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"Election 2008" is topic of Social Justice Council Workshop on April 26 The Social Justice Council Workshop "Democracy as
a Religious Principle: UU Values in the 2008 Election" is sure to be a
popular session at the St. Lawrence District Assembly, Binghamton/Owego,
April 25-26, 2008. The workshop program includes:
April 29 is LGBT Equality & Justice Day in Albany -- Join us! More than a thousand New Yorkers are expected to attend a Noon rally on Tuesday, April 29, to support marriage equality for same-sex couples, safety in schools for LGBT youth, and non-discrimination protection for the transgendered. With the support of the Governor and the state Assembly plus a key election coming in the fall, could this be the year to finally achieve equality & justice for LGBT New Yorkers??? Make your voice heard. The rally is supported by Interfaith Impact and over 60 other organizations. MORE>
St. Lawrence District UUSC Regional Coordinator Our UUSC Regional Coordinator is Jack Maniloff (First Unitarian, Rochester). He is available to assist congregations with UUSC programs and advocacy efforts, to live our UU values. He can be contacted at jkmf@mail.rochester.edu
UUSC's "JustWorks" Camps serve many ages & needs ustWorks camps are short-term projects that help volunteers examine and understand the causes and damaging effects of injustice. Participants work directly with people in the communities they serve, experiencing social justice struggles firsthand. human rights in the United States and around the world. 2008 JustWorks Camps: New Orleans Alternative Spring Break Camp
(youth 14-18), Legislative Action Day (youth up to 18) UUA General Assembly (youth and young
adults) Freedom Summer 2008: A Civil Rights JourneyF
(intergenerational 14+) Water Justice Camp (ages 18-25) For more information and an application form, please visit www.uusc.org/info/workcamps.html or e-mail justworks@uusc.org . Also, visit www.uusc.org for updates, camp and application information (including scholarships), and video and news stories from last year's camps.
Advocacy briefing and training on Sunday, May 18th The annual IINYS Legislative Advocacy Day will be held this year on Monday, May 19, 2008. If you already have an April date written in, please change it. Usually, we hold our Advocacy Day on the last Monday in April, but this is a leap year on the Jewish calendar. That made the date for Passover later this year. The Legislature changed their session calendar accordingly, and so has IINYS. May is a very active month in the Legislature. It will be an important time to make our values heard loud and clear. Reform Jewish Voice of NYS will co-host the event again this year. And once again, we will have a Legislative Briefing and Advocacy Training with dinner the afternoon before, for those who can be there on Sunday afternoon, May 18, 2008, at the First Lutheran Church in Albany. For this briefing, we have a great line-up of speakers to cover our top issues: GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender) rights, the Governor's Reproductive Health and Privacy Protection Act, and Universal Health Care. There will also be an advocacy training session with practice interviews. With the help of State Senator Neil Breslin, we have reserved Room 711A in the Legislative Office Building in Albany for Monday, May 19th. This large room holds up to 100 people and is right in the middle of all the legislative offices. That gives you a place to leave your coats, eat, and network with likeminded folks from across the state. Breakfast and lunch will be available in the room, and it will be our staging area for visits to legislators and staff throughout the day. IINYS and RJV staff and volunteers will make the appointments in advance with legislators and legislative staff. You will get a final schedule and folder of materials when you arrive in Rm. 711A. Last year, more than 70 persons took part, including members of the clergy from across the state, and we anticipate more this year. We encourage young people to join us, and will offer a special reduced rate for students. A registration form will be available soon, along with parking instructions, position papers, palm cards that provide summary positions, a roster of speakers, flyers, and other materials. Information will be up on our website, www.interfaithimpactnys.org. Please note that we have a new bulletin board feature on our website this year that you can use to organize carpools, ask questions, make comments, discuss issues, and so on. We are encouraging the use of this new feature. The more people who use it, the more useful it will become. Look for more information and a registration form in mid-March. Meanwhile, Save Those Dates! Briefing--Sunday afternoon, May 18th; Advocacy Day Monday, May 19th. Please let your congregation members know, and pass the dates on to your local interfaith organizations. Robb Smith, Executive Director, Interfaith Impact of NYS 646 State St., Albany, NY 12203 - 518-441-3231
ACTION ALERT: Don't Reinstate the Death Penalty This forwarded message is urgent. Please take a moment to get in touch with your State Senator and let them know that you do not want them to vote to reinstate the death penalty in New York State. And - if you have a bit more time, please also let Senators Dale Volker and Martin Goldin (sponsors of the bills) know you do not support this legislation. Thanks. Demi McGuire, NYS Episcopal Public Policy Network,nyseppn@aol.com 518 339-5040
FAIR PAY ACT: Sample letter From the League of Women Voters of New York
State - lwvny@lwvny.org "I am writing to urge you to vote in favor of a motion to petition the New York State Fair Pay Act (S.3936) which Senator Craig Johnson has introduced and that will be voted on April 15, 2008. A positive majority vote on this motion will enable the bill finally to get out of the Labor Committee and to be considered by the full Senate membership. As you probably know, The New York State Fair Pay Act, if enacted, will amend the State Labor Law to ensure that employers pay job titles, where women and people of color predominate, wages that are comparable to those paid to other job titles evaluated to require equivalent skill and responsibility levels. Traditionally, job titles disproportionately held by women and people of color have been undervalued and have been paid less than comparable jobs with the same level of skill and responsibility. The tenets of the Fair Pay Act embody the notion that all employees should be fully and fairly paid for the work required by their job titles. I strongly urge you to support the passage of the New York State Fair Pay Act by first supporting the motion to petition and then by voting for its passage when it comes to the floor. Pay equity is an important social/economic justice issue that provides employees with protections against wage discrimination. It deserves bi-partisan support in both legislative houses. Thank you very much for your attention to this matter. I hope that I can count on your support of S.3936 during the 2008 Legislative session."
Advocates Call on Lawmakers to Increase Welfare Benefits (Albany, N.Y.) AP - Under the state's basic welfare grant, a family of three receives $291 a month, and advocates say that's insufficient. Welfare recipients and advocates joined Assembly Social Services Committee Chairman Keith Wright in Albany Tuesday to call on lawmakers to increase the basic welfare grant, which hasn't changed in 18 years. They'd like to see the basic benefit increased to $475 a month for a family of three. That amount doesn't include the shelter allowance, which varies by county. Wright says the Assembly will include an increase in welfare benefits when it passes its budget resolutions. Senate Democrats have introduced legislation that would increase the basic grant by 25 percent. Mark Hansen, a spokesman for the Senate's majority Republicans, couldn't say yet whether that bill has a chance of being passed this year because they're still in the process of putting together their own budget resolutions.
Environmental Advocates of New York: Legislative Priorities For details, see their website www.eany.org. Bigger Better Bottle Bill (A. 8044/S. 5856 & S. 3434): This bill would amend New York's Environmental Conservation Law 27-1003(1) and the State Finance Law to expand and update the definition of "beverage" in the State Returnable Container Act (the bottle bill) to include non-carbonated drinks other than milk and liquor, and to direct the unclaimed deposit money derived from that program to the Environmental Protection Fund. Climate Change Solutions Program Act & Fund (A.7365, A.7366/S. 5347, S. 5371): These companion pieces of legislation would ensure that the proceeds from any sale of emissions allowances (CO2 or NOx) are invested in energy efficiency, renewable energy programs, and programs that improve air quality. State Green Building Construction Act (A.2005-B/S.5442-A – Not Same As): This bill would require that construction of all new state buildings, and the substantial renovation of existing buildings, comply with the energy consumption and resource use standards as established by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) in consultation with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and other relevant state agencies. New York State Lighting Efficiency & Toxics Reduction Act (A.8641-B/S.6124 – Not Same As): This legislation would require the DEC to set electrical energy consumption reduction targets related to lighting and would also require the DEC Commissioner to establish a schedule of minimum energy efficiency standards for lighting in New York State. Net Metering (A.8690-A): This bill would make solar eligible technologies for net metering and would expand the size of all eligible net-metered systems from their current limits to no more than 2,000 kilowatts. New York currently has the most restrictive net metering policy in the Northeast. The bill would also make the state's businesses eligible to take advantage of net metering, thus encouraging the use of clean, renewable energy. S.6507-A Wright is not currently active in the 2008 session. Environmental Access to Justice Act (A.1435/S.5182): This bill restores the original legislative intent of the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), by allowing individuals or groups to challenge a SEQRA decision if they can demonstrate that they will suffer injury from the environmental impact of a proposed project, without having to show that the harm they will suffer is different from that suffered by the public at large. Wetlands Protections (A.7133/S.3835): This bill would amend the state's Environmental Conservation Law to provide the DEC with regulatory authority over New York's freshwater wetlands of one acre or more, regardless of whether that wetland has been mapped by the DEC. Great Lakes Compact (A. 7266-B/S.4324-B): The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact will ratify New York's participation in a multi-state agreement on the management of Great Lakes water to protect water levels in the Lakes and their tributaries, require New York to establish water conservation measures, prohibit the transfer of Great Lakes water outside of the Basin, and protect New York's right to set stronger management standards.
Human Needs Programs Take A Hit in President's Budget from The Human Needs Report from the Coalition on Human Needs: February 15, 2008 President Bush's FY 2009 budget proposal, released on February 4, is replete with upside-down priorities. For the seventh year in a row, the President proposes making harmful cuts to domestic appropriations while at the same time extending tax cuts for the wealthy. At a time when the economy is sinking and Americans are struggling, the President fails to provide adequate funding for health care, job training, education, housing and other critical programs. For a more detailed and brief analysis of the President's budget see: http://www.chn.org/pdf/2008/chn09PresBudgetPiece.pdf Congress must now adopt its own FY 2009 budget resolution. The deadline for doing so is April 15. However, this year Members of Congress have set a goal to complete the budget resolution a month early, by March 14, before they adjourn for spring recess. Their budget resolution is likely to articulate a different set of priorities than the President's. Advocates are making the case that funding cuts made to human needs programs must be restored and progress made.
Congress Finalizes Economic Stimulus Package After the Senate fell one vote short of the 60 needed to add provisions to the House-passed bill - including extended weeks of Unemployment Insurance (UI), providing low-income heating assistance, and adding energy-related tax breaks - Congress agreed to an economic stimulus package that followed the contours of the House bill. (See: http://www.chn.org/humanneeds/08020la.htm/ ) The Senate was able to make one positive change to the final bill by adding to those eligible for the onetime tax rebates seniors, disabled veterans and survivors of disabled veterans. People in those groups receiving $3,000 last year from Social Security or veteran's disability benefits may qualify. On February 7, the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, H.R. 5140, passed the Senate 81-16 and the House several hours later, 380-34. The President has signed the bill into law. The estimated cost of the bill in 2008 is $152 billion. Part of the cost will be recovered later when deferred business taxes are collected. Democrats who tend to believe that the economy will worsen have indicated that they would be open to a second stimulus bill that contained some of their priorities, including an extension of unemployment insurance benefits beyond the usual 26 weeks, low-income heating assistance, and aid to revenue-strapped states to help cover the cost of Medicaid, prevent other cuts in state services, and/or make improvements to infrastructure. The Administration is signaling opposition to these measures. Advocates were bitterly disappointed that measures such as extended unemployment benefits and a temporary increase in food stamps were not included in the stimulus bill. Both would be especially helpful to low-income people and were judged by economists to be among the most effective options to get money into the economy quickly. Stimulus rebate checks of up to $600 for individuals and $1,200 for couples plus $300 for each chi ld under 17 will be sent beginning in May. Those earning at least $3,000 a year, who pay payroll taxes but do not have an income tax liability, as well as the seniors, veterans, and survivors of veterans added by the Senate will receive smaller rebates of $300 for individuals and $600 for couples plus $300 for each child. Rebates will only be issued to persons with a valid Social Security Number on their tax return. Workers who have been issued Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers by the Internal Revenue Service will not be eligible.
More Access to Education Possible Under TANF Final Rule The Bush Administration published final regulations for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TAN F) on February 5. These are rules to implement changes in law enacted by Congress in 2006, as interpreted by the Administration. Among the law's changes was more authority to the federal Department of Health and Human Services to define allowable work activities. (In the past, states were allowed to set their own definitions.) When first proposed, the HHS rules were extremely restrictive, limiting the ability of states to establish workable education and training programs or to provide special work plans for people with disabilities. Responding to some of the many comments about these new rules, the final regulations make it somewhat easier to provide education and training, but do not change the constraints on work activities for people with disabilities. The final rule allows states to count education leading to a baccalaureate or higher degree as vocational education, reversing a restriction in the previous draft. States are also allowed to count unsupervised homework time towards the required hours of work participation. In the initial draft, homework time would only count if performed in a supervised setting like a study hall. Many had objected that such a requirement would impose more child care costs, state administrative burdens, and unnecessary additional pressures on parents juggling work, education, and care-giving responsibilities. The new regulations loosen some restrictions on counting English as a Second Language training within vocational programs. HHS rejected comments asking it to allow special work plans for people with disabilities that might reduce the hours of participation to accommodate the person's special needs. The final rules also bar states from counting activities that remove barriers to work as work experience or community service, categories some states had used to permit adults receiving TANF to engage in certain treatments or therapies, for example. These barrier-removing activities will only be permissible for a limited number of weeks under the final rule. For an analysis of the final rule, see "Summary of TANF Final Rule," Elizabeth Lower-Basch, Center for Law and Social Policy, available at http://www.clasp.org/publications/summarv of tanf final rule.pdf. For the text of the final rule, see: http://www.chn.org/pdf/2008/TANFfinalruleFeb5.pdf
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