Highway Cleanup This Evening, Monthly Meeting Tomorrow, Fight the Big Bad Billionaire Bill

FIRST HIGHWAY CLEANUP OF 2025 TONIGHT

COME JOIN US FOR THE RESCHEDULED FIRST HIGHWAY CLEAN UP OF 2025!

There’s still time to volunteer for tonight’s highway clean-up. Yes, it’s happening tonight Tuesday, June 3rd at 5:30 PM. Come join us!

We’ll be cleaning our stretch of highway as part of the Adopt-A-Highway program — M-26 from just past Goat Hill Rd heading out of Ripley, and from there on to Dollar Bay.

Parking is available at the Adopt-A-Highway sign just past Goat Hill Rd. We provide gloves, safety vests and bags. 

NOTE: We had to reschedule this once due to bad weather.

In case of rain today the Rain Date is NEXT Tuesday June 10th at 5:30 PM.

Questions? — Need clarifications? — Last minute volunteer? — Call Barb Turuc at (906) 370-5496.

IT’S STILL EARLY IN THE SEASON BUT ITS ALWAYS ADVISABLE TO BRING YOUR OWN WATER BOTTLES.

POTLUCK AND MONTHLY MEETING TOMORROW

Join us for our monthly meeting at 7 PM tomorrow, Wednesday June 4 at the Super 8 in Houghton.  

• Potluck starts at 6 PM. Bring a dish to share if you can, or just stop in and enjoy some quality time with your fellow Dems before we settle down to business at 7. 

• Remote attendance is available by Zoom. Click here at 7 PM Wednesday to attend by Zoom. 

Membership in the Houghton County Democratic Party is encouraged, but not required, to attend meetings. We welcome all Houghton County residents who support progressive Democratic government to attend our meetings and events and also to become involved.

VOLUNTEER FOR HOUGHTON DEMS SUMMER EVENTS

WE NEED YOUR HELP FOR SUMMER EVENTS

The Houghton County Dems are marching in three parades this summer as well as hosting an information table at Pridefest, Bridgefest, Pasty Fest, and the Houghton County Fair. This is an important time for us to show our unity and presence in the community. Families and kids in wagons and strollers are welcome at the parades. We don’t have our entry position/# yet, so just look for the yellow Mustang convertible!

We’re trying something new to gather tabling sign-ups and marchers in addition to reaching out personally – see the links below. For any questions or problems with the forms, call Nancy Verive (812) 573-1403. Thanks in advance and let’s have some fun!

PARADES:

Bridgefest - Friday, June 13, 2025 - Parade @ 7:05 PM

• Theme is Children’s Books and Stories. We are printing several signs that show children’s book covers and that Dems support public libraries. The car will have some graphics looking like shelved books.

• Parade Line Up begins at 5:30 PM on S Lincoln Dr, Hancock (US-41 north of M-203 intersection)

• The parade will follow the regular route through Hancock AND Houghton.

• If possible, please arrange pick-up or a ride back to your vehicle for after the parade. “Shuttle service” rides back to Hancock will be available if needed departing from near the Super 8 in Houghton.

South Range 4th of July - Friday, July 4, 2025 - Parade @ 2:00 PM

• Line up begins at 1 PM at the South Range Elementary School.

Strawberry Festival - Saturday, July 12, 2025 - Parade @ 11:00 AM

• Line up begins at 10 AM by the triangle park on US 41 at the south end of town.

TABLING AT EVENTS: 

Please sign up to work a shift at one of the HCDP tables at Pridefest, Bridgefest, or Pasty Fest. Sign-up for the Houghton County Fair shifts will be done separately.

In addition to sharing literature, the table will feature a button-making activity. We hope to have 2 volunteers at every shift. We will contact volunteers via email to share any additional information as well as serving as a reminder closer to each event.

MORE BADNESS FROM THE BIG BAD BILLIONAIRE BILL AND WHAT YOU CAN DO TO FIGHT IT

The Big Bad Billionaire Bill - the budget bill where Republicans pull a reverse Robin Hood by stealing from Medicaid, SNAP and other programs to give the top 1% more tax breaks - has passed the US House. Now it’s up to the Senate to stop this travesty of a bill from becoming law.

MEDICAID & SNAP

In last week’s newsletter we focused on the bad outcomes for healthcare and food assistance for the needy that will result should this bill become law. (The Center for American Progress has an excellent web page that breaks down these outcomes by state and legislative district.)

OTHER BAD OUTCOMES

But there are other bad outcomes that will spring from provisions of this bill that you need to be aware of. The entire bill is over 1,000 pages long, so it’s quite possible that not every bad outcome has come to light yet. But, the list below contains links to news articles with more information about provisions already uncovered. Provisions intended to harm American democracy, universities and their students, and public schools; and that will harm our country’s competitiveness on clean energy.

• CUTS FOR UNIVERSITIES, FEWER AND MORE RISKY STUDENT LOANS: On Sunday The Hill ran an article detailing how this bill will raise taxes on university endowments, reduce the availability of Pell Grants for students, and change the rules on paying back student loans, even for existing borrowers. “It’s very bad for borrowers. I don’t want to sugar coat it, you know, it’s not looking good,” said Natalia Abrams at the Student Debt Crisis Center. These changes mean its less likely for young people from less affluent families to be able to afford to go to college. Forbes has an article that goes into further detail.

• ATTACK ON THE JUDICIAL BRANCH, MORE DISINFORMATION IN ELECTIONS: The Campaign Legal Center highlights two “hidden provisions” in the bill on their website. One provision would allow the Trump administration to ignore legal rulings against it, while another would unleash a flood of AI generated disinformation in future elections.

• SCHOOL VOUCHERS FOR THE RICH: NPR does a deep dive on the school voucher provisions in the bill. The bill allows for a voucher mechanism designed to skirt previous court rulings denying federal funding for private, religious schools. NPR notes that vouchers often go to students who were already enrolled in private schools, that those schools have the ability to selectively turn away students where public schools cannot, and that the voucher program in the bill has “a very generous income threshold”.

• THROTTLE GREEN ENERGY INITIATIVES: The bill contains provisions that would place severe limits on the green energy initiatives funded by the Biden Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act. Scientific American details the “nighmare scenario” for clean energy in the US. An article from Reuters tells how the bill “effectively halts [the] US clean energy boom”.

• CUT TO US FOREST SERVICE RESEARCH: Just coming to light over the weekend — the bill would cut or eliminate scientific research at several agencies. The US Forest Service Research budget would be slashed by 95%, essentially eliminating all of its research programs. High Country News has an article from last Wednesday detailing how Forest Service research has already been negatively impacted by Trump’s executive orders. The outlet also has an article dealing with the severe impacts on fish and wildlife expected from cuts to the US Geological Survey Cooperative Research Units.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO FIGHT THE BIG BAD BILLIONAIRE BILL?

We laid out some things you can do to fight the bill last week, with a focus on the bill’s healthcare and food assistance impacts. Given everything else the bill threatens, we have another suggestion for action:

The national Indivisible organization is running virtual phone banks every Wednesday and Thursday of this month. Volunteers will call voters and connect them directly to their Senator. The focus is on empowering voters in red areas to connect with their Republican Senators and urge them to vote No on the Big Bad Billionaire Bill.

Indivisible is calling these the “Stop the Trump Tax Scam” phone banks. You can join a phone bank from the comfort of your own home, using your own phone. Indivisible will be using Scale to Win, their easy-to-use calling tool to facilitate the calls to voters.

THIS IS A SIMPLE BUT POWERFUL WAY TO HELP MAKE SURE OUR VOICES OF DISSENT ARE HEARD LOUD AND CLEAR IN THE US SENATE.

06/14: NO KINGS DAY NATIONALLY / BRIDGEFEST LOCALLY

You are likely aware that a coalition of national pro-democracy groups is calling for another No Kings Day on June 14th. It’s being billed as “A Nationwide Day of Defiance”. That date has been chosen to coincide with the scheduling for Donald Trump’s military parade / birthday-party-at-taxpayer-expense in Washington, D.C.

Here in Houghton County June 14th is the Saturday of the annual Bridgefest weekend. That means that the Lift Bridge, our best and most visible venue for local protests, will NOT be available. Because of this, there is no coordination occurring locally to hold a No Kings Day rally and/or bridge march.

BUT WAIT - YOU CAN STILL HELP!

See the Summer Events item above to volunteer to march with us in the Bridgefest parade, and to help with other summer events!

SAVE THE DATES!

HOUGHTON COUNTY DEMOCRATS — SUMMER EVENTS

See the item above for information on how to march with us and for opportunities to help staff the HCDP Information Table at some of these summer events!

MDP Legacy Dinner

The Michigan Democratic Party will hold the Legacy Dinner, the party’s annual Ball and fundraiser, at the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center this Saturday, June 7th.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer, State Party Chair Curtis Hertel, and many elected leaders from across the state will be in attendance. The night’s special guest is Illinois Governor JB Pritzker.

U.S. Senator Gary Peters has been announced as the 2025 Legacy Award recipient. Senator Peters has dedicated 35 years of his life to public service, improving the lives of Michiganders and working to build a better future for us all. If you haven’t already, reserve your seat to join your fellow Michigan Democrats in honoring Senator Gary Peters at this year’s Legacy Dinner.

Tickets, starting at $250 for Bronze seating, are available via ActBlue.

Marquette Dems Summer Sizzle

The Marquette County Democratic Party have announced their Annual Summer Sizzle Fundraiser. The event will take place on June 26, 2025 at 5:30 pm at Marquette Charter Township Community Center.

This fundraiser is a great opportunity to connect with the MCDP community, meet candidates running in the 2026 election, and show your support for the causes we care about.

Tickets are available for purchase through ActBlue or can be bought at the door. (Advanced purchase: $30, At the Door: $35.)

Governmental & Community Meetings

THUR JUNE 05

The South Range Village Council meets Thursday at 6 PM in the South Range Community Building. For more information contact the Village at [email protected] or (906) 482-8833

This newsletter is paid for with regulated funds by the Houghton County Democratic Party, and is not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.

Contact us by email at [email protected] or by text or voicemail at 906-523-1233