April 29 Action Items
1. Register for Lobby Day
We will gather virtually with Lutherans from around the state for our second annual advocacy day. Our advocacy will focus on COVID-19 relief for California’s most impacted communities. Following a morning briefing, you will be scheduled for a virtual meeting with your California legislators.
Prior to Lobby Day, we will host two advocacy training webinars on Wednesday, May 6 at 12pm and 6pm PDT.
For more information, click here.
Lutheran Lobby Day
Wednesday May 20, 2020
9:00am – 2:15pm
2. Use Community Development Block Grant Funds for Rental Assistance
Contact your California Senators and Assemblymembers (call, email, tag on social media) and urge them to use CDBG funds from the CARES Act to provide rental assistance.
Sample script: Hello. My name is ___. I live in ___, CA. I am calling to ask Representative/Senator ___ to use Community Development Block Grant funds from the CARES Act to provide rental assistance to impacted renters. This ensures that families can remain stably housed during and after the COVID-19 crisis. This is important because:
- Renters need immediate relief, as they have lower income and savings to weather economic crisis
- This is a necessary complement to Gov. Newsom’s moratorium on evictions, which still obligates people to pay rent for months they’ve missed
- Rental assistance allows money that people do have to go back into local economies
- It also supports rental owners in operating and maintaining properties
Rental assistance must continue until the economy improves. The provisions will not only help families stay housed during this crisis, but will also help to stimulate local economies.Thank you for your time.Goodbye.
3. Farmworker Justice in California
You can sign on to this letter to Governor Newsom and Jennifer Siebel Newsom highlighting the challenges California’s farmworkers are facing during COVID and recommendations to address them. The letter was prepared by Líderes Campesinas, a network of female farmworkers and their families working globally since the 1980s.
