095). This bill would ban future sales of high-capacity magazines and military-style assault weapons, including the AR-15 used in many recent gun massacres (Parkland, Las Vegas, Newtown). Legislators must act now before any more lives are needlessly lost.