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State Advocacy Spotlight: Washington

Elise Scott and Paul Benz, Faith Action Network

April 30, 2014

 

Lutheran advocacy in the state of Washington had a positive and significant impact on the 2014 legislative session.

During the course of the session, Faith Action Network advocated for the passage of the Dream Act, increases to the budget for state food assistance as well as for the breakfast after the bell bill, four separate bills regarding issues of wage theft, multiple bills related to dismantling the culture of violence through higher education in prisons and the sealing of juvenile records, and for a bill allowing state employees and students to take two unpaid holidays a year for reasons of religion or conscience.  Although not all of these bills passed, several, including the Dream Act, sealing of juvenile records, the bill allowing for unpaid holidays for religious reasons, and minor increases in the budget for food and hunger related issues, passed and Governor Inslee signed them into law.

Furthermore, Faith Action Network dropped its first bill ever.  The bill continued efforts to prevent human trafficking in the state of Washington by making it a felony for an employer to possess an employee’s immigration documents by threat or coercion of involuntary servitude.  The bill passed with strong bipartisan support and Governor Inslee signed it into law on March 19, 2014.

Faith Action Network continues its advocacy efforts in regards to Initiative 594 which creates universal background checks.  Through endorsements by faith communities throughout the state, FAN hopes to help this initiative pass into law in November.

To learn more about Faith Action Network’s advocacy efforts visit their website or follow them on facebook(faithactionnetwork) and twitter (@FaithActionWA).

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Honoring the 17th Anniversary of the Red River Flood

Megan Brandsrud

Red River 1997 flood 05

In mid-April 1997, following a harsh winter with above-normal snowfall, the Red River of the North flooded the Red River Valley, resulting in the worst flood in the area since 1826. The riverbed that is normally 100 yards became 25 miles wide. The Red River flooded 2,200 square miles in North Dakota, an area twice the size of Rhode Island.

Cities from Fargo, N.D., to Winnipeg were impacted, but none as severely as the greater Grand Forks, N.D., area. Nearly all of Grand Forks’ 52,000 residents had to be evacuated while more than 75 percent of the city was engulfed by the flood.

In the end, the impacted regions experienced more than $3.5 billion in flood damages.

Governmental agencies, non-profit organizations and faith-based agencies from around the country responded to the Red River flood. Lutheran Disaster Response, working through our affiliate, Lutheran Social Services of North Dakota, joined other responding agencies to form the Resource Agencies Flood Team (RAFT) to best provide efficient, relevant service to those impacted by the flood.

Lutheran Disaster Response assisted in providing financial assistance for personal items and home rebuilding, coordinating volunteers for home rebuilding, matching donations with needs, and providing encouragement and spiritual support. Lutheran Disaster Response also loaned out equipment to homeowners for rebuilding and provided sheetrock to Lutheran churches.

Since the 1997 Red River flood, the greater Grand Forks area has implemented changes to prevent a disaster of this size from occurring again. Permanent dirt and clay dikes were constructed in areas of the city, and East Grand Forks, Minn., widened the area next to the river by moving businesses behind a new wall. The downtown businesses of Grand Forks and East Grand Forks are protected by a permanent brick/cement wall system constructed along the riverbank.

On this 17th anniversary of the Red River flood, we turn to God to pay memory to the trial and give thanks for the renewal and hope found in the promise of His love.

Then God said to Noah, “Go out of the ark…Bring out with you every living thing…so that they may abound on the earth.” Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. Genesis 8: 15, 17, 20

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Living Earth Reflections: Protecting the Waters of the United States

Mary Minette, ELCA Director of Environmental Advocacy

April 2014

 

“I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers on the bare heights,and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water and the dry land springs of water.”

Isaiah 41:17b-18

Water is a gift from God that is both essential to life and to our spiritual life as Christians. Water quenches our thirst, serves as a symbol of the beginning of our journey as Christians and nourishes and renews all life on earth. Stewardship of water resources is a critical part of our call to care for God’s creation.

 

The Clean Water Act

The Clean Water Act, which passed Congress in 1973, requires the federal government to protect the waters of the United States from pollution. Passed at a time in our national history when some rivers were so contaminated with industrial waste they could catch on fire, this landmark legislation is the reason that our lakes, rivers and streams can serve our communities as drinking water sources, support commercial and recreational fishing, and provide opportunities for swimming and other recreation. But many of our bodies of water are still under threat from pollution, and in recent years the scope of the Clean Water Act was called into question by two Supreme Court cases. These cases created uncertainty about whether small wetlands and streams are “waters of the United States” and deserving of the full protection of clean water regulations.

For more than four decades, the Clean Water Act protected the smaller streams and wetlands that feed into larger watersheds in our interconnected system of waters. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, about 60 percent of stream miles in the U.S. only flow seasonally or after rain, but have a considerable impact on the downstream waters. In fact, according to the agency, one in three Americans — more than 117 million people — get their drinking water from sources fed by these small and seasonal streams. But determining Clean Water Act protection for small streams and wetlands became confusing and complex following Supreme Court decisions in 2001 and 2006 that required the EPA to consider impacts on small and seasonal streams and wetlands on a case-by-case basis.

This month, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a draft rule that would provide clarity, protecting streams and wetlands that connect to larger watersheds and protecting the quality of the water that we depend on for drinking, washing, swimming and fishing. Under the proposed rule many of the streams and wetlands that were historically covered under the Clean Water Act will again be covered. The proposed rule works within the more narrow definition of “waters of the United States” given by the two Supreme Court rulings and clarifies that under the Clean Water Act:

  • Most seasonal and rain-dependent streams are protected.
  • Wetlands near rivers and streams are protected.
  • Other types of waters that have more uncertain connections with downstream will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis to determine if their connection to overall water quality is significant. However, to provide more certainty, the proposal requests comment on options protecting similarly situated waters in certain geographic areas or adding to the categories of waters protected without case specific analysis.

In addition, the proposed rule preserves a number of exemptions to permit requirements for farming practices that have been developed over the 40-year history of the Clean Water Act to protect water quality.

 

Learn more

The EPA will be inviting the public to comment on the proposed rule over the coming months — if you’d like to learn more, go to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency page on the proposed rule.

This year’s Earth Day Sunday resource celebrates God’s gift of water and includes materials for use in worship as well as educational materials — use “Water, Holy Water” to plan an Earth Day service or other event in your congregation.

 

From Evangelical Lutheran Worship (page 71):

Holy God, holy and merciful, holy and mighty, you are the river of life, you are the everlasting wellspring, you are the fire of rebirth. Glory to you for oceans and lakes, for rivers and streams. Honor to you for cloud and rain, for dew and snow. Your waters are below us, around us, above us: our life is born in you. You are the fountain of resurrection … Satisfy all our thirst with your living water, Jesus Christ, our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

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Namibia: Cash Grants Help Provide Food Security During Drought

Megan Brandsrud

Namibia cash grantsNamibia is facing one of the worst droughts it has seen in more than 25 years. According to a report from the United Nations, 778,504 people do not have food security, and 169,000 children are at risk of malnutrition.

Certain areas of the country have experienced some rainfall and have started to plant fields, but it is too early to guarantee a secure harvest. Food stocks are depleted and market prices are extremely high for both food and seed.

This situation demands immediate action because people can’t wait for a bountiful harvest; they need food right now. Working with Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Lutheran Disaster Response has added $80,000 to our July 2013 disbursement of $150,000 for those impacted by the drought conditions.

The funds will be used to provide cash grants to 4,860 people living in four of the hardest hit communities in Namibia. The cash grants will help people cover their basic food needs during this transition period before harvest. Money paid out will be stored on a chip card that will be issued to the designated family member. Both male and female heads of households will be included in this distribution process. Unlike in-kind distribution of goods, these cash grants allow families to prioritize their spending based on their own needs, as not all households have the same needs even though they are affected by the same disaster.

Our global companion churches, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia will help with the implementation of the food security projects.

The drought has caused malnutrition, which has led to disease and death. Children are the most vulnerable to these effects. Thanks to your gifts, we are able to help provide where resources are needed most. We will continue to walk with our brothers and sisters in Namibia and pray for food security.

 

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Romans 8:35, 37

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Movie Review – Paycheck to Paycheck: The Life and Times of Katrina Gilbert (HBO)

Henry Martinez

“She flies with her own wings.” With these words, Katrina Gilbert translates her tattoo and sets the tone for the remaining 73 minutes of the documentary. Her story is one of many untold stories in America. As the movie states in the opening, 42 million women in America— one in three— are living in poverty or teetering on its brink. More than 15 million are mothers of children. Katrina is the mother of three children, separated from her husband of ten years with, in her words, “nothing to show for those ten years but three beautiful children.”

Katrina works full time as a Certified Nursing Assistant, earning $9.49/hr. As she ticks through a mental list of payments she needs to make, we get an idea of how quickly her paycheck is carved up and what little she has left after bills. There is a certain practicality and planning her situation demands as she manages her family’s finances. This takes shape as she considers financial matters and recreational options for her children, like not letting them play outside when it is wet and cold because she can’t afford to miss work (thus not get paid) if they get sick. Facing demands from work and family, the documentary shows Katrina as one who carries out her duties with tireless devotion. The movie clearly illustrates this comes with a price, and we see the toll it takes on Katrina’s health.

At times it seems the documentary wants to show her as a woman just trying to hold on. As a result, hope seems elusive. In one scene she learns that she’ll be receiving money back from a tax return and excitedly comments, “I can pay off my car!” She quickly names things she could put the money toward, and by the end of the list both excitement and money seem all but spent. There is another scene where her joy at being admitted to a local college is tempered by a rejection of her financial aid application. We keep waiting for something to go her way. We see someone to root for instead of someone to pity. And we want to root for her because she is doing it the way it “should” be done.

This isn’t a picture of someone who is struggling with her own bootstraps. It is a story of someone who firmly has them in hand and is still barely able to cope. As Katrina’s story unfolds, the directors emphasize (implicitly) the need for a more nuanced conversation about poverty, specifically one that doesn’t end with mere employment. Instead we are asked to consider the importance of access to education, quality and affordable childcare, medical care and a living wage. While the movie does not present a clear call to action, it presents a story that is decidedly – unfortunately – American.

Katrina’s story critiques the assumption that economic stability is within reach for most Americans if they simply work hard. The directors want us to see that her story is not merely an aberration in an otherwise reliable system, but that the system we have relied on for economic mobility is a failure. Rather than the exception, Katrina’s story is rapidly becoming the rule in an increasingly harsh economy.

Of course the extent to which the viewer identifies with Katrina Gilbert is subjective. If her story is just one of the one in three women in America, the chances are likely there are Katrina Gilberts in our congregations and communities. Our challenge is whether or not we see her story as one that is the backbone of our future and intrinsically connected to our own well-being. It is recognizing that economic vulnerability is a reality in our midst. As a result, people of faith will find this movie particularly useful if they are willing to explore what resources are within their midst not only to help people like Katrina weather the storms of their lives, but to put their energies toward seeking systemic change. It calls to mind the work the ELCA is doing to strive for gender justice and fair minimum wage standards.  The movie puts to rest the question of whether the systems of support in our communities are adequate, and leaves room for us to imagine how we might care for our neighbors who are weary from flying alone.

Availability: Currently the movie can only be streamed on HBO GO; you can also find more information about the movie, see a trailer and discussion guide from HBO.

Henry Martinez is Program Associate for Hunger Education with ELCA World Hunger.

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