Published: March 13, 2020
On behalf of all of us here at Friends Committee on Legislation of California (FCLCA) and the FCL Education Fund – board and staff – we would like to thank you for your support as we begin our 68th year of lobbying and bringing your voice to the state Capitol. Your activism, involvement, and contributions through Meetings, fundraisers and individual giving really made a difference. Because of you, last year we were able to successfully co-sponsor sentencing reform, play an important role in the campaign to end child poverty, organize interfaith support of environmental and social justice legislation, and weigh in on over 100 bills. But the policy making process in California moves on, and the new year of the Legislature, year two of the 2019-2020 session, has begun.
What’s on the agenda as we begin this new year? Landmark bills to curb plastic pollution are still on the table, and FCLCA will again be organizing multi-faith support. We are still very active in the campaign to end child poverty, supporting both budget asks and bills to expand the California Earned Income Tax Credit to immigrant taxpayers, and to expand childcare and paid family leave. Our state budget is a statement of our values as Californians as well as a financial plan, and we’ll be actively engaged in the budget decision-making process that takes place until mid-June. We’ll also be weighing in on criminal justice reform bills and developing our recommendations on the many crucial ballot initiatives we expect to see this year. And we’re
providing coordination to the California Interfaith Coalition, which brings together Catholic, Muslim, Protestant, Lutheran, Jewish, and Quaker statewide advocacy organizations to collaborate on issues of mutual concern.
One of our goals this year to increase support for activists in our circle both through online action alerts and through in-district visits. If you are interested in meeting with your state legislators or helping to coordinate a team, please let your FCLCA General Committee representative know or contact Kevan Insko, co-director, directly at kevan-AT-fclca-DOT-org.
from Jim Lindburg, Legislative Director, FCLCA (1/6/2020)