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Dear friends,

Many of us are experiencing a heavy, familiar grief as we get ready for the chaotic years of the upcoming administration. We dreamed of progress, concern for the welfare of all, and a nation that values compassion and justice. We hoped to guide our congregations to expand their focus on the common good so we can embrace all of God’s children without exception. Rather, we find ourselves preparing our churches to deal with the harsh reality that this struggle is far from over. We bear the burden of the future and the heartache of knowing that hatred and division have gained new ground.

Many congregations affiliated with our member denominations throughout California have long and faithfully worked to address the most pressing needs in their local communities. Others have struggled to discern how they can make a difference for the most vulnerable in their neighborhoods.

In response to urgent needs for churches to find the best resources available to help them pursue their most needed social justice ministries and protect the most vulnerable among us following the recent national election, the California Council of Churches is ramping up plans to create a statewide Best Practices Network and Resource Center. This is to offer support, training, and empowerment to thousands of congregations in our mainline and progressive member denominations in every corner of the state to identify and address the social justice issues they feel are most pressing in their local communities.

We will accomplish this by gathering best practices: actions and resources from our member denominations, judicatories, and congregations and creating an online Justice Seekers Resource Center for issues they support effectively in housing, food, medical help, community gardens, coops, etc., provide useful reading materials as well, both spiritual and practical, and provide public policy training and advocacy to empower local congregations to advocate on the local and federal levels for compassionate and just policies to protect and lift up our neighbors. As funding permits, we plan to offer workshops throughout the state for congregations to come together and work with trained consultants to help them develop effective social justice ministries in their local communities and connect with existing organizations doing effective work in their areas of concern.

Many of you have long supported the work of the Council and IMPACT and you know that the combination of the end of denominational and judicatory support and the drop in individual support since COVID has severely restricted our ability to be as effective as we would like to be. Libby and I are both looking to pass the torch on to a younger group of activists with the energy and passion to rise to the current challenge. To accomplish this, we need your help and support.

Below are a few ways you can support our work and I am attaching a short summary you can use when talking to others in your church, community, and regional/denominational leadership. Can you help us raise the first $75,000 we need to get this work launched and secure a fund development professional to sustain this work for the long haul? Please do not hesitate to be in touch with us if you have questions, ideas, or resources to share.

How Can You Help?

• Make a generous contribution to support our work 
• You can donate online at calchurches.org or churchimpact.org or by mail here.
• Share and help us identify the best resources and models for successful justice work from your region, congregation, denomination, etc.
• Help us identify funding sources and fund development professionals we can pursue to support this work.
• Advocate for us with the leadership of your conference, region, synod, diocese, or area for urgent one-time funding and ongoing support

With gratitude for your activism and support,

The Rev Dr Rick Schlosser, Executive Director                                    

Elizabeth (Libby) Sholes, Public Policy Advocate

by Elizabeth Sholes, Public Policy Advocate, CCC/CCI

Dear Friends:

Election Day is November 5 with early voting, via drop box or mail, available until then.  If you are planning on voting in person at the polls, a few things you should know.

We have very little election interference in California.  That doesn’t mean there is none.  If some of you encounter problems with obtaining or filing a ballot at the voting site, or, worse, face intimidation or threats as you vote, here is what to do.

VOTING and BALLOTS

If you are denied a ballot for any reason, DO NOT LEAVE the voting site.  Instead, say, “I request a provisional ballot as required by law.”  They have to give you one.

California, like every state, has federal judicial districts.  The contain federal courts, US Attorneys and their staff, and federal agencies such as the FBI.

THREATS, INTIMIDATION, INTERFERENCE GETTING TO THE POLLS

If you encounter any kind of threat, the procedures are:

First call 911 and report the problem to your local law enforcement.

If the problem is not resolved, then call your federal district FBI.    California is divided into four federal districts:  North, East, Central, South. You can see the map below to assess which is yours.

For unsolved ballot issues, on election day each federal district has a “Designated Election Officer” (DEO) who is a US Attorney on standby to help.  You will contact them if and only if you are refused a ballot or in any other way have your vote barred or tampered with.

The numbers are as follows:

Northern District  – San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and other coastal areas.

DEO: Sarah Griswold  408-535-5060

FBI – 415-553-7400

Eastern District – Sacramento, all counties from Oregon to Bakersfield, Sierras. 

DEO:  Kevin Khasigian   916-554-2723

FBI – 916-746-7000

Central District – Coastal counties, Los Angeles County and points east.

DEO:  Thomas Rybarczyk  213-894-8452

FBI – 310-477-6565

Southern District – San Diego east to the Nevada state line. 

DEO – Call the US Attorney’s office and ask for the DEO:   619-557-5610

FBI – 858-320-1800 

We wish everyone a peaceful and quiet election day.  But just in case, we want you to have the tools you need to get the help you deserve.

Thank you! 

 

California Council of Churches IMPACT has long been well known for thoughtful deliberations on non-partisan ballot measures. We arrive at these decisions to recommend or oppose measures based on our existing Legislative Principles derived from many hours of discussion and discernment among our diverse denominational members. We try to interpret secular policy through the lens of our faith values with a devotion to democracy and our Constitutions, state and federal as well.

As with the medical profession, we begin with the premise, “First, do no harm.” We then proceed from that point to find the best reactions to thorny and often confusing measures, always keeping in mind our mission statement to be a prophetic witness to the Gospel by advocating in the public policy arena for justice, equity, and fairness in the treatment of all people, in particular those most vulnerable in our society.

We have done our best to find the most helpful, least harmful recommendations. We hope these are of help to you.

IMPACT’s Ballot Guide for November 2024

Spread the Word!
We encourage members and friends to distribute these ballot guides from now until the election through “IMPACT Sundays.” 

IMPACT Sundays

IMPACT Legislative Principles

IMPACT’s Recommendation: SUPPORT

AB 247 (Chapter 81, Statutes of 2024) Muratsuchi. Education finance: school facilities: Kindergarten Through Grade 12 Schools and Local Community College Public Education Facilities Modernization, Repair, and Safety Bond Act of 2024. 

This is a $10 billion bond act to finance repairs and upgrades to California schools. K-12 schools would receive $8.5 billion while community colleges would receive $1.5 billion. Public universities were excluded since they have their own access to such funding. The money replaces parts of the General Fund that will not have to be spent in this lean budget year. The last voter approved financing was 2020, and that fund is nearly depleted. We know educational success has much to do with safe, quality facilities, and while funds have been spent, lower income areas still have too many substandard structures. There is a sliding distribution scale that is a good start to prioritizing highest need schools in poor areas.

CA Secretary of State site: Arguments for and against Prop 2: https://voterguide.sos.ca.gov/propositions/2/index.htm

IMPACT’s Recommendation: SUPPORT

ACA 5 (Low) Marriage equality. (Res. Ch. 125, 2023)

This is an Assembly Constitutional Amendment. It will repeal the California Constitutional Amendment passed by Proposition 8 in 2008 that declared marriage to be between only one man and one woman. Since then, the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) ruled that same sex marriage between consenting adults is fully legal. It makes sense to remove a Constitutional Amendment that is in contradiction to federal law today and replace it with one that is consistent with federal law. 

California Council of Churches became a party to this 2015 outcome in a supportive amicus filed by a group CCC helped create, Faith for Equality. The Council and IMPACT stand united in their witness and advocacy for marriage equality today. 

It is clear that a revision in that status of Obergefell by today’s US Supreme Court could, under Article 6, Sec. 2 of the Constitution, invalidate the California Constitution, but in light of the threat, particularly if it is left to the states, it is important for California and for IMPACT to provide faithful and political state Constitutional support for the current law of the land and the equal justice it upholds.

CA Secretary of State site: Arguments for and against Prop 3: https://voterguide.sos.ca.gov/propositions/3/index.htm

IMPACT’s Recommendation: SUPPORT

SB 867 (Chapter 83, Statutes of 2024) Allen. Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparedness, and Clean Air Bond Act of 2024. 

This would authorize the state to incur a general obligation debt of $10 billion to deal with the impacts of climate change. It would fund programs that are long neglected including drinking and ground water resilience; wildfire and forest resilience; coastal and other flooding, drought assistance, heat mitigation, etc. 

We passed some of this in 2018 via Prop.68, but by 2020 funds were low. In 2019 the Legislature approved a $21 billion comprehensive bill, but it never got to the ballot. Governor Newsom signed a $536 million urgency bill that year, but it, too, is expended. The impacts from uncertain weather conditions prompted by climate change are never ending. This revenue is not money operating in a vacuum since these funds are combined after disasters with federal funds as well as for ongoing measures to prevent disasters.

CA Secretary of State site: Arguments for and against Prop 4: https://voterguide.sos.ca.gov/propositions/4/index.htm