Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Office of Public Liason


I know that the cynics out there will assume this to be a waste of time and even I realize that I am unlikely to get a personal phone call from President Obama in response to a message from me. However, it is my understanding that SOMEONE reads the mail submitted through the Office of Public Liason, which was established as part of Whitehouse.gov in January. I haven't had a chance to check everything out, but there does appear to be a wealth of information and of course the email page.



At the least, it appears to be a more direct way to get your voice heard.

And here is the rest of it.

5 comments:

Kari Chisholm said...

Or, as always, 202-456-1414. Just about the only real phone number you'll ever hear in a movie or TV show.

Kristin Teigen said...

Hey! I'm not sure how to contact you, so I thought I'd try the imperfect "leave a comment method."

I was hoping you could join an action on Monday, April 6, in support of Paid Family Leave legislation currently being considered by the Oregon State Legislature!

Some friends have been working hard for about a year to pass the legislation, and things are heating up in Salem. There's a hearing in the Senate commerce and workforce development committee next Wed 4/8 and we want to spread the word and drum up support.

The benefit is funded through a 2 cent per hour payroll deduction (about $42 per year for a full time worker) and would pay $300 per week to allow an employee to take time off for the birth of a child, or illness or accident of a family member, including same-sex couples.

Can you post on the bill? It'd be great to hear your unique take on why this bill should pass, plus include an action request or two for readers to take: 1) send a email to legislators from the Time to Care coalition web site (http://oregonpaidfamilyleave.org/) and/or 2) attend the 1st Senate committee hearing to pack the room (the hearing is Wed 4/8 @ 3 PM - it's on FB: http://tinyurl.com/d5r5tz).

Here are some resources that might be helpful in writing a post:
- Blue Oregon posts on it in February: http://tinyurl.com/b3ufgy
- Susan Nielsen's opinion piece in Feb: http://tinyurl.com/d8rt3s
- Coalition web site: http://www.oregonpaidfamilyleave.org
- Moms Rising on maternity leave: http://www.momsrising.org/maternity
- The bill # is SB 966 - actual bill text is here: http://tinyurl.com/dlpe3q

Our goal is 10 Oregon political blogs writing about the bill on one day. Can you help? If you do, please share a link so we can carnival them on Activistas on Tuesday, 4/7. Let me know if you have any questions!!

Thanks!!

Kristin Teigen (kmteig@comcast.net)
NOW Mothers and Caregivers Economic Rights Committee
BlueOregon
Poligot

Kristin said...

oh, and here is a link to videos if that makes a possible post easier...Kristin

Kristin said...

I could actually include the link, huh? http://oregonpaidfamilyleave.org/oregonians-in-their-own-words/

Oregonian37 said...

Kristin,
Thanks for all of the information. I will post something Monday on this.

Thanks for doing this work.:)