Make a Difference. Act.
Get Involved
There are many ways you can help make your community, our state, and our country, better. Here are just a few actions you can take to make a difference.
It’s also important to keep track of issues before your local boards and councils, as well as the Sawyer County Board and Wisconsin Legislature.
Attend meetings in person or online, and contact local officials about issues you care about. Responsible citizenship includes holding officials accountable, as well as voting.
Support BadgerCare Expansion
In early May 2021, Wisconsin legislative Republicans voted to remove 380 items from Gov. Tony Evers’ proposed biennial budget, thereby rejecting $1.6 billion in federal funds the state would have received for expanding BadgerCare. BadgerCare, short for BadgerCare Plus, is a type of Medicaid program.
This year because of the pandemic, the federal government included an additional $1 billion along with the $600 million the state would receive to cover the expansion, if Republicans had accepted it. Republican legislators have refused to expand BadgerCare ever since the Affordable Care Act first passed 11 years ago, and they refused to do so again this year.
As a result, Wisconsin remains one of 12 states that has not expanded Medicaid and similar programs like BadgerCare. Republicans’ latest refusal to expand BadgerCare continues their cruel and misguided campaign to prevent hard-working, low-income Wisconsinites from receiving the same health care benefits legislators themselves receive.
Failure to expand BadgerCare again this year is disappointing, but Democrats will continue the fight to broaden access to health care benefits across the state. Continue to speak up for expansion of BadgerCare.
Learn more.
BadgerCare Plus | Wisconsin Department of Health Services
Take action.
Call your state legislative representatives and tell them to show common sense and compassion and expand BadgerCare.
Protect Voting Rights
Since the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection, state legislators throughout the United States have introduced hundreds of bills that would restrict access to voting. Many of these bills are rooted in Donald Trump’s “big lie” that he won the 2020 election. These bills would cripple local and state voting systems historically designed to uphold voters’ rights. They are a blow to democracy.
Federal action via the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act is one important way to protect the rights of voters, especially the rights of black, brown, and low-income voters. Congressional passage of these bills has been called a crucial step toward guaranteeing every American a baseline level of voting access, free from efforts to hamper, dilute, or nullify their votes.
However, as these bills have stalled in the U.S. Senate, Democrats and civil rights groups are working on ways outside of Congress to combat Republican-led voting restrictions across the country. One effort is being advanced by the Democratic National Committee, while the Poor People’s Campaign is promoting another.
Initiatives like these are not a replacement for federal legislation, but they are necessary in the face of a new wave of voting laws in many key states ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.
Learn more.
Vice President Harris Announces $25 Million Expansion of DNC’s ‘I Will Vote’ Initiative - Democrats
Season of Nonviolent Moral Direct Action (poorpeoplescampaign.org)
Take action.
Contact Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) to thank her for her support of both bills. Contact Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to urge him to do what he can to enable passage of the bills.
Volunteer with the Democratic Party of Wisconsin (WisDems) to register voters and get them to the polls.
Oppose Pipeline Projects, Protect Clean Water
The Democratic Party of Sawyer County and Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation opposes the expansion of Enbridge’s Line 3 oil pipeline and the relocation of its Line 5 oil pipeline.
Line 3 is a proposed pipeline expansion to bring nearly a million barrels of tar sands per day from Alberta, Canada, to Superior, Wisconsin. It was proposed in 2014 by Enbridge, a Canadian pipeline company responsible for the largest inland oil spill in the United States.
A big chunk of the Line 3 pipeline corridor runs through Minnesota—crossing untouched wetlands and the treaty territory of Native American peoples. The last 14 miles of the Line 3 pipeline corridor is in Wisconsin, ending at the Superior Terminal in Douglas County.
Climate justice organizations, Native American groups, and the Minnesota Department of Commerce oppose the project due to concerns over climate change, environmental degradation, violation of treaty rights, and limited benefits.
Line 5 is an existing pipeline running from Superior to the upper peninsula of Michigan through the Straits of Mackinac and lower peninsula of Michigan to Canada. Line 5 currently crosses through approximately 12 miles of the Bad River Reservation of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.
Enbridge proposes to relocate a 41-mile-long portion of the existing Line 5 pipeline around the Bad River Reservation. The reroute lies within Ashland, Bayfield, and Iron County, Wisconsin. Enbridge must receive all necessary local, state, and federal permits and/or approvals before construction of the Line 5 relocation project can begin.
The Democratic Party of Wisconsin 2021 platform says “we must prioritize public health, environmental protection, and the land and water treaty rights of native communities in the planning and implementation of all mining projects, including frac sand extraction.” This is why Sawyer County/LCO Democrats oppose the Line 3 and Line 5 pipeline projects.
Learn more.
Enbridge Pipeline Projects in Wisconsin | Wisconsin DNR
Environmental Impact Statement May Deal Blow to Line 5 Pipeline Upgrades | Our Daily Planet
Take action.
Shut Down Line 5 - Michigan Climate Action Network (miclimateaction.org)
End Wolf Hunt Abuses
Check out these websites for more information:
Support Transformative Police Reform
The murders of black Americans George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville by white police officers in 2020 proved a tipping point that resulted in the introduction of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act in the U.S. House of Representatives in February 2021. The bill passed the Democratic-controlled House on a mostly party-line vote of 220–212, but it has not yet been voted upon by the Senate.
In Wisconsin, which saw the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha in August 2020, a number of police reform bills have been introduced at the Legislature. However, activists say the bills fall far short of the transformative change needed to end the ongoing epidemic of police violence against people of color.
It’s important to convey your support of meaningful policing reform to both state and congressional representatives.
Learn More.
Here's what the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act would do (nbcnews.com)
Wisconsin Democrats Introduce More Progressive Police Reform (upnorthnewswi.com)
Take Action.
Contact Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) to thank her for her support of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.
Call your state legislative representatives and tell them to support meaningful policing reform.
Area residents at Democracy Square in Hayward following the murder of George Floyd in 2020.