Friends:

Greetings. Well, another week has flown by like a toddler who's gotten her hands on a bag of cookies. We hope it's been a good one, and that you have plans for some rest and rejuvenation this weekend. 

Please see this week's list of top #5Actions below, including hot actions around healthcare, gun safety, menu labeling and more. Remember: we have a new format that let's you see your "status" for each action - i.e. whether you've signed yet or not.

We're also sharing a link (and sneak-preview of the cover for) Kristin's new book: Keep Marching! And check out our moment of inspiration at the end, too. 

As always please share with friends and family, too! It's an all-hands-on-deck kinda year. 

Let's do this! 

1. Tell the Trump Administration: Stop Sabotaging our Health Care System! 

BACKGROUND: It’s outrageous. Most recently, the administration proposed a rule to expand the sale of short-term health plans; the result of this health care sabotage will severely impact on families. A new independent analysis showed that the Administration’s proposals would lead to 9 million more people going uninsured or without minimum essential health coverage. To make matters worse, the increase in uninsured people would be combined with more than 18% premium increases for people who have plans inclusive of those with pre-existing conditions. These short-term plans would also allow insurance companies to charge women and older people more for coverage, leave families without adequate coverage to meet their needs, allow exclusions and denials for pre-existing conditions, allow retroactive cancellations of short-term policies, and put families at great risk of incurring medical debt. Join us to speak out! 

2. Time to Break the Power of the NRA

BACKGROUND: We are sick and tired of fearing for the safety of our children. We're sick and tired of elected leaders influenced by the NRA, who do nothing to stem the tide of gun violence in our homes, in our schools, in our streets and in our communities. It’s long past time to draw a bright line in the sand and find out who stands with us, and who stands against us. It’s time to demand that our elected leaders take the #NoNRAMoney pledge. Here’s the plan: By taking the #NoNRAMoney pledge, elected leaders prove they prioritize the interests of children and families and not the gun lobby. Once they take the pledge, their names will be added to the public list at NoNRAMoney.org, so that when Election Day comes around, voters can check the list and know exactly where their candidates stand when it comes to the safety of our children and our communities. WE can break the power of the NRA ourselves. Be part of the #NeverAgain movement and deliver the #NoNRAMoney pledge to elected representatives and to candidates for office and get their signatures.

3. Tell Congress: Don't Mess with Menu Labeling!

BACKGROUND: Menu labeling is once again under attack. It's urgent we speak out, as the Senate is considering moves that would severely undermine menu labeling in the coming days. Menu labeling regulations cover all restaurants, convenience stores, supermarkets, movie theaters and similar establishments with over 20 locations, and require listing nutritional information including calories, fat, sugar and sodium. This is good news right? Join us to speak out!  

4. Share Your Story and Help us Dismantle the School to Prison Pipeline

BACKGROUND: Tell us about you or your loved ones experience with schools, school discipline, racial bias in schools, teacher bias, teacher burnout, high stakes testing, social emotional learning. What's working? What is not, and how have you and your loved one's been impacted? Each year thousands of students are suspended or expelled, including hundreds of preschoolers each day. Across the U.S. children are funneled out of public schools and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems. This disturbing trend, known as the school to prison pipeline is perpetuated through policies and practices at the school, district, state and federal level. There are also horrific disparities. Black, brown, disabled, and LGBTQ, and indigenous students consistently experience push out at higher rates. More than one out of four boys of color with disabilities and nearly one in five girls of color with disabilities receives an out of school suspension. The vast majority of these suspensions are NOT for violent behavior. These statistics are unacceptable, we can and must do better to ensure that ALL kids can thrive. This is why we need YOUR story.

Spanish: https://action.momsrising.org/survey/S2PP_Storybook_2018_Spanish/

5. Pre-Order Keep Marching, Kristin's New Book, with all profits going to MomsRising!

Let’s use the book — and the information in it about how to make the most effective change possible — to fight for gun safety, for health care, for turning the tide on sexual assault, for fair pay, for ending mass incarceration, for affordable childcare, for paid family/medical leave, for protecting the economic safety net, for fair immigration policy, and more. Let’s change our lives and our nation for the better. To build our movement and this moment, we need to start getting in pre-orders ASAP (about 1,000 pre-orders to be specific!). Pre-orders are quite literally like the dynamite that launches the avalanche — and we're hoping for an avalanche of change as people use the book to help take high impact action at the local and national levels. Your pre-order gets things started! (Plus 100% of proceeds of the book go to MomsRising so it's pretty much a two-for-one — a donation AND a book!).

*Can you help light the dynamite — and support MomsRising as you do it?

Amazon | B&N | IndieBound

BONUS: Win of the Week! -> 

The Equal Pay Opportunity Act (HB 1506) just passed the Washington State Legislature! This is the first update to the state's equal pay laws in nearly 75 years - a MOMumental achievement! This win would not have been possible without the hard work of MomsRising's 40,000 Washington State members who brought the voices of women straight into the policy-making process. 

 Thank you for all you do.