Here's what's happening in DA Austria in January —
- Message from the Chair
Events:
- International Voter Registration Day
- Solidarity Sundays II
- Dems in Styria: Come together in solidarity in Graz!
- DA Austria Open House & Info Session
Inside Democrats Abroad:
- Annual General Meeting & Elections
- Run for Something!
- International Voter Registration Day
Issues and Actions:
- Solidarity Sundays – Navigating Chaos with Strategy
- Solidarity in Graz
- President Biden Signs the Repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision
Review:
- Museum Tours with Jonathan Fine
Our Executive Committee meetings are usually held on the second Thursday of the month. Our next meeting will be on Thursday, February 13, at 7:00 p.m. Members are welcome to join us at the meetings. Please contact Rich at [email protected] for the address and meeting link.
DAA is making a concerted effort to include in our monthly newsletter all the information you need to stay up to date. By sending you fewer emails, we hope you will read those you receive. Thanks for reading!
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Message from the Chair:
Wishing everyone a successful and fulfilling 2025! A heartfelt thank-you to all who have supported the work of Democrats Abroad Austria in the past year—we truly appreciate your continued support. As we look ahead, mark your calendars for our Annual General Meeting in Vienna on Sunday, March 16. During this meeting, we’ll elect a new Executive Committee to serve a two-year term. Positions include Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, Secretary, Counsel, Member(s)-at-Large, and two Voting Representatives to the global body (DPCA Voting Representative).
If you’re interested in getting more involved, stepping into a leadership role, or just want to learn more we’re hosting an Open House from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 25. Here you can hear from us directly about the various roles and what to expect. For more details, please email me at [email protected]. We hope to see you there!
— Richard Miller, Chair, DA Austria
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Events Coming Up –
International Voter Registration Day
When: Wednesday, January 15, 2025
RSVP: VoteFromAbroad.org
Solidarity Sundays II – Navigating Chaos with Strategy
When: Sunday, January 19, 2025
Time: 4:00-6:00 p.m.
Where: Amerlinghaus, 1070 Vienna
RSVP: Solidarity Sundays
For more information see Issues and Actions below.
Dems in Styria: Come together in solidarity in Graz!
When: Sunday, 19 January, 3:00-5:00 p.m.
Where: Operncafe, Opernring 22, 8010 Graz
RSVP: Dems in Styria: Come together in solidarity in Graz!
For more information see Issues and Actions below.
MLK Day 2025
When: Monday, January 20
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Where: Online
RSVP: MLK - Black Caucus
DA Austria Open House & Info Session
When: Saturday, January 25, 2025
Time: 3:30-5:00 p.m.
Where: Private Venue
RSVP: Open House and Info Session
For more information see Inside Democrats Abroad below.
Save the Date!
Annual General Meeting & Austria ExCom Elections
When: Sunday, March 16, 2025
Time: 2:00-5:00 p.m.
Where: TBA
For more information see Inside Democrats Abroad below.
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Inside Democrats Abroad –
Annual General Meeting & Elections
DA Austria’s Annual General Meeting will be held in-person and online on Sunday, March 16, 2025 at 2 p.m. All DAA members are welcome to participate in the elections and join the meeting. We especially hope to see many of our members who live outside of Vienna and may not normally attend the AGM! Any American 18 or older by the next federal election and residing in Austria may also join the meeting and vote.
At the meeting we'll present brief reports on 2024 and discuss plans for the upcoming year. Most importantly, there will also be an Elections Meeting to elect an Executive Committee for the 2025-2027 term.
DA Austria is required by our By-Laws to hold an Annual General Meeting prior to March 31 of each year. We also have a quorum requirement to make the meeting valid. Please help us meet these challenges by joining the AGM in-person or online!
Your participation, activism, and donations have made Democrats Abroad Austria a strong and vital organization for more than twenty years. In 2025, we’ll continue working to strengthen the voice and vote of all our members.
Please RSVP for the meeting and you will receive meeting details closer to the date.
Thank you for your support,
– DA Austria Executive Committee
Run for Something!
Fresh voices, energy, and ideas — Democrats Abroad Austria is holding elections for the 2025-2027 Executive Committee and all interested members are encouraged to run for something.
If you’re interested in finding out more, you are strongly encouraged to stop by the DA Austria Open House & Info Session on Saturday, Jan 25 or attend our next monthly executive committee meeting on Thursday, February 13, 2025. RSVP here for the Open House or contact Richard at [email protected] for the ExCom meeting details.
There will be elections for all country committee elected roles. These include: Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, Secretary, Counsel, Member-at-Large, and two Voting Representatives to the global body (DPCA). You can read a brief role description here: DA Austria’s Elected Officer Role Descriptions and an overview of all our volunteer positions here: DA Austria’s Unelected Volunteer Role Descriptions.
Please contact the Nominations and Elections Committee at [email protected] with any questions.
International Voter Registration Day
Submit your annual Federal Postcard Application (FPCA is a Federal Ballot Request form) using VoteFromAbroad.org. If members need extra help, volunteers will be available live via Zoom on Sunday, January 19th and Monday, January 20th. For Zoom room links, click here.
Why submit an FPCA using VFA in 2025?
- It ensures that your voter registration remains current.
- It ensures protections under federal law (UOCAVA) for your vote.
- It requires your Local Election Official to send you ballots for all elections you are eligible to vote in during the calendar year.
- There are important elections in Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin already on the calendar. More may be scheduled!
- There’s no such thing as an “off year”. Special elections can – and do – pop up unexpectedly. Be ready.
It takes less than 5 minutes to complete and most states allow you to submit your form by email.
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Issues and Actions –
Solidarity Sundays – Navigating Chaos with Strategy
Just in time for the Inauguration, Solidarity Sundays returns for a workshop to map an action plan for fighting back against Trump 2.0.
As Trump gets back into office, we can expect three things:
- It will be chaotic. Trump‘s administration will move quickly on their agenda.
- Out of the chaos, real things that people care about will be broken. Trump‘s actual policies - from abortion bans to attacks on healthcare to taxes for the rich to mass deportation - are not popular. We need to prepare to stoke the backlash to break up the MAGA coalition and build ours.
- How we act matters. We stop what we can. We pick strategic fights to join that can drive national backlash. We push Democratic lawmakers to block, delay, and challenge MAGA‘s attacks.
Join us Sunday, January 19 from 4:00-6:00 p.m. to develop a clear vision for the fight ahead — and how US citizens abroad can fit into that work. We’ll meet at Amerlinghaus, Stiftgasse 8, 1070 Vienna. Let us know you plan to come: RSVP here.
Let‘s learn how to do something about the chaos, corruption, and cruelty that begins January 20th. Together.
– Tanya Lolonis, Solidarity Sundays Coordinator
Solidarity in Graz
In line with Vienna's Solidarity Sunday event, join other Styrian Democrats on the final day of Biden's presidency. We will brainstorm ways to take action to support our American friends and family in the next 4 years and plan future meetups and events. We look forward to having you!
Please RSVP via the website and/or send a quick email to [email protected]
– Caitlin Ahern, Graz Coordinator
Repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision Signed!
Some good news - President Biden has signed the Social Security Fairness Act into law, repealing the Windfall Elimination Provision ("WEP")!
Thanks to this reform, retirees abroad will receive full Social Security benefits—providing long-overdue financial fairness and stability.
This victory was made possible in part by the advocacy of Democrats Abroad and the thousands of members who supported our efforts.
The repeal of WEP corrects an inequity that unfairly reduced benefits for those who worked both in and outside the U.S. Social Security system. This change impacts municipal employees like teachers and first responders, as well as the hundreds of thousands of Americans abroad who contributed to Social Security while also contributing to foreign pensions.
Democrats Abroad has been a leader in this fight since 2009, raising awareness about the injustices of WEP to leaders in Congress for years. WEP task forces, and more recently the Taxation Task Force and Global Seniors Caucus, have dedicated countless hours to enacting this reform.
None of this would have been possible without you—our members—who called, emailed, and even postal mailed Congressional offices to demand change.
This is the power of collective action.
But there’s more work to do. With your help, we can continue addressing key issues like citizenship-based taxation, voting rights, and Medicare portability.
Let us know where you stand on Residency Based Taxation. Take the short survey.
– Martha McDevitt Pugh, DA International Chair
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Review –
Museum Tours with Jonathan Fine
In December and January, a group of Democrats Abroad Austria members enjoyed two incredibly memorable tours – first of the Weltmuseum Wien and then of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien (KHM).
At the Weltmuseum, the outgoing director and fellow American, Dr. Jonathan Fine, treated us to a fascinating and erudite tour and discussion of parts of the Weltmuseum’s contemporary anthropological collections, explaining and illuminating the complex issues European museums face when considering how to tell the stories and display the art of other cultures.