JUUstice Washington

A Unitarian Universalist State Action Network

Faith Action Network Endorses Referendum 90 for Comprehensive Sexual Health Education in Washington schools.

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The Faith Action Network Governing Board has unanimously endorsed Referendum 90 that will appear on your November ballot. We want to tell you about it and invite your endorsement and participation today.

During the 2020 legislative session, a coalition of parents, educators, medical professionals, and advocates passed SB 5395 (Sen. Claire Wilson) in Washington state focused on keeping young people safe and healthy. This law requires all public schools to teach age appropriate, inclusive, comprehensive sexual health education to K-12 students. This law was backed by a large statewide coalition and has strong support from a majority of Washington state voters. Those opposed to the bill, sometimes citing religious reasons, have launched a misinformation campaign and gathered enough signatures to put that law up for a public vote this November. See more at the campaign’s website: approve90wa.org

WE NEED YOUR HELP as faith leaders and faith advocates to speak out on this important issue. Here’s how:

  • Please read the Faith Leaders Statement on Referendum 90. If you are in agreement with this statement and are willing to add your name as a signatory, please let FAN know at this link: bit.ly/FANsupportsR90. Tell us how you want your name, your faith tradition and the city where you live/serve listed. Please sign by September 9 and we will share FAN faith leaders’ and advocates’ names with the campaign.
  • If you are not a faith leader you can still sign and share the link with your congregation and friends, so that they might also Approve R90 and strengthen support in faith communities. Each of you will help counter misinformation and ensure YES on R90 in November.
  • We will share your signatures with the campaign and keep you informed as the weeks go on. If you would like to be directly involved in the campaign there are many possibilities – please let them know at this link.

These are difficult times for all of us, but it is also an extremely critical time for us as faith leaders and advocates to make our voices heard in this campaign to Approve R90. Thank you for taking a stand, for lifting your voice, and for joining your colleagues as we share our statement strongly approving R90 for safe and healthy youth.

FAN Staff and Governing Board
fan@fanwa.org

The federal government abandoned us on coronavirus relief. What now?

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The stalemate in Congress over relief checks raises larger questions about work and who deserves a dignified life.

On July 31, federal eviction protections and unemployment relief, in effect since late March, expired. After two more weeks of fruitless negotiations, the Senate adjourned, making any new action before mid-September unlikely. Trump’s attempts to play the hero — four executive actions announced with great fanfare — don’t actually mean much. Nationwide, a third of renters have little or no confidence they can pay this month’s rent.

. . .

But all of that is somewhat beside the point. Like so much of political speech, the incentive-to-work argument is not really about saying true things. It’s about provoking specific feelings. In this case, the message is that someone else is getting things for free, things they didn’t work for and don’t deserve. The desired effect is that the target audience — people who feel they are working hard and still treading water — resents and blames the people below them on the economic ladder, instead of those above. When this kind of argument also succeeds in its aim — keeping the poor miserable and desperate for work — it creates downward pressure on wages and makes those with jobs feel lucky, insecure and less likely to demand more or to stand up to abuse at work. In other words, it’s about dividing and disciplining the whole labor force.

Read more here.

Training Court Watchers for Flood of Eviction Cases

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Elizabeth Maupin of Issaquah/Sammamish Interfaith Coalition writes:

I have been in touch with the Seattle University Law School and the Housing Justice Project about training and placing court watchers in the King County eviction courts. Once the moratorium ends there will likely be a tsunami of eviction cases.  Volunteer court watchers who sit in a courtroom and take notes not only provide us with data on racial bias and discrimination, but actually impact outcomes merely by being there.  Experience has shown that judges, prosecutors, and attorneys who know that they are being watched and will be held accountable are more likely to take care to operate fairly and to follow reforms designed to improve our justice system.  Housing Justice Project will provide training and volunteers will probably serve for half a day once a month.  Background checks will be required.

Let us know if you are interested by contacting Karla Davis (karlad@kcba.org)and we will get you updates on this as the project moves forward.

The Unraveling of America

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Evidence of such terminal decadence is the choice that so many Americans made in 2016 to prioritize their personal indignations, placing their own resentments above any concerns for the fate of the country and the world, as they rushed to elect a man whose only credential for the job was his willingness to give voice to their hatreds, validate their anger, and target their enemies, real or imagined. One shudders to think of what it will mean to the world if Americans in November, knowing all that they do, elect to keep such a man in political power. But even should Trump be resoundingly defeated, it’s not at all clear that such a profoundly polarized nation will be able to find a way forward. For better or for worse, America has had its time.

Read more here.

TRUMP’S CFPB DEPLOYS PREDATORY LENDERS AS FIRST RESPONDERS TO PANDEMIC

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Small-dollar lenders, such as Speedy Cash and TitleMax, intentionally design high-cost, low-quality products to make it almost impossible for borrowers to repay their loans under the original terms. Finance fees and average annual interest rates of 400 percent prevent most borrowers from repaying payday loans in full, with borrowers ending up in debt five months out of the year for what was deceptively marketed as a two-week loan. Other loans within this industry are just as harmful. Ninety percent of auto title loans are re-borrowed, and 20 percent of borrowers have their vehicles repossessed. This rule makes it easier for lenders to trap borrowers in cycles of debt.

Payday lenders are well known for taking advantage of the precarious conditions experienced by working-class and poor people — and which disproportionately affect Black and brown people. The average loan amountborrowed from a storefront payday lender is about $1,000. Contradicting the assumption that these lenders profit primarily from unpredictable crises such as a pay cut or medical emergency, a majority of borrowers — 69 percent — rely on payday loans to cover recurring expenses. People use these higher-cost loans to live day-to-day: buying groceries, paying bills, and making their rent or mortgage payments.

Read more here.