Newsletter

Lots going on!! The world needs a lot of healing, home and abroad. Here’s a few items to move the healing along…

2010 Legislative Goals are now approved by the JRLC Sponsors. You can review it here. These goals form the basis for our advocacy this coming legislative session, especially for Day on the Hill, which will be held March 25. Register now.

Practicing Justice, Living Faith: Connecting Spiritual Life with Social Action

When: Thursday February 11, 2010 - 7:00 PM
What: An interfaith panel discussion among young adult leaders and activists in Minnesota
Where: Sateren Auditorium in the Foss, Lobeck and Miles Center, Augsburg College (625 22nd Ave. South, Minneapolis, MN 55454)

JRLC and the New Fire Movement are hosting this event to highlight the great work being done in Minnesota for social justice by young adults. This multifaith panel will discuss the connection between one's faith and working for social justice; how different faith communities approach positive social change; the variations in different traditions' approaches to justice; and each panelists' work for positive change in their communities. This event is co-sponsored by Minnesota Council of Churches and Augsburg College Campus Ministries.

Precinct Caucuses: We encourage everyone to attend precinct caucuses! The major political parties are convening caucuses Tuesday evening, February 2. The Secretary of State's website can help you find your caucus, and JRLC has three sample resolutions you might want to introduce that help move our legislative goals forward.

Rally and Action to save GAMC

WHEN: Thursday, February 4, 2010, 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM
WHO: YOU, and hundreds of others who want to protect the poor and vulnerable
WHERE: The Minnesota State Capitol, St. Paul

In a matter of weeks, 35,000 Minnesotans will lose necessary health coverage with the elimination of General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) UNLESS WE ACT. The 2010 session of the Minnesota legislature begins on February 4th and concerned Minnesotans will rally at the Capitol to protect the poorest and sickest Minnesotans - those who rely on GAMC for their health care coverage. Join with people throughout the state to call for justice, and to connect with your legislators to encourage them to Save GAMC!

Event on Impartial Courts: Citizens League Mind Opener:

WHEN: Impartial Courts, Monday, February 1 Doors open 5:30 p.m. | Program 6:00 - 7:00 p.m.
WHERE: Macalester College, Weyerhauser Hall Board Room, 62 Macalester Street, St. Paul

Admission: $5 members, $10 nonmembers. Light appetizers provided. Register here. Featuring: Justice G. Barry Anderson, Associate Supreme Court Justice and Leo Brisbois, president, Minnesota State Bar Association. Our current system of electing judges puts the impartiality of the courts at risk. Minnesota has avoided high priced campaigns thus far, but Wisconsin had a judicial election costing $6.2 million in 2007. We can't wait for this type of big money campaign to come to Minnesota. As part of the Coalition for Impartial Justice, we are seeking to pass a ballot initiative at the upcoming session of the MN Legislature to give voters the opportunity in November 2010 to vote for a new approach to judicial elections that would minimize the opportunity for expensive, negative campaigns to elect judges.

This issue became even more urgent due to last week’s U.S. Supreme Court decision to allow corporate funding of campaigns. Note well this excerpt from Justice Stevens’ dissenting opinion: The consequences of today’s holding will not be limited to the legislative or executive context. The majority of the States select their judges through popular elections. At a time when concerns about the conduct of judicial elections have reached a fever pitch, see, e.g., O’Connor, Justice for Sale, Wall St. Journal, Nov. 15, 2007, p. A25; Brief for Justice at Stake et al. as Amici Curiae 2, the Court today unleashes the floodgates of corporate and union general treasury spending in these races.

A Benefit for Haiti: This is beyond our usual scope (but so is the tragedy) so we want to plug an event being organized this Saturday by our friend Cheryl Morgan-Spencer and Community Action of Minneapolis:

WHAT: A Benefit for Haiti, Saturday, January 30th, 2010
WHERE: International Market Square, 275 Market Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55405
WHEN: Social Hour 6:30 pm until 7:30 pm
Program 7:30 pm until 8:15 pm
Music/Dancing 8:30 pm until 11:30 pm

Admission is $ 20.00 per person. This is an Adult venue. There will be a Cash Bar. Entertainment will be provided by the Twin Cities' own Maxx Band. Complimentary hors d'oeuvres will be served. FFI, call Cheryl at 612-767-1713.

February 2 | Speaking of Faith Live at the Humphrey Institute The Humphrey Institute will host a live taping of American Public Media’s Speaking of Faith at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, February 2, in Cowles Auditorium at the Humphrey Center. The program is hosted by Krista Tippets and will feature Robert Wright, author of The Evolution of God. Professor Michael Barnett will moderate the post-discussion question-and-answer session with the audience. The program is supported by a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation and will be followed by a reception in the Humphrey Center atrium. Because the taping will start live at 7 p.m., please plan to be there at least 15 minutes early. E-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to register.

Organize to end the GAMC crisis! Pressure is building upon the Minnesota Legislature to find a fix to the recent unallotment of the General Assistance Medical Care program. Want to help? Attend one of the many community meetings being organized around the state, and plan a group to come to the rally at the capitol of the first day of session, February 4, from 11:30 am – 1:00 pm. Finally, don’t forget to pray for those in need of decent health care. Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more information.

February 11 | Young Adults in Social Justice at the Sateren Auditorium, Augsburg College. JRLC and the New Fire Movement are hosting an event to highlight the great work being done in Minnesota for social justice by young adults. A multifaith panel will discuss the connection between one's faith and working for social justice, how different faith communities approach positive social change, the variations in different traditions' approaches to justice, and each panelists' work for positive change in their communities. Reception with food and live music will follow.

Who Shoulders the Payment of Taxes? The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy released its report: A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All 50 States. This interesting report goes further than recent JRLC research because it includes the federal tax benefit for households paying Minnesota income taxes. http://www.itepnet.org/whopays.htm

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Winona seeks Parish Social Ministry Coordinator. Work with parish leaders and community organizations in six southwest Minnesota counties (Worthington Deanery) to build capacity for works of justice and service. Experience and education in Catholic social teaching, advocacy and justice work preferred, but will train the right person. Bilingual in Spanish/English preferred to better serve the changing demographics of our diocese. Competitive salary, excellent benefit package, flexible work environment. Evening and occasional weekend work required. For full job description, go to www.ccwinona.org or call 507-459-5556.

On Wednesday state officials announced the size of the state's budget deficit. It's back again and even worse than a year ago, before last session's round of cuts and unallotments. Now we are projected to be $1.2 billion short on June 30, 2011 and a whopping $5.4 billion short on June 30, 2013. The main change is the fall-off in revenues, not spending increases. And the biggest fall-off is in the income tax because of very high unemployment and th reckless rate reductions passed in the early part of this decade. To get a sense of how we would have to scale state government to match lower revenues, see this blog entry on our website. Every passing day makes it more difficult to bridge the gap between projected revenues and expenses. Question: isn't solving the deficit, addressing the jobs shortage, and fixing the looming health care cuts reason enough for a special session? In 1987 Minnesota held a special session just to help Dayton-Hudson Corporation...

Save General Assistance Medical Care! This Monday December 7 join with Minnesotans across the state and call your State Legislators and urge them to save General Assistance Medical Care. Let them know you're willing to pay increased taxes in order to ensure coverage for homeless, disabled, and vulnerable neighbors and to save lives! We have you listed in district 61A. To find your members' contact info, call 651-296-0171 or use this district finder. An economic downturn is not the time to pull the plug on this critical care program. Here is a statewide list of events you can attend to help save General Assistance Medical Care.

JRLC is in the process of approving a new issue paper on poverty called, "No Poor Among You..." Wednesday, the Minnesota Catholic Conference approved the paper at their board meeting. The Islamic Center of Minnesota and the Jewish Community Relations Council gave approval at their November meetings and the Minnesota Council of Churches reviews the paper next week. The paper embraces the work and recommendations of the Legislative Commission to End Poverty in Minnesota by 2020.

The Minnesota House Jobs Task Force had its third meeting this week. JRLC executive director Brian Rusche testified at the hearing and you can review JRLC's written testimony to the task force. We are calling for an Emergency Jobs Act using wage subsidies, bonding bill strategies, and unemployment insurance as ways to spur employment and hasten economic recovery.

One more thing. We are getting ready to mail our year-end fundraising letter. If you donate online we will save paper and postage! Thank you! You can also give to our affiliate, Joint Religious Education and Research Fund through GiveMN.org.

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GAMC Health Care Disaster Still Imminent
Earlier this month JRLC sent a letter to Commissioner Ludeman of the MN Department of Human Services pleading for action on what we called the looming 35K Disaster — the ending of health care coverage for 35,000 very poor, homeless, and disabled folks this coming March 1st (see JRLC Blog). A few days ago the administration announced that they would automatically move enrollees of General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) into Transitional MinnesotaCare. Unfortunately, this plan delays the loss of coverage for thousands of vulnerable Minnesotans by only a matter of months. It also fails to solve the significant and expensive long-term problems that were created by the governor’s line-item veto of General Assistance Medical Care. Find out why here. This Wednesday November 18 at 3:30pm there is a gathering at Hennepin County Medical Center to protest the GAMC cuts...more details on JRLC home page.

2010 Census
Every 1 Counts in Minnesota! We are working with our good friends at the Minnesota Participation Project to make sure that Minnesota has the best possible count this coming Spring. Millions of dollars of federal funding are at stake as well as one of Minnesota's seats in Congress. Three important things for the faith community:

1. Local census jobs are available!
2. Congregations should consider forming a Complete Count committee or becoming a Questionnaire Assistance Center. Questionnaire Assistance Centers operate from February through April and are staffed either by a Census Bureau employee, or you can elect to have your own staff person hired upon completion of a test and training. Self-nominations are due ASAP to  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , U.S. Census Bureau Partnership Specialist; 651-707-4765. More resources here.
3. Congregations can help Minnesota get a better count of our snowbirds and other part-year residents by distributing this helpful handout. Non-counting of snowbirds really hurts Minnesota!

Give to the Max Day starts Tuesday 8:00 am, runs for 24 hours
You've probably heard about Give to the Max Day on Tuesday Nov. 17th. We've set things up so JRLC's non-profit research and education fund can receive gifts through GiveMN.org. All contributions will be matched, on a pro rata basis, when you donate on Give to the Max Day through GiveMN.org!  100% of your donation goes to the Joint Religious Education and Research Fund; no admin fees.

• Safe and secure online donation using your Visa, MasterCard, or American Express credit cards
• Minimum contribution is $10, there is no maximum. 
• Donations are tax-deductible as allowed by law. 
• Matching gift offer valid for 24 hours during "Give to the Max Day" from 8:00 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 17, to 8:00 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18.

"Give to the Max Day" is a marketing campaign designed by GiveMN.org, a nonprofit organization serving all nonprofits in Minnesota by making it easy and free to receive donations online. Matching funds and transaction fees are covered by GiveMN.org's community partners and the match amount will depend on total donations made through GiveMN.org on "Give to the Max Day." For more information on GiveMN.org, please click here.

Congratulations to Rev. Peg Chemberlin
Minnesota Council of Churches executive director and JRLC board member, Rev. Peg Chemberlin, was elected president of the National Council of Churches last Thursday. She is devoting much of her national leadership activities to ending poverty. We are thrilled! Read MinnPost story here.

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