Daily Yopp! 5.9.17 Demand an Explanation

On Monday, I had a nice chat with a staffer in my representative's office about how to read and understand H.R. 1628 or the American Health Care Act of 2017. I'll be frank. It's too many damn pages for any man to understand. She directed me to a few resources (see yesterday's Yopp!), but I've still yet to find a clear explanation and analysis of the 132 page bill. Apparently I'm not alone. Constituents of Representative John Faso's district (NY-19) have gotten so frustrated trying to get and explanation of the bill from Congressman Faso that they've begun petitioning the representative from the neighboring district, Congressman Patrick Maloney (NY-18) for help. He has kindly offered to hold a town hall in their district to help decipher H.R. 1628.

There's your Yopp! We're going to ask our representatives to explain this bill. The Yopp! has two parts. The first step is the most important, but if your representative voted Yes on H.R. 1628, then it's critical to start putting pressure on them to explain their vote, which is the point of Step 2.

Step 1: Call your Representative and ask them to hold or sponsor a town hall or public event or a least post some resources online over the next week that explains H.R. 1628, how it may impact their district, and why they voted how they did. If the staffer gives a reasonable answer, then thank them. If they waffle or have no information, ask them to get back to you when they can answer your questions and let them know that you'll be contacting representatives from neighboring districts to see if they can help.

Step 2: Contact representatives from neighboring districts and ask the same. This involves a bit more work, but it will pay off in the long run. Here's a nifty map that will help you identify the other districts. 

Let me show you how it works for me. I live in CA-13. This district is bordered by CA-14, CA-12, CA-11, and CA-15. So here's my plan:

1. Call my representative, Barbara Lee, and ask her to hold an event explaining H.R. 1628.

Assuming she is not planning an event or an explanation at this time, I will then call the representatives below and ask them to help explain the bill.

• CA-14  Jackie Speier 
• CA-12  Nancy Pelosi 
• CA-11  Mark DeSaulnier 
• CA-15  Eric Swalwell

Now in my case, all of these folks voted against H.R. 1628 and came out strongly against it, but if your representative voted for it, this is a good way to put some additional pressure on them. I have a list of all the members of both houses, so if you need to know who might be neighboring congressperson for you, just send an email to krisbradburn@gmail.com and I'll get back to you. Be sure to let me know your district and/or Representative.

Yours in Solidarity!

(Hamilton fans! The lyric is in there. Trust me.)