ELCA Advocacy

ELCA Advocacy

Lutherans are taking action across the country! Below you will find our monthly State Advocacy Newsletter. Share with your friends!

———————————————

Washington, D.C.

Advocacy Director, Stacy Martin

www.elca.org/advocacy

LOGUM We are a church energized by lively engagement in our faith and life. Informed by our Lutheran heritage and theology, the ELCA works for change in public policy based on the experience of Lutheran ministries and programs in communities around the world. We work to create and influence public policies that embody the biblical values of peacemaking, hospitality to our neighbors, care for creation, and concern for our sisters and brothers facing poverty and struggling with hunger or disease. As we engage with our elected officials in Congress and the administration in 2015, we work with a focus on the following advocacy priorities:

Addressing root causes of poverty and injustice internationally. This year, ELCA Advocacy will work to pass the Food for Peace Act, the International Violence Against Women Act, and will address funding needs for humanitarian relief and promote peace in the Middle East. In 2015, we will improve the treatment of migrants in-transit and seek opportunities to address the root causes of migration in Central America by ensuring policies uphold human rights and dignity. “Our calling to love of neighbor obligates us to act to prevent wars and seek alternatives to them” (ELCA Social Statement, “For Peace in God’s World”).

Caring for all of God’s creation. We look forward to gathering support for a strong Endangered Species Act, working to protect water and air standards, and continuing to encourage a strong and proactive U.S. position in the negotiations for the Paris climate change agreement. “Made in the image of God, we believe that we are called to care for the earth as God cares for the earth” (ELCA Social Statement, “Caring for Creation”).

Standing with our communities facing poverty and struggling with hunger and disease. Advocacy will work to help end hunger by enhancing domestic programs, including reauthorizing the Child Nutrition and WIC Act, supporting older Americans, establishing a sufficient living wage, securing funding for low-income housing, caring for veterans, ensuring a fair tax policy, and reforming education systems. “Out of deep concern for those affected adversely by poverty, we find it a moral imperative to seek a sufficient, sustainable livelihood for all” (ELCA Social Statement, “Sufficient, Sustainable Livelihood for All”).

———————————————

New York, NY

Advocacy Director, Dennis Frado

At the United Nations: This past January, LOWC collaborated on various documentary screenings at the U.N. Church Center and in New York focusing on detention facilities throughout the United States. Students from the University of Maryland visited LOWC on Jan. 16 to learn about the U.N.’s structure and focal points for the work of our office.

Hunger Leadership Gathering: ELCA Advocacy staff from our New York and Washington offices also participated and collaborated with Global Mission and ELCA World Hunger to lead workshops about proposed U.N. sustainability goals and action through advocacy at the ELCA World Hunger Leadership Gathering in San Francisco.

———————————————

California

Mark Carlson, Lutheran Office of Public Policy- CA 

www.loppca.org

ELCA Hunger Leadership Gathering: The Lutheran Office of Public Policy – CA, as a participant in the Sierra Pacific Synod Hunger Team, helped welcome participants to the San Francisco area, including several advocacy colleagues. LOPP-CA Director Mark Carlson, in cooperation with ELCA World Hunger staff and Oakland congregations, helped initiate site visits and neighborhood walks in Oakland. We walked to the Remember Them monument, and returned to San Francisco past BART’s Fruitvale Station, the location of the Oscar Grant shooting. Later, ELCA Director of Domestic Policy John Johnson joined Mark in Sacramento for the annual MLK365 march, which drew an estimated 29,000 walkers.

Sustainable Development Goals and the U.N. 70th anniversary: Mark joined ELCA pastors and community representatives in an initial planning meeting for a Swedish church choir visit to California. A focus of the event will be celebration of progress made on the Millennium Development Goals and call to action on the new Sustainable Development Goals.

———————————————

Colorado

Peter Severson, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry – Colorado

www.lam-co.org

Families living in poverty: Lutheran Advocacy Ministry-Colorado Director Peter Severson testified before the Senate Health and Human Services Committee in support of a bill to allow child-support payments from non-custodial parents to “pass through” to the child in cases where the custodial family is also receiving benefits from the Colorado Works program (SB15-012). LAM-CO supports this change to allow children living in poverty to gain the benefit of child-support payments that are owed to them, overwhelmingly used for basic medical, educational and food expenses.

Affordable housing: LAM-CO is supporting a bill to use money from a surcharge increase on county documents for an affordable housing fund administered by the Colorado Housing Finance Authority (SB15-079).

Events: Lutheran Advocacy Ministry-Colorado will host its 2015 Faith Advocacy Day on Feb. 16 under the theme “Homelessness and Justice.” Register by clicking here. Director Peter Severson was present at the 2015 ELCA World Hunger Leadership Gathering in San Francisco to lift up the critical role of advocacy in the domestic work of ELCA World Hunger.

———————————————

Minnesota

Tammy Walhof, Lutheran Advocacy – Minnesota

tammy@lcppm.org

State Legislature: The Legislature is in full swing with new legislators and with quite a shake-up of several House committees bringing a new rural-urban divide. Perceptions are that rural legislators were left out of all major decisions, so the educational focus needs to emphasize Greater Minnesota. In addition to coalition efforts to educate legislators, Lutheran Advocacy-MN Director Tammy Walhof is working to bring Lutheran advocates up to speed.

Housing/homelessness: At a hearing last week, it became clear there is an effort by some legislators to direct new funding to higher income renters/owners. Lutheran voices focused on “the least of these” will be especially important in this context. In collaboration with Lutheran Social Services and Catholic Charities, Tammy met Republican Rep. Anna Wills of St. Paul. She agreed to be lead author of the House Homeless Youth Bill.

Clean energy and jobs campaign: Efforts are underway to secure lead authors. Lutheran Advocacy – Minnesota was a key player with other partners in planning Clean Energy Day at the Capitol on Feb. 2 at Christ Lutheran on Capitol Hill (location of Lutheran Advocacy – Minnesota).

Payday lending: We are building from previous efforts.

Upcoming advocacy days: Thursday, Feb. 19 – Lutheran Bishop/Legislator Breakfast and Lutheran Pastor’s Day for Advocacy Day; Tuesday, March 10 – Day on the Hill with Interfaith Partners (Joint Religious Legislative Coalition).

———————————————

Nevada

Rev. Mike Patterson, Lutheran Episcopal Advocacy Nevada https://leanforjustice.wordpress.com/

Legislative forum on MLK Day: Lutheran Episcopal Advocacy in Nevada held the first legislative forum event on the Martin Luther King holiday to learn about issues that will be coming up in the 2015 legislative session. James Hardesty, chief justice of the State Supreme Court, was the featured speaker. He gave credit to the faith community for its advocacy in past years for rehabilitation and re-entry programs, saying it has changed the culture at the Nevada Department of Corrections. Other speakers spoke about the needs of the hungry in our state, education, and the continued need to work for the rights of all minorities in Nevada.

Backpacks for a cause: Also on the holiday legislators joined in the “Backpack Challenge.” Legislators were allowed to pack school supplies for Title 1 schools in their respective districts. The challenge was designed to demonstrate to legislators that our schools need proper funding. Supplies came for donations by member churches and a special price break from an office supply company.

———————————————

New Mexico

Ruth Hoffman, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry – New Mexico

www.lutheranadvocacynm.org

Commitment to hunger: The legislative session is off to a rocky start as the Republicans took control of the state House of Representatives for the first time in over 60 years. The first week was taken up with reorganization of the House and the House standing committees. LAM-NM has been working to introduce our work to the many new House members.

Prayers for leaders: On opening day, LAM-NM Director Ruth Hoffman joined other faith leaders in offering prayers for the people of our state and for elected leaders to have the political will and courage to stand with our many neighbors living in poverty and hunger. Ruth was also invited to join faith leaders in an informal conversation with the Rev. James Forbes about the nature of and need for public witness.

———————————————

Pennsylvania

Amy Reumann, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in Pennsylvania

www.lutheranadvocacypa.org

ELCA World Hunger Leaders: LAMPa staff met in San Francisco, including a dinner with Pennsylvania hunger leaders (pictured), where six synods shared the effort in their part of the state and learned how we can collaborate, connecting our work, particularly around the churchwide Day of Service and Advocacy.

Education: LAMPa advocates called lawmakers for a statewide day of action on education funding. LAMPa voted as part of the Campaign for Fair Education Funding on a proposed formula as recommendation. LAMPa Associate Director Tracey DePasquale met with the incoming governor’s policy director to advocate for trauma-informed education and later traveled to Glade Run Lutheran Services to see work they are doing in education with victims of childhood trauma.

Immigration: Amy addressed an Immigration Forum at Trinity, New Holland, and Tracey met with a York County commissioner about funding for an immigration detainee visitation program.

Hunger: LAMPa staff met with leaders of Hunger-Free Lancaster County about the church’s leadership in hunger work. We met with the new chair of the House Housing and Urban Affairs Committee about expanding the state Housing Trust Fund. LAMPa is partnering with social ministry organizations in an access to benefits training in Philadelphia.

———————————————

Virginia

Marco Grimaldo, Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy

www.virginiainterfaithcenter.org

Little agreement in legislation: Virginia is in the middle of a 45 day legislative session and so far very little legislation has been agreed to. While there is an agreement in principle for the governor’s budget amendments to the biennial budget, the bills we support, including raising the minimum wage, making Virginia’s Earned Income Credit refundable, and a range of bills to offer protection from predatory lending and gun violence, have had a much more difficult time.

Day for All People: On Jan. 20, 2015, we hosted 250 advocates, including 90 leaders supporting just immigration policies, who visited with legislators as part of our Day for All People advocacy day. Many had previously met with their legislators prior to the session and now returned to stress their support for specific bills.

Synod-wide Childhood Hunger Task Force: Bishop Jim Mauney of the Virginia Synod has convened a Childhood Hunger Task Force, and we are supporting him in his work to call other faith leaders to address policies that will help hungry children. Bishop Mauney now serves on the Governor’s Commission to Close the Nutritional Divide. We were also pleased to recently work with Bishop Mauney on an article for the Richmond Times Dispatch’s editorial page.

———————————————

Washington

Paul Benz, Faith Action Network

www.fanwa.org

FAN-WA is busy in the third week of a 15-week legislative session. Here are some of the key issues we are working on this month:

Reducing wealth inequality: A Wage Theft package of four bills: wage recovery for employees, anti-retaliation protections, employee misclassification by the employer, triple damages/penalties for unscrupulous employers. A minimum wage bill would increase the minimum wage to $12 in four years.

Education for inmates: Lifting the state prohibition on the Department of Corrections to use public funds for post-secondary educational programming. Currently our state cannot educate inmates beyond a GED.

Immigration: Establish a “bright line” between federal immigration enforcement and local law agencies (county sheriffs and municipal police chiefs). The goal is to reduce federal detentions and deportations – called the Family Unity Act.

Building our networks: FAN is busy with legislative and advocacy forums in eastern and central Washington and the Capital. Our staff will be hosting guest sermons and educational forums at churches in Seattle, Pullman and Spokane, as well as at the ELCA Bishop’s Southwestern Washington Synod Convocation.

———————————————

Wisconsin

Cindy Crane, Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin

www.loppw.org

Bishops and LOPPW: At the beginning of this biennial budget season, all Wisconsin bishops and LOPPW sent a letter to the governor and to each state Senate and Assembly member.

Letter writing on prison reform: At the annual Epiphany Celebration at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Stevens Point, LOPPW gave a presentation and organized a letter-writing table (focus on prison reform for 17-year-old youth). Check out a great letter written by one of Redeemer’s high school students.

Human trafficking: LOPPW/Cherish All Children’s kickoff event for our Safe Harbor Campaign on Feb. 7 in Menomonie received Eau Claire television coverage. Our task force members, Robbie Joern and the Rev. Diane House (also LOPPW council member) were interviewed. Also, Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice, Wisconsin Council of Churches and Fierce Freedom are now sponsoring our March rally.

FoodShare and minimum wage: The director is in dialogue with members of the ELCA who work directly with FoodShare recipients who have lost benefits and is planning meetings with representatives to make the problems known and to share our concerns about further barriers placed in front of FoodShare recipients. We will also discuss a drafted bill on minimum wage.

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. – Genesis 2:15

In January, the Obama administration announced their plan with the Environmental Protection Agency to reduce methane gas emissions from the oil and gas sector over the next ten years. The plan will result in a 40-45 percent reduction in methane emissions, and a lot of people are excited about the plan.

That may leave you wondering: What’s so exciting about methane regulations? Below, some questions about methane and the plan put forth by the White House and the EPA are answered.

1. What is methane?

Methane is the primary component of natural gas, and is also considered to be a greenhouse gas. This means that methane warms the atmosphere when it is leaked into the air before use.

2. What’s so bad about it?

While methane only accounts for about 9 percent of the United States’ greenhouse gas emissions, it is far more dangerous than carbon dioxide. In fact, over a hundred-year period, when compared pound-for-pound, methane’s impact on climate change is twenty times worse than carbon dioxide.

3. Don’t methane emissions come from a lot of sources?

Yes, methane emissions come from a variety of sources, including landfills, coal mining, and even cow manure. However, the oil and gas industry is the largest contributor to methane emissions, with 29 percent coming from the industry according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The good news, though, is that there’s a lot that can be done to curb the emissions.

4. What does the plan call for?

There are a lot of components to the plan put forth by the White House and the EPA. The most important piece of the plan is its call to set new standards for methane emissions from new sources. While this piece of the plan has been criticized for only affecting new sources and not existing ones, it is still a sign of hope for change to come.

5. Why should I care?

As people of faith, we are called to care for creation. As we see in Genesis 2:15, God placed Adam in the garden to care for it. Although generations have passed since Adam’s creation, we are still called to do this work. Greenhouse gases have contributed to climate change, resulting in numerous problems like rising sea levels, extreme weather, and more frequent wildfires. The effects of climate change are most felt by vulnerable groups like children and low-income families, groups of people that we are called through faith to care for and defend. By reducing methane emissions, we answer the call to care for the earth and our communities.

This is just the beginning of the journey to reduce methane emissions. In the coming months, stay tuned for ways that you can help contribute to the conversation.

And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.”

(Revelation 21:5)

Nearly every Sunday, my suburban Virginia congregation prays for our government and its leaders. Maybe your congregation does something similar? This commonplace prayer for leadership has taken on new meaning for me recently because this year the United Nations will adopt a new set of Sustainable Development Goals. These goals will encourage member countries to make economic decisions that meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In addition, this December parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change will meet to adopt a new global agreement to reduce climate change emissions, again in the belief that present generations can meet our needs without compromising the well-being of future generations.

Both the Sustainable Development Goals and the new climate change agreement are about long-term planning; something that government leaders rarely have the space or time to do. These global discussions have the potential to change economic development paradigms by turning the world toward new sources of energy and to the task of building communities and nations that are more resilient to the growing impacts of our changing climate. But changes will only be possible if leaders act with wisdom and care for God’s creation and for our most vulnerable neighbors.

So these prayers for leadership I join each week have taken on a new urgency for me as 2015 begins. But even as I, and others, pray for global leaders to begin the hard and visionary work to shape our shared future along more sustainable lines, I also wonder if we are putting too much of the burden of planning for the future on our leaders and institutions. Are we forgetting that each of us has our own responsibility to consider the needs of our children and future generations?

As Christians we believe we are called to build Christ’s kingdom here on earth by living our lives as Christ taught us and caring for each other and for the earth. Strong leaders and institutions are necessary to build that new world but so is individual and community action. Each of us has a part to play – in our daily lives, in our congregations and in our communities – to make sure that the world we leave behind allows people and creation to live and thrive well into the future.

So this year, instead of my usual New Year’s resolution to save more or exercise more often or eat more vegetables, I’m thinking about resolutions that will help in our transformation to a more sustainable world. I’m looking at the things I already do, like using cloth grocery bags and drying my clothes on a clothesline in the warmer months, and vowing to do more. Will you join me?

Pledge to take action here (and you can also sign a petition asking our leaders to support global action on climate change).

Lutherans are taking action across the country! Below you will find our monthly State Advocacy Newsletter. Share with your friends!

Washington, D.C.

Advocacy Director, Stacy Martin

www.elca.org/advocacy

The 114^th Congress: From the Keystone XL Pipeline to healthcare and banking regulations, the first few weeks of the 114^th Congress will be packed with important votes. The ELCA Advocacy team in Washington, D.C., is working to build connections with new members of Congress and preparing for the upcoming legislative agenda on Capitol Hill. Be sure to follow our action alerts this year to stay up-to-date on these important issues!

Conclusion of UN Climate Change Conference in Lima, Peru

Mary Minette, ELCA Advocacy’s director of environmental policy, returned from the U.N. Conference on Climate Change in Lima, Peru, last month. Going in to the conference, the U.N. hoped to create a global treaty to help limit global warming to 3.6 degrees F above pre-industrial times – a necessary limit which would prevent further disasters and high humanitarian costs. An official treaty will be decided in 2015 in Paris, but due to the involvement of various lobbies, the plans in Lima were far from reaching the 3.6-degree goal. Minette reports that the most challenging concern facing world leaders is how much developing countries will be expected to invest in cutting their emissions. Additional international funding will likely be needed for these countries.

Lutheran response to police violence issues

Last month, Lutherans helped take action on police violence by encouraging the Senate to pass the Death in Custody Reporting Act. The successfully passed act will require law enforcement agencies to report all deaths of people held in police custody to the Department of Justice, serving to improve transparency and local accountability.

ELCA Advocacy also supported Lutherans in the Justice for All March in D.C. on Dec. 13. The march, organized by the Rev. Al Sharpton, protested police violence against men of color. Our office organized dozens of Lutherans, including passionate lay people, young seminarians, and ELCA pastors from D.C. and New York. Lutheran attendees held a small vigil at Luther Place Church before joining the march on the Capitol.

California

Mark Carlson, Lutheran Office of Public Policy- CA 

www.loppca.org

Hunger Leadership Gathering:

The Lutheran Office of Public Policy –California is looking forward to the ELCA Hunger Leadership Gathering Jan. 15-18 in the San Francisco Bay Area. Director Mark Carlson has been serving on the planning team and consulting on the Oakland congregation site visits (including, appropriately for the MLK Jr. weekend – a stop at Remember-Them, Champions of Humanity, pictured right). It is the largest bronze sculpture in the West, featuring several African American civil rights leaders and other champions from around the world, such as Mother Theresa and Oscar Schindler). Mark also confirmed for the Gathering advocacy training a former legislator, Ted Lempert, who is president of Children Now.

New legislative session: LOPP-CA arranged for the new president of the Pacific School of Religion, David Vásquez-Levy, to read a Scripture passage at the Jan. 13 interfaith service at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Sacramento. Vásquez-Levy is an ELCA pastor and immigrant-rights advocate relocating from Luther College and will commemorate the beginning of a new legislative session. Archbishop Gomez of Los Angeles will give the message. Mark is working to arrange meetings for David with legislators and advocates, and lunch with local clergy.

LOPP-CA is co-sponsoring the Women’s Policy Summit in Sacramento on Jan. 14, the Green California Summit and legislative reception on Jan. 22, and the California Women Lead reception for women legislators and statewide elected officials on Jan. 28, with co-hosts Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins and Minority Leader Kristen Olsen. LOPP-CA has confirmed state senator Hannah-Beth Jackson for the ecumenical conference on climate change Feb. 22-24 in Santa Barbara.

Colorado

Peter Severson, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry – Colorado

www.lam-co.org

Faith Advocacy Day 2015: The theme has been set for Lutheran Advocacy Ministry-Colorado’s Faith Advocacy Day 2015. Our focus will be “Homelessness and Justice.” Many dynamic speakers and presenters will be on hand to discuss what homelessness looks like in Colorado, how state government is involved in the issue, the role of affordable and permanent supportive housing, and how churches and people of faith can get involved in effective structural responses to the problem. The event will take place on Monday, Feb. 16, from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Bethany Lutheran Church, 4500 E. Hampden Ave. The cost is $30 regular, $20student/low-income. You can pre-register by contacting Peter Severson (pseverson@rmselca.org) with your name, e-mail and congregation/ministry name. Registration will go live next week on LAM-CO’s website. Join us and discover why faith and advocacy go hand-in-hand!

A new legislative session: The Colorado Legislature convened on Wednesday, Jan. 7. Lutheran Advocacy and many other groups were on hand for the opening-day ceremonies and the introduction of many of this session’s bills.

Illinois

Jennifer DeLeon, Lutehran Adovcacy – Illinois

www.lutheranadvocacy.org

Prisoner and Family Ministry: We ended the year with a road trip to Marion, Ill., to visit the Lutheran Social Services of Illinois Prisoner & Family Ministry program. The purpose of the trip was to strengthen the advocacy of our state office in partnership with LSSI and the ELCA’s racial justice ministry. We are connecting the dots on how to make the recent criminal justice social statement a living document. We saw a firsthand account of the great work LSSI is doing with job training and life skills coaching of returning citizens.

Our office shared with staff and program participants the state level advocacy we have been doing, and we created a process to involve them in becoming advocates on this issue. Judith Roberts shared with them the work of her office and the social statement. There are plans in the works to hold a series of workshops in 2015 for people to learn about the social statement, best practices in the field, and how to become advocates for criminal justice. You can learn more about the LSSI Prisoner & Family Ministry program here.

Minnesota

Tammy Walhof, Lutheran Advocacy – Minnesota

tammy@lcppm.org

In December, LA-MN focused on the final touches to the legislative agenda, final decisions with LSS regarding a Bishop Breakfast and Advocacy Day for Pastors, as well as finalizing the FY2015 budget with the Policy Council. (The 2015 legislative session started on Jan. 6). LA-MN Director Tammy Walhof also spent time in November and December working on grants to bolster the budget. LA-MN will be the recipient of a $5,000 grant and probably another for $3,000-$9,000.

Legislative issues:

Affordable housing ($39 million): Secure additional funding to expand a broad continuum of housing and homelessness services to help thousands have access to housing or maintain current housing.
Homeless Youth Act ($4 million increase): Secure additional funding to assist youth experiencing homelessness transition to successful adulthood.
Clean energy and jobs:
- 40 percent renewable energy by 2030 (to replace current renewable energy standard of 25 percent by 2025)
- 2 percent energy efficiency savings (compared to 1.5 percent currently)
- solar rural tax credits
Reform of payday lending

Upcoming advocacy days: LA-MN has a full schedule heading into 2015. Feb. 2 will be Clean Energy and Good Jobs Day at the Capitol, and on Feb. 19 LA-MN and LSS will co-host a bishop/legislator breakfast as well as an Advocacy Day for Pastors. March 10 will be a Day on the Hill with Interfaith Partners (Joint Religious Legislative Coalition).

New Jersey

Sara Lilja, Lutheran Office of Governmental Ministry, New Jersey

http://www.njsynod.org/

Earned sick days: We are currently in the midst of working toward passage of the state-wide earned sick days bill in the Assembly. The bill has passed the Assembly Labor and Budget committees and is awaiting a full floor vote. A2354 is a model earned-sick-days law that covers nearly all 1.2 million workers in the state who lack earned sick days. The majority of those who will benefit are low-wage workers earning less than $10 an hour.

The bill allows workers to use earned sick days to care for themselves as well as all immediate family members when sick and to use earned sick days to deal with, relocate or find safe accommodations due to circumstances resulting from being a victim of domestic or sexual violence. It includes the best components of earned-sick-days laws adopted around the nation, including the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and California, as well as the cities of San Francisco; San Diego; Portland, Ore.; Eugene, Ore.; Seattle; Washington, D.C.; New York City; and eight cities in New Jersey.

Food insecurity in New Jersey: LOGM participated in a press conference with leading legislators and faith leaders from around the state. Check out an article on the conference here.

New Mexico

Ruth Hoffman, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry – New Mexico

www.lutheranadvocacynm.org

Bishop Jim Gonia and LAM-NM Director Ruth Hoffman attended the New Mexico Conference of Churches annual judicatory leaders retreat in Albuquerque the first week of December. This is a gathering of the leaders of the New Mexico Conference of Churches member denominations, including Bishop Michael Vono of the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande and Archbishop Michael Sheehan of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe. The leaders agreed to send a letter to President Obama and the New Mexico congressional delegation urging that the women and children at the soon-to-be-closed Artesia detention facility be released and not transferred to another detention facility.

Pennsylvania

Amy Reumann, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in Pennsylvania

www.lutheranadvocacypa.org

The Pennsylvania General Assembly began a new session with swearing-in for lawmakers and new leadership in both Republican-controlled chambers on Jan. 6. Democratic Governor-elect Tom Wolf will be sworn in on Jan. 20. LAMPa has also worked with the statewide partners to prepare a policy paper, “Meeting Pennsylvania’s Hunger Challenge” for the Wolf transition team and is also preparing a policy paper on trauma-informed education.

Lower Susquehanna Synod’s Winterfest retreat: LAMPa staff led an interactive presentation to 430 high school youth and leaders the on the theme “Hungry.” The presentation invited attendees to look at the connections between poverty, education, housing and hunger. Youth were engaged in a social media, postcard and electronic letter advocacy campaign for the state housing trust fund. With the help of the synod hunger team, they built raised garden beds and Garden Soxx to be donated to community and school gardens in neighborhoods experiencing food insecurity. A non-Lutheran representative from the county’s health care community who attended the event declared, “THIS is what the church is supposed to look like!”

Poverty and trauma-informed education: In December, LAMPa also recruited and accompanied three Lutheran school leaders as they made brief remarks in support of trauma-informed education to a Basic Education Funding Commission hearing. LAMPa will collaborate with Glade Run Lutheran Services about intersection of their work and the new LAMPa issue agenda, and state-wide training in the Open Table accompaniment program.

Congregations: On Jan. 11, LAMPa will lead an adult forum on immigration at Trinity in New Holland and an advocacy presentation at Holy Trinity in Irwin, PA.

Virginia

Marco Grimaldo, Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy

www.virginiainterfaithcenter.org

State budget: Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy offered testimony before the House and Senate Appropriations and Finance committees during hearings held in five Virginia communities. Through our members and with our partners we emphasized the priority on strengthening families, creating opportunity and overcoming inequality. We specifically called on these budget decision-makers to expand Medicaid to reach more low-income Virginians and to make Virginia’s Earned Income Credit at least partially refundable.

Hunger: We have been meeting with a task force that Bishop Mauney has convened to address childhood hunger throughout the Virginia Synod, and in that context we have joined with Lutheran Family Services to meet with members of the governor’s staff about their interest in addressing hunger in Virginia. We facilitated a meeting with Bishop Mauney and First Lady Dorothy McAulife, who chairs the Governor’s Commission on Bridging the Nutritional Divide. Bishop Mauney now serves on that commission.

Immigration: We are ramping up our work with immigrant communities to help coordinate enrollment in the president’s new deferred-action program for immigrants. We hope to work with both synods in Virginia and have begun a conversation with Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service to help as well.

Finally, our Day for All People advocacy day at the Capitol will be Jan. 20 in Richmond; we are looking forward to a stronger than ever turn out that day!

Washington

Paul Benz, Faith Action Network

www.fanwa.org

Scroll Project: Faith Action Network (FAN) is working on its “Scroll Project” as a public statement for the need for revenue in our state budget to protect the most vulnerable and our environment, funding for education, as well as funding for a 21^st century transportation system. The genesis for this came from the December meeting of FAN’s Interfaith Leaders Council. A small group of religious leaders will unveil the scroll on the first day of session on the steps of the Capitol (Jan. 12). After the press conference, replicas of the scroll will be distributed to each office of our state Legislature (147 legislators).

ELCA engagement: In January, FAN will join the January Bishop’s Convocation. Additionally, an ELCA parish will be hosting the Spokane Legislative Conference. An article on the state’s budget, hunger and nutrition issues for this session will be in all three synod newsletters.

FAN’s four hunger and nutrition legislative Issues:

Farmer’s Market Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, Children and Seniors
Emergency Food Assistance Program (funding for state food banks)
State Food Assistance (funding for legal immigrant households living in poverty)
Breakfast After the Bell (funding to help implement breakfast for all school districts)

For more background information on these issues, see our Faith Action Network’s Legislative Agenda Fact Sheets, Anti-hunger and Nutrition Coalition, and Washington Food Coalition.

Wisconsin

Cindy Crane, Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin

www.loppw.org

The new Wisconsin legislative session began on Jan. 5. LOPPW will be working on a number of issues this year, including:

Safety net for people in poverty: LOPPW will address likely to be proposed barriers to be placed before FoodShare recipients and will support efforts to have Wisconsin receive federal dollars for BadgerCare.

Prison reform for youth: LOPPW’s director will be a main speaker and organizer of writing letters to legislators at an Epiphany celebration hosted by Redeemer Lutheran Church in Stevens Point. Advisory Council member the Rev. Annie Edison-Albright is organizing the event. We’ll address priorities of LOPPW with a focus on supporting a bill to have 17-year-old offenders of non-violent crimes be tried as juveniles.

Sex trafficking: LOPPW has launched a Safe Harbor Campaign to support trafficked youth. Advisory Council member the Rev. Diane House and Director Amy Hartman of Cherish All Children are taking major leadership with support of our task force organizing a three-hour conference in Menomonie in February. LOPPW’s director is taking the main leadership organizing a Safe Harbor Campaign rally in Madison in March. Assemblywoman Jill Billings has drafted a Safe Harbor bill and has included LOPPW’s director for requesting input before she presents it.

Other advocacy: LOPPW’s director continues to work with other faith groups to organize an Advocacy Day in April. The director will lead a workshop on Poverty, Homelessness, and Trafficking (with a focus on youth) at Grace Lutheran Church in Wisconsin Rapids in January. Please click here for more about upcoming events.

Mary Minette, ELCA Director for Environmental Education and Advocacy

“I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.”

–Romans 8:18-21

Late on December 14, the annual meeting of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) finally concluded; two full days after it was scheduled to end. The parties adopted a final document that will guide the negotiation of a new global climate change agreement over the next year, with final results next December in Paris. As the negotiators, delegates from environmental organizations, churches, businesses and other interested groups headed home, the assessments of the outcome began in the media, blogs, social networks, and in conversations amongst colleagues.

Many of the delegates returned to communities preparing for Christmas. I returned from Lima to a family and church community celebrating Advent with a children’s pageant (my son was a sheep) that told the story of the coming of the son of God to a world where misery reigned and hope was in short supply.

The world we live in today often lacks hope, and this season gives us a chance to reflect on the God’s gift of light and hope to humanity, and creation through Jesus Christ. The four weeks of Advent allow us to find hope in the midst of difficulty and despair, to look for the coming of the light in our dark world.

As a church engaged in the global discussion about climate change, our task during Advent and beyond is to tell the stories of those who are suffering and to point to solutions that will provide our world with hope and a chance for a more sustainable future. Following the People’s Climate March in New York this past September, many hoped that our leaders would note the interest and commitment of millions of people around the globe and find the courage and the will to act decisively to address climate change.

The results of Lima are not the decisive actions marchers demanded in New York, but they do not preclude a good outcome in Paris if countries can come to agreement on some significant issues over the next year. How and when will developing countries reduce their emissions? Will they be given financial and technical assistance to do so? What will be done about climate change impacts that are already happening, and can’t be adapted to? How much will developed countries pledge to do over the next decade to help developing countries adopt clean energy technologies and move away from polluting fossil fuels?

All of these questions can be answered. We can have an agreement that moves us towards a sustainable future if we continue to let our leaders know that action is critical, and that we will support them as they negotiate a strong climate deal for Paris.

As we look to the New Year, let us pray for an effective agreement and encourage our global leaders to address the critical questions left unanswered in Lima in a way that truly fulfills our collective call to care for our neighbors and for all of God’s creation.

Mary Minette, ELCA Director for Environmental Education and Advocacy

photo 3 (2)

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”

-Nelson Mandela

It’s midway through the final week at the 20th conference of the parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Lima, Peru. With a limited amount of time left, it seems impossible that parties will agree on a framework for a new global climate change agreement which will need to be finalized next year in Paris. Countries are very far apart on some key points: will the agreement be a legally binding treaty or something less stringent? What issues will the new agreement cover? Will adaptation to climate change and the related issue of “loss and damage” (impacts that can’t be adapted to) be accorded as much attention as the all-important issue of emissions reductions? Will there be sufficient funding to help the least developed nations adapt and adopt low carbon technologies needed to sustainably develop their economies and reduce poverty?

One of the most contentious issues is whether the “firewall” between developed and developing countries will continue to allow countries like China, Brazil and India to shoulder fewer emission responsibilities. The firewall has stood since the beginning of the UNFCCC convention in 1992, and places much of the emission reduction responsibility on historically large emitters such as the U.S. and European Union. In the original UNFCCC document, large historic emitters of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases were listed as “Annex I” nations in the convention, and were designated to take on greater responsibilities for reducing emissions. Under the Kyoto protocol, for example, Annex I countries agreed to mandatory emissions reductions as part of their ratification of the treaty, while non-Annex I countries were only asked to make pledges for voluntary reductions.

In the years since the UNFCCC first took effect, China, a non-Annex I country, has surpassed the United States as the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases (although the U.S. still emits the most per capita). India is now the third largest emitter. Although both of these countries still have significant levels of poverty, it is hard to see how they can take on less responsibility for reducing emissions if we hope to stabilize global temperatures and stay within the 2 degrees Celsius limit required to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

Currently, in the draft document that the UNFCCC Co-Chairs have proposed to govern negotiations over the next year, there are two versions of the introduction. One version calls for emissions reductions to be guided by the “provisions and principles” of the UNFCCC (including Annex I), and the other refers to “evolving responsibilities and capabilities.” This issue may not be resolved by the end of this week, but if we hope to see a global agreement to tackle climate change by the end of next year in Paris, the impossible will need to become possible.

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”

-Nelson Mandela

Currently, in the draft document that the
UNFCCC Co-Chairs have proposed to govern negotiations over the next year, there are
two versions of the introduction. One version calls for emissions
reductions to be guided by the “provisions and principles” of the
UNFCCC (including Annex I), and the other refers to “evolving
responsibilities and capabilities.” This issue may not be resolved
by the end of this week, but if we hope to see a global agreement to tackle
climate change by the end of next year in Paris, the impossible will need to
become possible.

This week, Congress prepares to pass a bill to fund the government. ELCA Advocacy is working to support funding proposals and legislation focused on justice and love for our neighbor. Together with you, we strive to create room for practical solutions, open respectful bipartisan dialogues, fulfill our Biblical values, and avoid scenarios which foster a government shutdown.

Appropriation legislators recently released a $1.1 trillion spending agreement on Fiscal Year 2015. This proposal would fund all of the government, with the exception of the Department of Homeland Security, until September 2015. As legislators work to pass the new budget before December 11, the ELCA remains focused on issues that affect our faith communities and neighbors:

Nutrition: The ELCA has long advocated for food security and access for all. As part of our call to speak for a just society and love for our neighbor, we are pleased to see Congress is isupporting funding that provides supplemental food and nutrition education to new mothers in the WIC program. After facing intense threats of cutbacks, we are also pleased that work requirements for the SNAP nutrition program were not tightened. However, we are concerned by the implications of a policy rider which would give schools a one year waiver to bypass nutritional meal requirements. Nutrition standards in schools affect children’s health, their educational achievement and economic security. As a church called to strive for justice, we will continue to advocate in 2015 for policies that care for the health and nutrition of all our brothers and sisters, including the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act..

Environment: In 2014, ELCA Advocacy joined Lutherans in the People’s Climate March in New York and advocated for policies that care for God’s creation. We are deeply concerned by funding cuts that will significantly reduce EPA agency staff to the lowest number since the 1980s and will ban contributions to the international Green Climate Fund for one year. In 2015, we will continue to push for policies that care for the earth, our neighbors and all of God’s creation. After contentious debates, Senate appropriators succeeded on limiting large cuts to the EPA’s environmental programs, including language for the new proposal on Power Plant Carbon Emissions, which ELCA Advocacy championed over the summer.

Abortion: Appropriation bills maintained nearly all pro-life policy riders, with the exception of a rape and incest exception added to the Peace Corps program. Additional funding was provided to abstinence education. New language was also added which will make the Affordable Care Act disclose abortion coverage.

International Affairs: ELCA Advocacy welcomes the addition of $2.5 billion in emergency funding to help address the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. However, this amount is less than the $6.18 billion needed for immediate needs, as requested by President Obama. Through Lutheran Disaster Response and other partnerships, the ELCA has worked to provide over $100,000 to containing and addressing the Ebola crisis. We will continue to work with Congress and the Administration to ensure that more funding resources are available to help address the Ebola emergency. In the Middle East, Jordan will receive $1 billion to help the country with hosting Syrian refugees and fighting the extremist group calling itself The Islamic State.

Immigration: This summer, ELCA Advocacy took action to support the rights of all migrants– including children and families, and ensure that they are treated with dignity and compassion. We are happy to see Congress acknowledge the need for a holistic approach to the influx of migrant children and families seeking refuge in the United States. Proposed funding levels will help finance agencies that take care of children, and help the State Department address the root causes of migration. We look forward to continue our work in 2015 with the Administration, Congress, and partner organizations to ensure that the programs and policies supported by these funds acknowledge the humanity in all of God’s children and concentrate in effectively supporting those who are vulnerable.

Money in Politics: Among the other policy riders, a surprise piece of legislation affecting money in politics is stirring new controversy. As it stands, the proposal would increase an individual’s maximum campaign contributions from $64,800 to nearly $1.6 million. If the wealthiest can continue to overwhelm the voices of ordinary Americans, we not only cease to be a democracy, but also silence the most marginalized members of our communities who cannot afford to make large campaign contributions. This year, hundreds of Lutheran advocates voiced their concerns on the overwhelming increase of money and special interests in politics to the Senate. As advocates who work to empower all voices, we will continue to challenge social systems which weaken our democracy.

To take action, sign up for ELCA Advocacy Action Alerts (e-Advocacy Network) by visiting: www.ELCA.org/advocacy

Stay up to date on ELCA Advocacy by following us on social media!

Facebook: ELCA Advocacy Twitter: @ELCAadvocacy

ELCA Advocacy

Lutherans are taking action across the country! Below you will find our monthy State Advocacy Newsletter. Share with your friends!

———————————————

Washington, D.C.

Advocacy Director, Stacy Martin

www.elca.org/advocacy

Seeking Justice and Reconciliation in this season of Advent: This month, ELCA Advocacy released two statements expressing our sympathies for the families of Michael Brown and Eric Garner and our grief for our failures to address racism. As a Church, we look to reaffirm our commitment to the hard work of racial justice and reconciliation. Drawing from the biblical witness to God’s rich forms of love and justice for all humanity, the ELCA is compelled by a “holy yearning” to take action and address the need for reforms in policies and practices in the criminal justice system.

The ABLE Act: On Wednesday, December 3, the ELCA Advocacy office urged followers to support the ABLE Act, which passed in the US House of Representatives by a 404-17 vote. The ABLE Act would allow people with disabilities to set up savings accounts for housing, transportation, educational opportunities, and other expenses without jeopardizing their eligibility for Medicaid and Social Security benefits. ELCA Advocacy continues to urge support for this legislation as it moves through the Senate later this month.

Executive action on immigration: President Obama announced historic action late November aimed to stabilize the lives of millions of migrants living in the United States. ELCA Advocacy welcomed the announcement with the firm hope that actions taken by the president do not inhibit the ability of our elected officials to fulfill their call to work across the aisles toward shared values and common ground.

The new Congress: Following Election Day, the number of Lutherans in Congress grew—from 23 members to 28. ELCA Advocacy looks forward to connecting with our new Lutheran public officials and continuing advocacy with the new Republican majority in the Senate. In the lame-duck session, Director of Advocacy Stacy Martin and faith partners visited several congressional leadership offices and head appropriation legislators to discuss budget priorities and prospects in 114^th Congress. Visits included meetings with both sides of the aisle, including the office of Speaker John Boehner, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and Dem. Leader Nancy Pelosi.

A message of thanks to Uruguay for opening its doors to Guantanamo detainees: ELCA Advocacy and Lutherans throughout the country give thanks to the country of Uruguay for “welcoming the stranger” by opening its doors to six Guantanamo Bay detainees who, after 12 years of imprisonment without charge, were finally resettled as refugees in Uruguay. Click here to read our message of thanks to Uruguay.

News from the UN Climate Change Conference in Lima, Peru: ELCA Director for Environmental Advocacy, Mary Minette, traveled to Lima as part of a delegation from the ACT Alliance and updated us from the UN Climate Change Conference. This meeting is expected to end with world leaders agreeing to a framework for a global agreement to address climate change. The faith community’s goals for the framework include a strong commitment from parties to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions and address the needs of vulnerable people who are already suffering the impacts of climate change.

———————————————

California

Mark Carlson, Lutheran Office of Public Policy- CA 

www.loppca.org

A New Legislative Session: The 2015-2016 session of the California Legislature began Dec. 1, with new members comprising over one-quarter of the 120-member body. Bills getting attention from LOPP-CA for early analysis and possible support include a raise in the minimum wage to $13, expansion of preschool to serve all children from low-income families, eligibility for Covered California (health insurance exchange/Obamacare) regardless of immigration status, and post-2020 greenhouse gas reduction goals. LOPP-CA is part of California Delivers (on its carbon reduction goals), which will be opposing new legislation to stop the Jan. 1 scheduled inclusion of gasoline and diesel fuel in the existing the cap-and-trade program, which has already generated over $700 million for reinvestment in pollution-impacted disadvantaged communities, transit, clean-fuels, etc.

Embracing the Executive Order on Immigration: On the Monday before a Friday attack on the Mexican Consulate and other targets in Austin, TX, by a right-wing extremist linked to the white supremacist Phineas Priesthood, LOPP-CA Director Mark Carlson and Sacramento Conference Dean Rev. Jason Bense participated in a press event at the Sacramento Mexican Consulate supporting President Obama’s executive order on immigration. Consul General Carlos González Gutiérrez listed specific actions that the consulate will take to support the process, and warned against scam artists seeking to exploit this opportunity for families to come out of the shadows. LOPP-CA shared the ELCA Conference of Bishops’ statement, the LIRS response to the Order, and a compelling story of congregational assistance for undocumented families in a mountain resort community.

———————————————

Colorado

Peter Severson, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry – Colorado

www.lam-co.org

This month, the Policy Committee of Lutheran Advocacy Ministry-Colorado met to discuss and approve the LAM-CO Policy Agenda for 2015. The agenda is focused on hunger, poverty reduction, and affordable housing. Among the agenda items is supporting an increase to the state minimum wage, which is currently set at $8.00/hour for 2014. The rate is below the self-sufficiency standard for one adult in Colorado, and well below the standard for one adult with a preschool-age child. Other items on the agenda include: improving access rates for SNAP and TANF benefits and adding incentives to the Colorado Housing Investment Trust Fund to encourage developers to build more affordable housing.

In November, LAM-CO hosted an adult forum at Our Savior’s in Greeley and also visited the campus ministry at University of Northern Colorado. Director Peter Severson preached at the Thanksgiving service for the Prairie Parish, a collection of five congregations on the eastern high plains, held at Eben Ezer Lutheran Care Center in Brush. Peter was also present with colleagues at the national ELCA State Public Policy Office convening in Baltimore.

LAM-CO recently hosted Rep. Dominick Moreno of HD-32, the district encompassing our neighborhood, in a meeting at the Rocky Mountain Synod office. Peter Severson, Bishop Jim Gonia, and other synod staff joined Dominick for a discussion of issues facing the neighborhood and insights into the upcoming legislative session. Rep. Moreno will serve as Assistant Majority Leader in the Colorado House of Representatives for the upcoming session, which begins January 7, 2015.

———————————————

Illinois

Jennifer DeLeon, Lutehran Adovcacy – Illinois

www.lutheranadvocacy.org

Savings Program: We are happy to report that last week one of the bills we have been working on was approved by the Illinois General Assembly; SB2758 will give millions of private sector workers in our state the opportunity to save their own money for retirement by expanding access to employment-based retirement savings accounts. More than 2.5 million workers do not have access to a retirement savings account through their employer, according to a report from the Woodstock Institute. The report found lack of access is most serious for low-wage workers, of whom 60 percent lack access, but even for workers making $40,000 or more, 49 percent do not have access to an employment-based retirement savings plan.

Immigration: We have joined the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Right’s “IL is Ready Campaign” to educate and prepare the immigrant community on the administrative relief for undocumented immigrants. Our first information workshop was held this Sunday at Sagrado Corazon Lutheran church in Waukegan. Thank you to Pastor Hector Carrasquillo Director of Latino Ministries for the invitation. To request an information workshop contact Jennifer.deleon@lssi.org to receive updates and learn more about Il is ready sign up here!

———————————————

Minnesota

Tammy Walhof, Lutheran Advocacy – Minnesota

tammy@lcppm.org

EPA Clean Power Plant Plan: Lutheran Advocacy: Minnesota collected “photo messages” for the EPA and the Minnesota senators in support of the EPA Clean Power Plant Plan. Some of the people participating agreed to allow their photos to be used for media. Some of those photos, with street addresses removed, are available here!

Clean Energy & Jobs Campaign: Given significant changes in the MN House of Representatives following the election, campaign members, including LA-MN, are trying to rework the message points for the Renewable Energy Standard and Energy Efficiency Standard to make them more rural, ag, and small business-focused.

Homes for All Coalition: As part of the Community Engagement Team, LA-MN is involved with some of the other partners in developing some creative tools around which groups & churches can organize and educate. LA-MN Director, Tammy Walhof, and others on the team originally tried to remake a game like Monopoly or Life, but those ideas were dropped upon learning of challenges that groups in other states had with copyright issues. The focus is now leaning toward the development/rewrite of a song & music video.

Payday Lending: Many groups that are part of the Fairness in Lending Coalition, including LA-MN, sent a letter to Minnesota’s U.S. senators encouraging action at the federal level on Payday Lending. The coalition plans to continue the legislative effort in Minnesota. LA-MN will continue to have it as a second tier issue.

———————————————

New Jersey

Sara Lilja, Lutheran Office of Governmental Ministry, New Jersey

http://www.njsynod.org/

Lutheran Office of Governmental Ministry co-sponsors the Anti-Poverty Summit in New Jersey. Legislatures from both parties, clergy, non-profit organizations and leading policy experts attended a sold out conference on Dec. 4^th that was themed, “Changing Attitudes, Changing Laws, Changing Lives.” Rev. Sara Lilja led a standing room only workshop entitled “Community Conversations”, this session was a skill building opportunity that focused on shaping Public Opinion as the beginning place for Advocacy.

Criminal Justice Reform: A bill has just been filed in the Senate (S2588) that would limit the use of Solitary Confinement in New Jersey’s State and Country Jails. LOGM will be working with other coalition partners to have this bill enacted into law.

Earned Sick Days: LOGM is participating in a statewide campaign that will provide Earned Sick Days for all New Jersey Workers. This legislation has passed in 7 municipalities, and now is moving on to the entire State. We will be speaking at a Press Conference this week.

———————————————

New Mexico

Ruth Hoffman, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry – New Mexico

www.lutheranadvocacynm.org

In early November, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry-NM hosted our annual advocacy conference at St. Timothy’s Lutheran Church in Albuquerque. Almost 100 advocates from around New Mexico attended. A number of Lutherans traveled over 600 miles round trip to participate, coming from Las Cruces and from Alamogordo. All of the current volunteers from the Border Servant Corps, a border ministry of Peace Lutheran Church in Las Cruces, attended. Pr. David Vásquez, currently a campus pastor at Luther College and upcoming president of Pacific School of Religion, was the featured speaker and lead participants in two bible study sessions relating to faith and immigration. Breakout session topics included hunger in NM, the importance of early childhood education, local immigration issues and the 2015 LAM-NM Advocacy Agenda. The conference was attended by many of our ecumenical and interfaith partners, including Presbyterians, Methodists, Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, Unitarians and others.

LAM-NM director, Ruth Hoffman has been busy attending interim legislative committees as they work toward the 2015 legislative session. The committees are preparing legislation for consideration during the session. Ruth testified at the most recent meeting of the Economic & Rural Development Committee about the Individual Development Accounts program and need for increased funding for that low-income matched savings account program.

———————————————

Pennsylvania

Amy Reumann, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in Pennsylvania

www.lutheranadvocacypa.org

Access to healthy, affordable food and fair education funding will be top issues for Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in Pennsylvania next year. LAMPa’s policy council and 7 bishops spent a day in early December prayerfully discussing concerns in their communities before adopting an agenda for 2015. The work will be carried out in a capital with divided government following November’s election that saw the nation’s only defeat of an incumbent governor, replacing Republican Tom Corbett with Democrat Tom Wolf. The election also grew Republican margins in the legislature and raised new leadership in both the House and Senate.

Environment: LAMPa launched its creation care work group with a statewide conference call that included Mary Minette from the D.C. advocacy office, sharing areas of interest in state environmental issues, with clean water being identified as a primary concern.

Immigration: Following President Obama’s announcement on immigration relief, LAMPa connected our synods and interested congregations with partner organizations looking for sites to provide information and assistance to immigrants who might be eligible.

Service: Lutherans might expect to be approached by housing advocates to connect on the ELCA “Day of Service” in September. The Center for Community Change recently spotlighted the connection between service and advocacy on the Pennsylvania housing trust fund on God’s work. Our Hands. Sunday. The network urged its members to reach out to Lutherans to add our voices to the work of our hands on behalf of our neighbors struggling with shelter. Read the article here.

———————————————

Virginia

Marco Grimaldo, Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy

www.virginiainterfaithcenter.org

The Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy is working on several bills and policy changes to implementation of SNAP in Virginia. We are working to get a minimum wage bill introduced that would take Virginia up to $10.10 per hour over three years and a bill to make Virginia’s Earned Income Credit at least partially refundable. We are also part of a coalition effort to change the income test for who can qualify for SNAP benefits.

We met this week with faith leaders that are part of the Virginia Council of Churches and the Virginia Interfaith Center who together welcomed First Lady Dorothy McAuliffe to talk about her new role chairing a commission named, “Bridging the Nutritional Divide,” that will help address hunger in Virginia. She announced her push for a pilot program for Breakfast in the Classroom programs in Virginia. Finally, we met with Lutherans from various parts of Virginia as part of Bishop Mauney’s Childhood Hunger Task Force and that work is now underway.

———————————————

Washington

Paul Benz, Faith Action Network

www.fanwa.org

Policy Updates: Faith Action Network’s (FAN) governing board approved our 2015 legislative agenda. Our five “policy buckets” are: Reducing Wealth Inequality (FAN’s lead issue), Forging a Sustainable Biennial Budget, Dismantling the Culture of Violence, Protecting Housing & Preventing Homelessness, and Sustaining Washington’s Environment

Advocacy Days: FAN will once again sponsor three advocacy days during our legislative session:

January 31^st in Spokane, with the theme “Raising Prophetic Voices: Faith Communities Advocate for Justice”
February 7^th in Yakima, held at the Unitarian church
February 19^th in Olympia (our main event at the state capital), with the theme “Act on the Dream: Invest in the Common Good”

Annual Dinner (Nov. 16^th): FAN’s annual dinner, Acting on the Dream: The Movement Continues, was a wonderful event where we filled over 40 tables with faith advocates and labor and community allies. One of the tables hosted ELCA Bishop Kirby Unti, DEM Rev. Jerry Buss, and ELCA DC office’s John Johnson. We exceeded what we raised last year. You can view video clips from the event, including the inspiring keynote speech by travel expert and activist Rick Steves (ELCA—Trinity-Lynwood, WA). Photos from the event are on our Facebook page.

———————————————

Wisconsin

Cindy Crane, Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin

www.loppw.org

Poverty Summit: 20 ELCA adults and youth gathered in Marinette for an inter-generational poverty summit focused on youth. In the photo is LOPPW Council Member Eric Larson, who helped to plan and lead the event, and State Representative John Nygren, who shared his journey struggling with his daughter’s heroin addiction and moving from his personal experience to advocating for public policies. LSS Case Manager Mary Busick from Escanaba, MI tied together local youth homelessness, drug addiction and trafficking. LOPPW included an hour of advocacy exercise. Feedback confirmed that it would be worthwhile to repeat the summit in other locations.

BadgerCare: LOPPW’s director attended a meeting with partners to discuss next steps for encouraging the Wisconsin legislature to receive federal funding for BadgerCare. 73% of the people who voted in the 20 counties with the referendum said Yes to take the federal dollars.

Prison Reform for Youth: LOPPW’s director and Council Member Rev. Jay McDivitt met with Senator Jerry Petrowski’s legislative aid to encourage the senator to again present a bill supporting 17 year old offenders of non-violent crimes to be tried as juveniles.

Anti-Sex Trafficking: The director made contact with three anti-trafficking groups to help determine statewide coalitions in place and discussed building a campaign with Tia.

Education: LOPPW’s director met with colleagues from around the country in Baltimore deepening our efforts of working together as a team.

Other Advocacy: Council Member Rev. Sue Schneider is explaining advocacy to middle school youth in Madison at Confirmation Extravaganza.

ELCA Director of Environmental Advocacy, Mary Minette

On the eve of the first day of COP20, the UN climate talks in Lima, a Vigil for the Climate was held near the Pentagonito where the UN talks are to be held. Christiana Figueres, the head of the UNFCCC and Manuel Pulgar-Vidal the Peruvian Minister for the Environment and President of the UN meeting, spoke to the crowd and a symbolic lighting of candles began the celebration that marks the end of one year of monthly fasting by religious and environmental groups around the world in the Fast for the Climate.

In December 2015, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will meet in Paris to discuss and launch a new international climate agreement. Last week and this week, leaders from around the world gather in Lima, Peru for the last high-level round of negotiations before Paris discussions. Representatives from faith traditions around the world, environmental groups, youth, business representatives, and labor unions are also present in Lima and are working together to ensure that the framework for the new agreement reflects their priorities.

I write today from Lima, where I am representing the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) as part of a delegation from the ACT Alliance– a faith-based global relief and development network. The increasing involvement of people of faith in the UNFCCC meetings each December, as well as the massive presence of people of all faiths at the People’s Climate March in New York this past September, reflects our common concern about the future of the world that we believe God created and calls us to tend. This shared sense of stewardship leads us to be concerned by the changes that all of us can observe, changes that scientists tell us are the result of human-caused climate change. Another common element shared by numerous faith traditions is concern for our neighbors, and particularly for the most vulnerable—children, the elderly, those who live in poverty. We see that climate impacts such as more severe storms, long term drought, flooding and sea level rise are falling hardest on these vulnerable populations.

This meeting in Lima is expected to end with parties agreeing to a basic framework for the new climate agreement which would take effect in 2020. Faith goals for the framework include a strong commitment from parties not only to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions but also to address the needs of vulnerable people who are already suffering the impacts of climate change in the new agreement. Building climate resilience for vulnerable communities, particularly in least developed nations, is a key point for the faith community. This will require that countries with means commit to financial and technical assistance for low carbon development, adaptation to climate change, and climate impacts that can’t be adapted to, such as sea level rise that leads to permanent loss of lands.

Indigenous participants sit in a plenary hall of COP20. The UN climate talks began on Dec 1st in Lima Peru, billed as the most important meeting in the history of the world, mechanisms for reducing climate change are being negotiated. The Fast for the Climate movement, with participation of environmental and faith-based groups such as the Lutheran World Federation, is reminding diplomats of the real dangers of climate change and urging them to take immediate action.

Before the end of the meeting in Lima, we expect that parties will announce a process for countries to come forward over the next year with their emissions reductions pledges for the new agreement. This action must come with a process to evaluate these pledges for adequacy and long term impact. Some countries have already announced the basic outlines of their pledges. The U.S. made an initial pledge of future action several weeks ago when President Obama announced the terms of a bilateral agreement with China. This agreement will reduce U.S. emissions 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025, with China agreeing that its emissions would “peak” by 2030.

Finally, faith communities are looking for significant financial commitments from the U.S. and other developed countries, together with pledges from other parties with means, to fund both low carbon development and climate resilience, particularly in the least developed countries. The recent U.S. pledge of $3 billion over 4 years to the Green Climate Fund is a step in the right direction. Other countries are also slowly announcing their pledges and we hope for more to come.

At the end of the first week, many participants and observers expressed a sense of hope for the process, and a draft text released early Monday morning showed progress on some key points. Significant issues still are unresolved, but as people of faith we agree: this meeting in Lima must set us on the path to a strong, equitable and fair international agreement that will help us to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, for the sake of our children and future generations and for all of God’s creation.

ELCA State Advocacy Update: February 2015

A Lutheran’s Guide to Methane Regulations

Living Earth Reflections: Resolved

ELCA State Advocacy Update: January 2015

Living Earth Reflections: December 2014

Breaking down the firewall

Breaking down the firewall

Advocacy Summary of FY15 Spending Package

ELCA State Advocacy Update: December 2014

From Lima, Peru: The faith community stands ready for a real commitment to addressing climate change