Clearly, commoners and even the ‘lesser’ rich are in a battle against billionaires. Fear of elite overreach is justified—we are fighting rash wars based on their panic and stripping sustainability to secure short-term corporate spoils and billionaire compounds.
Clearly, we need to look locally, turning to our neighborhoods and states to build resilience, restore balance, and upend unearned power.
In the last few weeks I have been working to build funds for our business Last Tree Laws, L.L.C., to write model legislation while preparing for the mechanics of a fall Mass. signature drive for a ballot question. Through this and future efforts, we aim to draft compassionate policy to correct corporate carelessness, government faults, and rewrite a sustainable future.
Consider this fall will a seed for future drives—we need to win both for immediate progress and to establish long-term campaign infrastructure.
The final details of this fall’s strategy are close to my chest for now, but look for a full announcement 1 June. This week, I’m finalizing for a new fall ballot committee and preparing for press.
To succeed with this business model, I need to ask for your financial support.
Some of you are familiar with the dedicated, free work I’ve done for safer technology over the last decade. Since 2014, I have been engaged variously in drafting legislation, critiquing opposition bills, submitting legal documentation to the attorney general’s office, filing with state agencies, and organizing signature drives. During this time, I have been sole manager and nearly completely self-funded. While this ten-year track record demonstrates my commitment and integrity, long-term stability and success require a fully funded team. I am asking you to invest based on your trust in this proven history.
While donations to the future ballot committee are specifically for that campaign alone, sponsoring the business allows continuity beyond a ballot committee’s short term. Sponsorships support business infrastructure and operations, political analysis, and other non-ballot committee model legislation. A ballot committee can only exist when funds are being collected for a potential ballot question. A ballot committee generally must close when the signature drive is successful. This makes a ballot committee difficult for stable employment, and so there needs to be a business model beyond a single ballot campaign.
In addition to a brilliant lawyer, I have found a potentially perfect movement organizer, someone sharp, fun, and fiercely capable for both our business and ballot initiatives. I will be approaching her next week. However, we do not have funds to pay anyone’s salary at this time, which is why fundraising is my current focus.
As a preview of future model legislation, I’ve taken time to share one concept for candidate campaigns—a model to strip control from the wealthy so everyday voices can be heard. While this specific model is not for our official focus for this fall, it demonstrates the type of necessary, systemic change we can create.
How you can Help
When I approach other funders, I must prove that we already have a dedicated base of grassroots backing. While we have some seed funding, more is needed to demonstrate community support. I am asking everyone in our community to consider a monthly sponsorship of $7 to Last Tree Laws, L.L.C. This capital acts as a direct investment in our business infrastructure—allowing for greater reach and showing other funders that we have an engaged, powerful grassroots foundation. Monthly funds are also a practical necessity to establish a business credit line, which is more secure than a debit card and more functional than checks for online payments.
Personally, this next step is about sustainability for this business model. It means stopping the strain on my personal plastic and transitioning entirely away to a dedicated business line built on community support. Most importantly, it means securing the foundational capital needed to eventually hire two vital, stellar professionals: a movement organizer and a lawyer.
If you can help us ground this vision into reality, click here to start your monthly or one-time sponsorship today.
P.S. Keep an eye out on 1 June for our very first ballot question proposal with fall signature drive as an L.L.C.