People of Faith United for Justice is a day-long gathering to learn, discuss, pray and take action on justice issues such as prison reform, public transit, affordable housing, transitional jobs, and more. We gather at Bethel Lutheran Church in Madison for plenary sessions and lunch, followed by a march to the capitol and meetings with legislators.
Treatment Alternatives and Diversion Funding, the focus for 11x15, is one of the issues this day. Funding for transportation is another.
Our state legislature will soon take up the budget for the next biennium. The budget is where the rubber meets the road. Without funding to support programs, all we have is talk. Currently, ESTHER is focusing on securing adequate funding in two areas. Will you join us in advocating in support of these budget priorities?
Public Transit
Transit is important in our community to get people to jobs, medical appointments, school, shopping, community events, and more. The Wisconsin Transportation Finance and Policy Commission has recommended investing an additional $36.3 million annually over ten years to strengthen public transit in our state [click to read the report]. We support this recommendation.
We also call for restoration of transit funds cut from the state budget during the 2010-11 biennium. Restoring this 10% cut would bring the state's public transportation budget back to the 2009-10 level. Without the restoration, communities in the Fox Valley and throughout the state will begin feeling the effects in July of this year.
Prison Reform
Treatment Alternative Diversion (TAD) programs have proven their value and their cost-effectiveness in Wisconsin and around the country. Following the recommendation of the recent Health Impact Assessment (read more at prayforjusticeinwi.org), we are calling for $75 million to be appropriated for these programs.
Results of the Health Impact Assessment indicate that such an investment would reduce costs, reduce crime, increase recovery from addictions and mental illness, strengthen families, and improve economic opportunity. Prison is about four times more costly than TAD programs such as alcohol, drug, and mental health treatment courts.
Join us at Madison Action Day [click to learn more] on March 14 to help show your support for these prioritries.
President Obama has pledged to work for immigration reform, including a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, and the results of the last elections have convinced most Republicans that some reform is needed. Even so, the outcome is far from assured.
The administration has implemented some of the proposals of the Dream Act and has recently announced a policy change that will allow undocumented immigrants who are married to citizens to avoid having to return to their home countries to apply for visas as spouses of citizens.
Locally, to provide more information in the Fox Valley about immigrants’ experiences, ESTHER has been tapped to finish developing and test a Latino Simulation (similar in concept to a poverty simulation). The potential value of such a resource grew out of investigations by ThedaCare's Community Health Action Team (CHAT), which held an Immigration Plunge during the fall of 2011. CHAT then developed the concept of the simulation and sponsored its initial development. Nan Gutierrez has been named project leader and will be working with ESTHER’s Immigration Task Force to complete the project in the next few months.
The Wisconsin League of Women Voters has endorsed a central aim of WISDOM’s 11X15 campaign—increased use of alternatives to incarceration for non-violent offenders. In a memo sent to LWV leaders state-wide on March 8, Executive Director Andrea Kaminski asks League members to contact their state Senators and Assembly Representatives to urge expansion of Treatment Alternatives and Diversion funding, instead of increased funding for jails and prisons.
More than 900 People of Faith United for Justice from all around Wisconsin – including 80 from the ESTHER – traveled to Madison on March 14 to bear witness to the importance of social justice and to ask our legislators to support 1) funding for treatment instead of prison (11x15); 2) public transit; and 3) accepting federal funds to expand Medicare.
Want to learn how to make a big difference in your community? Not sure where to start? Be part of this impactful and effective 2-day leadership training.
When: 5:00-9:00 PM on Friday, May 3rd and 8:30 AM-3:00 PM on Saturday, May 4th
Where: First Congregational UCC; 724 E South River St, Appleton
Cost: $25 (includes Friday dinner, Saturday breakfast and lunch)
ESTHER’s immigration task force has been calling for several years for immigration policy that is consistent with our faith values, keeps families together, provides a pathway to citizenship for immigrants already here, and expands legal avenues for workers to enter the U.S. Now that an immigration reform bill has been introduced in the Senate, it’s time to get behind the effort to pass it and then to implement it in a humane way. Humane immigration reform has many enemies, and this is no time for us to be complacent.
Disappointed ESTHER and Sikh leaders after an attempt to meet with Menasha Mayor Don Merkes
September 17, 2013
The City of Menasha has assessed property taxes on the Fox Cities Sikh Temple on Midway Road. As a community of faith, the Temple is exempt from property taxes.
ESTHER and leaders of the Sikh community have been working quietly together for more than a year to persuade the City of Menasha that the taxes were imposed in error, and to have them rolled back. So far, the city has not found a way to rectify its error. Just today, the mayor refused to attend a meeting on the matter that had been confirmed as recently as last Friday.
Property taxes were levied on the Sikh Temple in error, and the City of Menasha is responsible for the error. The city can take action to fix it.
Please call Menasha Mayor Don Merkes's office right away (920-967-3600) to ask that this issue be resolved promptly and fairly.
We who seek to express our faith values in political action understand that the state budget is a moral document. It determines how our shared resources are used. Our state budget's priorities testify clearly to our collective commitment to our values.
Do we believe that we ought to provide every citizen with opportunities for a decent life?
Do we believe that our criminal justice system ought to be humane and try to rehabilitate?
Do we believe that our communities should not exclude people because they are poor or handicapped?
The Joint Finance Committee hearings have been announced. They receive testimony towards the pending State Budget. WISDOM and its affiliates (like ESTHER) always have a strong presence at such events. We’ll be lining up people to make statements as well as people to stand in support.
Please mark your calendar for the hearing near you! Talking points and more detail will follow.
These are the hearing dates and locations of Joint Finance Committee hearings:>
March 18 at Brillion High School. Brillion is between Lake Michigan and Lake Winnebago in Calumet County
March 20 at Alverno College in Milwaukee
March 23 at the University of Wisconsin-Barron County. Located in Rice Lake, 60 miles north of Eau Claire
March 26 at Reedsburg High School. Reedsburg is just west of Baraboo
The hearings are scheduled to run from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. but could vary slightly according to each venue's availability.
Join WISDOM in our work for justice across Wisconsin!
People of Faith United for Justice is a day-long gathering to learn, discuss, pray and take action on justice issues such as prison reform, public transit, affordable housing, transitional jobs, and more. We gather at Bethel Lutheran Church in Madison for plenary sessions and lunch, followed by a march to the capitol and meetings with legislators.
Our state legislature will soon take up the budget for the next biennium. The budget is where the rubber meets the road. Without funding to support programs, all we have is talk. Currently, ESTHER is focusing on securing adequate funding in two areas. Will you join us in advocating in support of these budget priorities?
President Obama has pledged to work for immigration reform, including a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, and the results of the last elections have convinced most Republicans that some reform is needed. Even so, the outcome is far from assured.
More than 900 People of Faith United for Justice from all around Wisconsin – including 80 from the ESTHER – traveled to Madison on March 14 to bear witness to the importance of social justice and to ask our legislators to support 1) funding for treatment instead of prison (11x15); 2) public transit; and 3) accepting federal funds to expand Medicare.
ESTHER’s immigration task force has been calling for several years for immigration policy that is consistent with our faith values, keeps families together, provides a pathway to citizenship for immigrants already here, and expands legal avenues for workers to enter the U.S. Now that an immigration reform bill has been introduced in the Senate, it’s time to get behind the effort to pass it and then to implement it in a humane way. Humane immigration reform has many enemies, and this is no time for us to be complacent.
Disappointed ESTHER and Sikh leaders after an attempt to meet with Menasha Mayor Don Merkes
