Tell Your Story: What Does Medicaid Expansion Mean to You?
After years of waiting, Nebraskans in the coverage gap will finally be able to enroll in expanded Medicaid coverage later this year. We want to know why Medicaid expansion is important to you. How will it make a difference for you or your loved ones?
We Count: Complete your 2020 Census!
The Census Bureau has begun sending out letters with information on how to fill out the census online — have you completed yours?
10 minutes + 10 questions = Nebraska Counts
The census portal is live and simple to use. Complete the census from your smartphone or computer now by:
- Going to my2020census.gov
- Entering your address OR entering the Census ID you received in the mail.
If completing online is not the best method for you, call 844-330-2020 to complete the questionnaire by phone in English, or call the number on this list associated with your preferred language.
You can also complete the questionnaire on paper by continuing to check your mail for a paper form from the Census Bureau!
Once you’ve completed your census, encourage your friends, families, and neighbors to fill it out too, so that we can ensure everyone in our community has access to the resources they need! Post your census selfie and use the hashtags #NebraskaCounts, #WeCount #TodosContamos, #CensoCompleto!
Check out our “We Count” blog series:
- We Count! Together, let’s make sure our communities are counted
- We Count! The Power of Participation
- ¡Todos Contamos! El Poder de Participación
Tell Congress: Pass New Positive Immigration Legislation
The Supreme Court will be ruling on several cases related to the successful DACA program (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) in the very near future.
Recent news reports point out that ending DACA during a pandemic would be catastrophic. The New York Times notes that approximately 27,000 young professionals with DACA work in health care, many “on the front lines in the fight against the coronavirus.”
Across our state, Nebraska communities can’t afford to lose the talents and contributions of Nebraska Dreamers — from health care to education, from food production to small business. We can’t afford to lose the friends, spouses, co-workers, moms and dads who are part of the fabric of Nebraska communities.
Take Action: Urge your U.S. Senators to pass long-overdue protections for Nebraska Dreamers
Now more than ever, it is critical for the Senate to move quickly to pass the Dream and Promise Act (which already passed the House last year) and create stability for long-time residents, families, and whole communities.
Take a moment to contact Nebraska’s U.S. Senators Ben Sasse and Deb Fischer today.
| Sen. Deb Fischer (202) 224-6551 | Sen. Ben Sasse (202) 224-4224 |
Speak UP for Housing Rights
Our nation is facing a severe shortage of affordable housing, and Lincoln is no exception. In fact, housing is unaffordable for 46% of Lincolnites that rent at all income levels. That is, 21,655 Lincoln households are cost-burdened by their housing. Indeed, 85% of extremely low-income families in Lincoln spend more than one-third of their income on rent. Lincoln must address these issues before they become worse, and we urge Lincoln’s leadership to put our city at the forefront of national housing reform.
Collective Impact Lincoln has identified the following policy changes which, if implemented in Lincoln, would increase the affordable housing stock and/or the resources to increase housing affordability for low-income families.
- Varied Income Access Plan
- Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Reform
Share your experience with housing affordability | Learn more about Collective Impact Lincoln
Support the New Deal for New Americans Act
We believe everyone should have the opportunity to thrive in the place they call home. However, last month the administration proposed a new rule that targets low-income and working class immigrants by dramatically increasing application fees for citizenship, asylum, work permits, and other forms of immigration status.
The rule, if implemented, would:
- increase citizenship application fees to $1,170;
- create a $50 fee for filing certain asylum applications and make asylum seekers pay $490 for a work permit;
- increase the cost of DACA renewals to $765; and so much more.
SUPPORT THE NEW DEAL FOR NEW AMERICANS ACT
Call your House of Representatives and urge them to vote in support of the New Deal for New Americans Act. Introduced by U.S. Representatives. Grace Meng (NY), Jesús “Chuy” García (IL), Pramila Jayapal (WA), the bill resets a path forward on immigration and honors America’s history and strength in diversity by laying out a proactive, visionary roadmap to help immigrants and refugees navigate their adopted homeland and become a full and integral part of our shared social, economic, and civic life.
District 1 – Rep. Jeff Fortenberry 402-438-1598
District 2 – Rep. Don Bacon 402-938-0300
District 3 – Rep. Adrian Smith 308-384-3900
Click here to find your U.S. Representative
Read more about the proposed rule and how you can take action on our blog.
Schools are Closed but Nutrition Programs Continue
The COVID-19 pandemic has closed all of Nebraska’s 244 school districts for the foreseeable future. However, state administrators and school nutrition professionals have worked tirelessly to make sure students and families have the meals they need to be healthy, active, and safe.
Despite being closed, over 150 Nebraska districts are serving grab and go breakfast and lunch, drive through packages of food, or delivering meals to students in their homes. Using methods that work for their communities, these nutrition professionals are working to make sure kids are getting the meals they are missing at school.
View our interactive map to see if your school district is participating in COVID-related grab and go meal service or learn more about Nebraska Appleseed’s school meal efforts through a recent blog post.
Everyone should have a safe workplace
Over the past decades, significant and convincing data has piled up to show that working in the meatpacking and poultry processing industries continue to be some of the most dangerous jobs in the country.
The Trump Administration has proposed a new rule to make it even more dangerous – both for workers in pork slaughter plants and the food that makes it to your plate. The plan to remove federal food safety inspectors and increase the already dangerously high line speeds in pork plants would be a disaster for all involved.
Tell our members of Congress to pass a law to protect food and worker safety by rejecting this increase in line speed. Our lawmakers must pass protections that prevent the hard-working men and women who prepare our food from suffering permanent, crippling injuries on the job.
