For The People Act Update with Jana Morgan

This podcast is part of the Democracy Group.

Hi, this is Adam Icahn, Executive Director of Equal Citizens. In my last interview, I spoke with Ellie Zupnick of the Fix Our Senate Coalition, and we got a sense of where the fight for filibuster reform stands. Because as you know, without filibuster reform, there's no chance that we can pass any democracy legislation through the US Senate. But fortunately, according to Ellie, there is significant momentum building right now to fix the filibuster. So if you missed that episode, make sure to go back and listen to it. Today I want to take a step back and dig into where we are with the for the People act, which, as we've discussed on this podcast many times, is a game changing piece of legislation that would represent the most significant improvement to our democracy in generations.

Equal Citizens, of course, is working hard

to make sure that this bill becomes law. But there's been so much that's happened with this bill this summer and we owe you a bit of an update.

So think of this as the first of many updates about the for the

People act as we enter into what we hope is the final stretch before it becomes law. And I'm really excited because my guest for today, Jana Morgan, is the perfect person to catch us up on the for the People act and to share with us the game plan moving forward.

Let me explain a little bit about

Jana, because I think you'll be really

excited to hear from her.

Jan is the Director of the Declaration for American Democracy, a coalition of over two hundred and thirty groups from labor, racial justice, faith, women's rights, environmental, good government, and many other important communities on a mission to take back our democracy and restore power to the people. It's not an understatement to say that the Declaration for American Democracy is the quarterback driving the movement to pass the for the People Act. A little bit more about Jana. She previously served as the Director of Advocacy and Campaigns at the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable, where she led the organization's efforts to combat corporate capture, and she even launched the Protect the Protest Coalition. And before that, she was the Director of Publish what yout Pay United States, where she led the coalition's efforts to to bring transparency and accountability to the oil, gas and mining sector. And she now serves on the organization's steering committee. Jana, it is so great to have you on this podcast.

Great. Thank you so much for having me. We're excited to be here.

So let's start with some context here. What is the Declaration for American Democracy and who's in the coalition, sure.

Well, the Declaration for American Democracy is a coalition of over 230 organizations who are working together to make the promise of democracy real for all of us. And we've come together from across different issue areas, including labor, racial justice, gender justice, climate, and many other important communities, because we all know that we need a fair, inclusive democracy that actually responds to the people in order to win on the issues that matter most to Americans.

And I should just say, you know, quickly, for our listeners, this is a really extensive coalition. I mean, the group that has been put together and equal citizens is a part of it, it's a really broad coalition that's been working really hard, both behind the scenes and publicly to pass the for the People act to push on the John Lewis Voting Rights act, the Restoration Act, D.C. statehood. I mean, this is the coalition that's happening right now in Washington, D.C. and across the country to push these democracy reforms forward. So, I mean, Janet, you know, we're going to talk a lot in this podcast about the past six months and the for the People act where it stands, we what the media is saying. But you really have been positioned, you know, in the center of this fight. And so it's really, I'm really excited to have you here for our listeners because, you know, D FAD really has been the source for, for all of us who have been engaging in this fight, you know, making us, you know, making sure that we're, we're taking the biggest steps forward at every point in the campaign collectively as a coalition. And it's not easy to do with so many different groups. But, but you've done a great job so far.

Well, thank you, Adam. I appreciate it. And you know, what makes the coalition great is definitely the passion and the enthusiasm, the commitment of our members. And so we would not be where we are today without them.

Yeah. So, okay, let's then talk a little bit about where we've been because this is, you know, I want to give our listeners an update. There have been so many twists and turns over the last couple months and I owe our listeners a real update, an in depth update about where we've been. So, so take us through the last six months in the fight for the for the People act and where we are now, you know, and then. And the steps forward from there.

Absolutely. And I'll try not to get too in the weeds on this because so much has happened. But in just this past March, the House of Representatives passed the for the people act as HR1. One of the first orders of business for the House. And this has been a huge priority for Speaker Pelosi, who has championed the bill, as well as Representative Sarbanes, who is kind of the assembler of the for the People Act. And since then, it was introduced in the Senate as S1, again showing that Leader Schumer also views this legislation as his top priority. And then in June, every Democratic senator voted unanimously to proceed with debate on the for the People act, but it was blocked by the Senate Republicans with the filibuster. But we are in a really good place right now as Leader Schumer has indicated that this bill remains a critical priority. And we've just heard in the news today that there is a compromise bill that is being worked on that we expect to see in the next couple of days. But I think it's important to mention that, you know, we only got to this point because everyday people have been making their voices heard by calling their senators, writing letters to the editor for their local newspapers, or organizing rallies and actions in their communities. And for folks that are interested in doing that and being a part of this fight, you can go to declarationforamericandemocracy.org or dfadcoalition.org to learn more. Or we're also planning a week of action next week called Recess Can Wait Our Democracy can't, where we're asking the Senate to not go into recess until they have passed the for the People Act. And there are some actions that you can take if you want to be a part of that effort. And you can go to recesscanwait.org to find out more.

And just to be clear, since I'm not quite sure when this pod, this episode will air, that will be the first week of August is when the recess can wait actions will take place, right?

That's right. The first week of August will be for Recess Can Wait for the week of action. And then on August 10, we are doing nationwide RALL across the country. And so we're looking for people to host those rallies, to plan them to be a part of this movement. And well, we can you can definitely find out more information about that if you go to our website, dfadcoalition.org or Declaration for American Democracy.org and so I

just want to kind of go in maybe into the weeds a little bit. I know you said you didn't want to go too much into the weeds, but this is a weedsy podcast. Our listeners know this fight. They know the bill. You know, there have been a lot of twists and turns that the, you know, the House passed it with nearly every single Democrat voting for it. In the Senate, as you said, all 50 Democratic senators voted to advance the bill. And yet there were a couple of these moments and really throughout the entire process that the pundits and the media said this bill was dead. I mean, I can think off the top of my head, some people have called this a messaging bill that it's never had a chance of passage. It's not a real bill. It's just kind of a way to placate the left, which is really just condescending and ridiculous. Cuz this is about saving American democracy, not about placating anybody, just about shoring up American institutions. But there are people who, after the Senate filibuster or at the Republicans filibustered the motion to proceed on the for the people act on June 24, they said, well, this finally marks the end. It's dead now. There's no coming back from it. You know, a couple of weeks beforehand, Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia said that he opposed the for the People Act. But there was so much groundswell of pressure that he came back to the negotiating table and he ended up voting to, to, to proceed to debate with all of his Democratic colleagues. And as you said today, news broke that he's been working with his Democratic colleagues to, to come up with a slight compromise. Again, we don't know the language that he could potentially support. You know, and all that is due to the fact that people in the defense coalition across the country have been advocating for this. But what do you make of the fact that the pundits are calling this bill dead? Why are they wrong? You know, what's getting you up in the morning to keep fighting? Because if you're only listening to this from cable news or from some of the pundits who write for these newspapers, you should have given up by now. The D FAT coalition should have disbanded. So what are they missing?

Well, I think it's important to note that one should never listen to the political pundits. And so.

Good advice.

Yes. Well, let me just be totally clear. The for the People act is very much alive. The entire Senate Democratic majority voted unanimously to proceed with debate. And the vast majority of Americans, 8 out of 10 support this bill. And that includes majorities of Americans across party lines, age groups, because this is just a popular bill with reforms that are common sense. Getting big money out, protecting the freedom to vote, not letting politicians pick their voters through gerrymandering and making the government work for the People, these are broadly popular provisions. This bill is incredibly popular because this is all about making our government work better. And right now our democracy is in crisis. And that's why people keep fighting, because they do recognize that we are at a crossroads where we have the opportunity to make a decision to save our democracy and really realize the promise of American democracy, or we'll look back and realize that this is the moment where everything went wrong for America and we d fat. And people across the country who care about this, care about this issue are not going to let one Republican filibuster cause us to give up this fight because our freedom to vote and our democracy is at stake.

Yeah. And I want to emphasize what you said about, you know, this bill is just wildly popular, and it's not just a, you know, again, the pundits call it the Democrats bill. It's a. It's a capital D, Democratic bill. Right. But as you mentioned, you know, the bill and the provisions contained in the bill are actually wildly popular among Republicans and independents. I mean, this is, you know, maybe the kind of the elite level Republicans don't support this bill, although they should, but certainly grassroots Republicans. And you see this in places like West Virginia and in Arizona, where there's been tremendous, you know, folks who are organizing, you see folks who voted for Trump or who, you know, support, you know, either, you know, both or one of Manchin or the other West Virginia senator, the Republican. Capito.

Right.

You see people across the political spectrum coming out and supporting for the People act. So I want to emphasize that, because that's a really important point here, is that, you know, one of the things that certainly that keeps me going is that, you know, we should be winning this bill because it's so, you know, so widely popular among all people, among all political ideologies, because this is about saving our democracy. And that's something that we should be able to rally around.

Right. And one thing that we've been saying is that the only place that this bill isn't bipartisan is in Washington, D.C. right. Because exactly like we said, vast majority of Americans, including Republicans, support this bill. And if you look at certain provisions, like money in politics provisions, that number goes up to 90% of Republicans support those provisions because they are just common sense and they are about making our government work for the people. Right.

And, you know, we talk about this a lot on the podcast. But, you know, the, you know, Republicans get screwed by money in politics, too. I mean, you know, the Republicans get their votes suppressed, too. I mean, it's Something that primarily, you know, it has been affecting, you know, voters of color and students and young people and those of lower socioeconomic backgrounds. But, you know, when there are voter suppression laws, there are countless Americans who are caught in the dragnet of voter suppression. And so we all suffer from not just the specific kind of voter suppression policies or the big money politics, but from a system that doesn't actually represent the American people. And so, again, that's one of the things that I think, you know, at least equal citizens and I think certainly a decent, you know, with the D Fed coalition as well, we always center ourselves in this idea that this is about protecting our democracy and that all Americans benefit if we pass this bill. It's not just a capital D Democratic bill, it's a, it's a Democratic bill with a small D. And we all benefit from that.

Absolutely. Well, money in politics hurts us all, right? From super high drug prices to not taking action on climate change. And then when you look at something like gerrymandering, that's a form of voter suppression in my mind, that, you know, you've got all parties participating in. And when politicians get to draw the lines on the map to pick who their voters are, well, that's suppressing the vote and that's suppressing people from actually having a representative government.

Absolutely. I couldn't, I couldn't agree more. So some people might say, okay, that's all, that's all great, that's all fine. But what is the actual plan to get this to law? So can you talk a little bit about, you know, how we get from point A, which is where we are now, to point B, where we are celebrating that this bill is passed and we have a democracy that gets closer to a government of, by and for the people. Because, of course, you know, we can all, we can all agree that there are many, many more reforms in addition to the for the people act, like D.C. statehood and restoring the Voting Rights act that we to pass. But, but how do we get from where we are today as we're talking to a place where the for the People act becomes law. What, what is, what is your plan? What is the game plan here?

Sure, Absolutely. Well, the Democratic Senate majority is already supportive of the provisions of the for the People Act. So the problem is the filibuster and Republican obstruction. So we need the Senate to pass the for the People act before the August recess, and we need the President to use every lever of power and influence at his disposal to get it done. So we can't, we cannot Let the Republican senators who blocked an investigation into a deadly attack on our Capitol use the same loophole to block legislation that the majority of Americans across this political spectrum have demanded to protect our freedom to vote and more. The Senate must not let anything stand in their way of passing the for the People Act. And we really need increased engagement from the White House to help get this done. We need President Biden to be making phone calls, be bringing people to the White House to having these conversations to say this needs to get done. And we're not going to let the Jim Crow filibuster stand in our way. So we need to create a political environment in which the Senate has no choice but to find a way around the filibuster. And there are multiple ways of doing that that are under consideration. And thousands of people across the country have been organizing events in their communities in support of the for the People act. And their senators need to listen to them and they need to do the job that they were elected to do.

Yeah, and we'll get into this about, like, specifically, you know, what are some of the things that have been done on the ground to create that environment? So I want to give, you know, a little preview to that, that there have been tremendous, you know, rallies and organizing efforts really across the country. And I'm not just saying that as, like, hyperbole. I really mean across the country. It's been really quite wild to see the engagement from the grassroots in all 50 states. And so what you're saying is really that we just need to keep it up. That, in other words, that, that. That, you know, and there are going to be many more. We'll talk about what's upcoming. But essentially that the key, you know, the number one charge here is that the only way this becomes law is if, you know, Americans rally behind it. And I know that's kind of so cliched at this point to say. And I know that, like, when I've talked to folks, you know, people say, you know, like, oh, am I really going to make a difference? But what you're saying is that everybody who is. Who is stepping up right now is contributing to creating that environment where the Senate feels like it has to pass the for the People act and the President feels that he has to take a more or a heavier hand to get this bill through the Senate. Is that kind of what you're suggesting here?

Absolutely. This is a fight. I mean, this is going to be a battle. But I feel like we're in the last mile of the marathon right and so we all need to keep going. We need to find that and dig deep and continue to call our members of Congress. Write to the president, let him know you want him to engage, tweet at them, write letters to the editor or op EDS in your local newspaper so that your member of Congress can see how much you care about this. And also, if, if they haven't already taken place, when this podcast is it comes out, go to recess can wait. Go to dfadcoalition.org and find out ways that you can engage in the actions that are going to be taking a place across the country on August 10. We want you to show up. We want you to participate. So if you go to our website, you can always go to our events page and you can see what's coming up and you can find ways to plug in.

Yeah. And you'll be. You. The listener will be very impressed because the calendar is always filled with. With events coming up. It's really been one of the things, like if you're not subscribed to the Equal Citizen subs stack on HR1, you know, we always have a list of upcoming events, and it's always kind of amazing to, to put that list together because it's like, oh, I didn't know that there were so many events coming up when we send it out. So before we get a little bit more into the grassroots stuff, I want to take it back to the media and this idea that the media has called the bill dead for months. And so I want to just ask you, you know, what has the media gotten the most wrong about this fight? Like, what is the thing that you are in the center of this fight? You have your, you know, you're leading a coalition that has, you know, over 200 organizations across issues that has an events page with countless events going on. What is, what is most radically different between your perspective versus what the media or how the media is interpreting the fight for the. For the people act?

Sure. Well, the Washington press corps has always been very cynical when it comes to voting rights and government reform issues, because I think people don't care about it. But I think we have proven in the last six months that they are very, very wrong. Americans do care about these issues, and that's why they're turning out to these events across the country.

Right. So. So, I mean, I think that's a very fair point. And I will say that, like, a lot of the media coverage really has simply erased the grassroots mobilization. It's been really frustrating because they've been Treating this like they would treat any Washington fight, where the fight ends, outside the Capitol. But what's so frustrating about some of the coverage is that, you know, they have pretended as if people are not getting arrested in kind of nonviolent direct actions across the country, that they're not rallying across the country, holding rallies in congressional districts, that there's not a surge of people calling their senators to ask that they reform the filibuster to get the four of the People act through the Senate. That's been really frustrating to me, and I'm sure it's been very frustrating to you just how surface level the, the, you know, the commentary by the pundits has been, because it really misses the real blood, sweat and tears that folks have been putting into this fight. That it is actually, as you said, is precisely what is pushing the ball forward. It's precisely that blood, sweat and tears that. That brought Senator Manchin from saying that he opposes the bill right back to the negotiating table, right back to a place where we're now closer than we've ever been to getting this through the Senate. And so to ignore that grassroots mobilization is actually to miss the bulk of the fight, you know, and so that's been very frustrating to me. And I think that you might agree with that.

I do agree. I mean, you're missing the real story here. Right. If you're only talking about, oh, the bill is dead, the bill is dead. Well, we just saw today that a compromise bill is coming out, and that's because of the grassroots momentum around passing the for the People act that has been happening all over the country. And that just shows that what we are doing is working and we need to keep it up. And, and I can talk about some of the work that's been going on.

Yeah, go, go. I mean, I really want to hear the specifics, like what specifically has actually been going on, because someone might be listening and say, oh, this is just. These are just talking points. Oh, there's grassroots. The grassroots doesn't really exist, but so, so, so prove that person wrong. Prove that skeptic wrong. What actually has been going on across the country that you can point to and say, you know, this is the type of activism that is. Is going to push this bill across the finish line.

Absolutely. So we've seen tens of thousands of phone calls that have been made into House and Senate offices throughout the country to make sure that in the House, every single Democrat was co sponsor of the for the People Act. We've seen a petition that was signed by over 330,000 people, which we presented to senators a couple of weeks ago at a rally at the Capitol. We've had numerous, numerous hundreds of LTEs published all across the country, from people writing to their local newspapers to say that they care about this, that about this issue. And all summer long we have had activists organizing rallies and activations in their communities to pass the poor. The. The for the People Act. About four weeks ago, we had the deadline for democracy events and there were 375 of those all across the country. We were working with invisible on that and many of our partners that was. That was our biggest mobilization yet. And I think that should really send a message that people are taking to the streets and they are not going to stop because we cannot out litigate, we cannot out organize voter suppression of the likes that we are beginning to see here. We cannot do that with gerrymandering. We cannot out organize money in politics. Or at least we shouldn't have to. Right? I mean, we should make this accessible. We should make the government functional and accessible for all people.

And then I just very quickly just again emphasize. Again, you said over 370, right? 370 individual events across the country.

Absolutely, yes.

I mean, that's a lot. That's not, you know, that's not just a small little organizing effort that's, you know, really quite remarkable. It's a remarkable showing for, for again for a piece of legislation that, that the press corps has called rules reform. Just this idea that it's just, it's. No one cares about the process issues. But what you're telling us is that there were 300 and over 370 events across the country about the for the People Act.

Absolutely. And then just two weeks later, thousands of people across the country organized and attended Good Trouble vigils for democracy, which were. Which were honoring the life of Representative John Lewis by fighting and calling for the passage of the for the People act, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement act and D.C. statehood. And in one of those, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, at a vigil that 150 people attended, it included speeches from retired judges, NAACP leaders, representatives from Congress, and the crowd sang movement songs. And a band called the Raging Grannies performed a song dedicated to the for the People Act. So you could see that people from, you know, all ages across the political spectrum from various walks of life are turning out to support this law because they know it's so important. And we've also seen organizers participating in civil disobedience actions in states across the country like Just this past week in Arizona, there was a massive civil disobedience action where around 40 people were arrested, including civil rights leaders. And in Washington D.C. we're seeing civil disobedience as well. Even members of the House are putting their bodies on the line to secure passage of this critical bill, as we saw Representative Beatty and others get arrested just last week. And so the majority of voters and members of Congress want the for the People act to pass. And people are not just sitting around quietly waiting for the Senate to do this. They are demanding a democracy that works for them. Taking to the streets, making phone calls and putting their bodies on the line and risking arrest in order to make this happen.

Yeah, I mean that, that's also true. And again, like I'm just going to say it, you know, I can't stop saying it. The media has just totally missed this part of the fight. And I think that it's just, it's such a disservice to this, this movement to save democracy. So. So Janet, you know what have been some of the most effective strategies for actually galvanizing people around democracy reform. Like, how do we, like what's been successful to get people into this fight, to get their people willing to put their bodies on the line for the, for the People act?

Sure. And there's, there's a couple of things here. And first, I'll say that people generally really do believe in our founding ideals of a government that is of, by and for the people. But they know that what we have now is not working for everyday people. And they've watched for years as big corporations and lobbyists have seen skewed policy to their liking and left the rest of us behind. And I think people were really galvanized in the past year to turn people out to vote in this past election because they saw the imminent threat to our democracy posed by those that would like to steal our elections, massive amounts of misinformation and just the corruption that we've seen at the highest level of government for the past four years. And so people want change. They want to make things different. And so one of the things that we focus on is how we can finally make the promise of American democracy real for all of us if we pass this critical legislation. And that means a government that would respond, reflect and truly represent us, not big moneyed interests and not those that have always had a consolidated control of power. And so if we can change how our political system works and we put the power into the hands of the people, well then we can change the rules to get progress on the issues that people care most about. And we're talking about things like stopping climate change, lowering prescription drug prices, ending gun violence, curbing the influence of big tech, and how changing the rules will allow action on these critical issues. And these are issues people care about, people believe in, people have pushed for in majorities in our country. But we don't make action. We don't get the action that we need. We don't get the progress that we need because of how our political system responds to the highest bidder instead of those with the best ideas. And.

Yeah, and I should just say that, you know, I think that there's so much, you know, people throw their arms up about our broken democracy and say, well, there's nothing we can do. And I think one of the, at least in my experience, the, the, the most exciting parts about organizing around the for the People act is that we can point to any of the provisions in the for the People act and say, no, this is a very common, concrete thing. You know, it's not rocket science. We know exactly what we can do to get to a place where, you know, government is responsive to the people and that everyone has the, you know, the freedom to vote, that, you know, there's no gerrymandering. It's not. It's not something outside of our grasp that we actually have the policy solutions. And so, you know, if you want to stop climate change and you want to create a government that's responsive to the people so that you can pass health care reform, like, these are the concrete policies. It's not pie in the sky. These. There are concrete policies that have been developed. There's a bill that all these policies are in, and, you know, you can rally behind this bill to get us closer to that, that place of a democracy that works for all of us. And so I think, you know, that's been really successful, at least in terms of, like, my conversations with others who normally might say, why would I dedicate time to democracy reform? Whereas, you know, we can kind of almost vision build about what a democracy could look like and say, we have the tools right now in Congress to get us there. But one thing Jenna, you mentioned, and we kind of briefly alluded to, there was, you know, the way in which democracy is not necessarily the most important issue that faces our lives, but maybe it's the first issue. It's one of the issues that has to come first before we unlock kind of the preferences of Americans across the country. And I think that's, you know, While that's amazing organizing opportunity, it's also an incredibly difficult part about organizing for democracy because, you know, democracy is just not as salient as some of those more traditional bread and butter issues like a livable wage, protecting the environment, you know, and so we're making this, this argument that, you know, you have to fight for democracy to unlock progress and all these things, but that's still very difficult. And yet D FAT is kind of the proof of concept here because you bring. You actually do bring together issue groups that don't traditionally focus on election policies and get them to join the fight while also not forcing them to give up their own policy priorities that, that you're allowing them to, you know, for lack of a better expression, you know, love two children at once. Right. The idea that they can, you can fight for, just to stop climate change or health care reform, but they're also dedicating some of their time to fixing our democracy, too. So can you tell us a little bit about, you know, how successful that effort has been to be bridging all these different communities for democracy and the difficulties there? Because this really is kind of the core, you know, question for those of us who are fighting for democracy is that we need everyone we can get. But democracy is just not the kind of issue that, you know, if you're concerned about a livable wage or stopping climate change necessarily comes first.

Well, when defense started in 2017, it was about a dozen people around a conference room table saying that we have to start working together to protect our democracy. And now we have over 230 organizations on board. And that's because people recognize the crisis that we were in and still are in now. And they recognize the root of many of the issues we face is our dysfunctional political system. And they've vowed to help change that by being a part of the Declaration for American Democracy. And this isn't just a paper coalition. All of these organizations are lobbying, they're turning out members, doing communications, and just really fighting because they know that to make progress on the issues that they care about and kind of their mission, we need to deal with the crisis of our democracy first. And people understand that. And that's why they are throwing down on top of all the incredible work that they're already doing. That's why they are making the effort to make sure we advance the for the People act and that we shift our political system, because we know that it is ultimately the key that is going to unlock progress on all of the issues that our members care about.

So, so in other words, this idea that you have to choose one is, is, is just baloney, right? That like in other words, that D FAT has actually been a proof of concept here that, that you can do cross issue organizing and, and you know, develop a very complex, almost a rich tapestry of organizations to move the ball forward on, on in multiple different ways.

Well, and I would, I would actually plug a report that we put out, I believe it was last March. It's kind of hard to keep track of time with COVID but It was in March 2020 called Fixing Our Broken Democracy. And what it did was it looked at issues that our partners worked on. So we were looking at issues like climate change, a fair minimum wage, voting rights, immigration issues. And we wrote explainers about kind of each of those issues about what the problem is that they're trying to solve, why our current political system is stopping progress on those issues, and how the for the People act would shake things loose so that we can make progress there. And it's a really great document. You can go on our website and you can check it out and it really lays out in very plain language, you know, why these groups would want to engage in this work. And it's because without unlocking, without, without the key to unlock that door to progress, when the key being the for the People act, it's going to be really difficult for us to do what we need to do. And especially with, when we're looking at Congress, they need to take that, they need to not let the filibuster stand in the way, because the filibuster is what is standing in the way of progress. And I think all of the groups that, that we're working with, you know, we all recognize that and we, and it's something that folks are getting behind, which is that we need Congress to take the action and do what we've elected them to do first, fix our democracy. And then we can move on and do all of the other incredibly important things that need to get done, like stopping climate change, ending gun violence, making sure healthcare is accessible to everyone, making sure everyone has a living wage. All of this is critical and a lot of it is going to be difficult to make progress on without changing our system first.

Yeah, and I hope our listeners really understand just how remarkable, you know, this coalition is in the sense that, you know, to, to allow folks to, and not just allow folks, but to really give folks, you know, the space to continue their top priorities while also being a part of this vibrant democracy community is really powerful. Right. The idea that there's this document that, that doesn't say, like, don't talk about climate, you don't talk about your other policy priorities, only talk about democracy reform. But actually that, you know, you can integrate the things that you care about into this broader tapestry of, of, of folks fighting and caring about democracy is really, is really potent. And I think that's what allows for us to go from a place where everyone is so hopeless about this bill to just constantly chipping away, building pressure and getting to a place where we are today, where we still have a long way to go. Jana. But, but we're closer than we've ever been to actually turning this into law. And so I think that's a really remarkable thing. The Senate is about to go on recess at the beginning of August. What are your thoughts about this? We don't really have a lot of time. We essentially have a deadline by August 16th when the census numbers come out and essentially states can start the process of redistricting. And at that point, point, you know, it limits our ability to stop the next round of gerrymandering. Should Senator Senate Majority Leader Schumer cancel the recess to ensure the for the People act becomes law? Is that something that, you know, you're thinking about? Is that something that might actually happen? Because we really do need all the time we can get here. You know, it takes time to get this bill through Congress. So what are your thoughts there?

The Senate absolutely should not go home until they get this bill done because we are in a moment of crisis right now where we need decisive action. And it's as simple as that. Recess can wait. Our democracy can't. The lines, the redistricting lines are being drawn now and we need provisions to be implemented now to combat the anti voter laws that have been passed in order to be implemented in time for the 2022 midterms. So literally, our democracy cannot wait. And that's why we are hosting a Recess Can Wait, Our Democracy can't week of action in the first week of August, which you can find out more about if you go to recess. Recesscanwait.org and we're calling on Senator Schumer and the Senate to delay recess until the for the People act gets done, to delay it until it has, until it's on President Biden's desk for signature. And we're also calling upon President Biden to do whatever it takes to, to make sure that he can sign this bill into law so that it can be implemented in time to fix what could ultimately be A really terrible redistricting process where the lines are going to be redrawn in totally partisan ways that will disenfranchise voters across the country and also disenfranchise people in 2022, where there's been about, I think 20 anti voter laws that have been passed across the country or maybe the number has gone up to 30 now they need to be stopped.

Right.

And the only thing that will be able to do that is the for the People Act. And so there really is no time to waste. They must delay recess until this law passes.

So Janet, one I guess one other question before we end just because this is in the news a lot and we've spoken about it on this podcast and I just want to get your thoughts. You know, we've talked a lot about the for the People act, but there's also a lot of talk about the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Can you talk a little bit about, you know, what's different between these bills and why we need both and why, you know, the D FAT coalition is not just fighting for the for the People act, but is also fighting for the Voting Rights Advancement Act.

Absolutely. The for the People act is like the sword and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement act is the shield. So the for the People act would implement national standards for federal elections, ensuring that the freedom to vote is protected across the country. And it is a sword because it would cut down and override many of the anti voter laws that have passed this year and before by guaranteeing things like same day and automatic voter registration, early voting, no excuse, absentee voting and more. And it also has provisions to get big money out of politics, to stop partisan gerrymandering and to restore government ethics. And I should note that the first couple hundred pages of the for the People act is, is was previously a bill called the Voter Empowerment act that Representative John Lewis himself authored and championed. And then if you switch to the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement act, the shield, it would require states with a history of racist voter suppression to receive pre approval from the federal government before making changes to their election laws, preventing states from creating barriers to the ballot. Like what we've seen in Georgia, the incredible spate of anti voter law passed there, the purging that we saw happening in Arizona, it could stop things like that from happening in the future. And I should also mention one more thing that we are pushing really hard for is D.C. statehood to end this historical disenfranchisement of a majority minority city that does not have representation in Congress. And in order to build a fair and inclusive multiracial democracy and to keep it that way, we need all of these bills to pass, and it needs to start with the for the People Act.

You couldn't have said it better myself. So let's, let's end on an optimistic note here. You know, give me a quick sense of why are you feeling good right now and what people can do right now to, to plug in. How can they get in touch with D fat? How can they they be a part of this growing movement to save American democracy. But yet the start first, Jana, with why are you still feeling good? Like, what's, what's keeping you up in the morning? Why should if. Because if you're feeling good, then anyone listening to this who's not spending 24 hours a day in this fight can't give up. Because as long as you're keeping going, we all have to keep going, too.

Well, absolutely. Well, nothing's going to stop us. Right? We've got 230 organizations who have millions of activists around the country who care and are engaged on these issues. And we've seen so much progress. We've gone in a matter of months from passage in the House introduction in the Senate. We had hearings in the Senate. We, we had, you know, we had a hiccup that we expected when Republicans blocked and were obstructionists. But we've also seen, you know, Senator Joe Manchin, who initially said he wasn't going to support the for the People act, come all the way around having a compromise bill that is being worked on right now that we should hopefully see the text of very soon. So we have seen incredible progress on this. We've also seen activists from across the country take to the streets and demand progress. We had a week of action in March where people were doing banners and rallies throughout their cities. We saw the John Lewis voter case happening in May where people took to the streets to drive their cars around the country to say, we need these bills. We had our deadline for democracy action, which had 375 events in 48 states across the United States just a, just a month ago. And then two weeks ago, we had vigils, the Good Trouble Vigils for democracy in 42 states across this nation. So people are continuing to take action and the people are not going to stop until this bill is passed. And that's what keeps me going. That's what keeps me galvanized. And if you want to be a part of that, go to declarationforamerican democracy.org and you can go to our events page to see what actions are happening in your community. And you can also go to our Take Action page to see what you can do do to get the four of the people act across the finish line this summer and save American democracy.

Well, Jana, I'm super inspired. I knew I would be talking to you. Thanks so much for stopping by the podcast and giving us an update about where things stand. I hope that in the next few weeks, as things progress, we can have you back on give folks an update. And we'll certainly be reporting about why folks should remain engaged and most important importantly, as you said, not listen to the pundits. So, Jana, thank you so much for joining us. I really appreciate it.

Thank you so much, Adam.

All right.

This has been another episode of Another Way. We'll see you next time.

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