Citizens Not Politicians signature collection final petition training May 15
I have been updating you almost weekly on Citizens Not Politicians, the citizen-led campaign to stop gerrymandering in Ohio by making current elected officials – who have a built-in conflict of interest – ineligible to serve on our redistricting commission.
Our Diocesan Council has endorsed the proposed amendment. The goal is to complete signature collection by the end of May, and then continue to work on educating voters. To help with any aspect of the campaign, sign up here. The final Fair Districts Zoom training for petition circulators is May 15 at noon on Zoom. Register here. If that time doesn’t work, you can watch these slides and take this online quiz.
Civic groups are striving to collect at least 700,000 signatures by early June to ensure at least 413,000 valid ones. To qualify for the ballot, a citizen-sponsored constitutional amendment must also collect signatures totaling at least 5% of the turnout in the most recent governor’s election in 44 counties. The campaign is striving to hit that goal in 55 counties. If you publicized the petition drive or signed a petition in Chillicothe or Piketon on Saturday, May 11, thank you! Both Ross and Pike Counties are within reach of the 5% mark.
This campaign is part of a very long, hard quest by Ohioans of all parties and walks of life to protect representative democracy in our state, with the most recent struggles including citizen testimony during the redistricting struggles of 2021-22 over seven different maps found unconstitutional for partisan gerrymandering; last year’s referendum in which voters resoundingly defeated the legislature’s proposed amendment to raise the hurdle to pass a citizen-sponsored constitutional change from a majority vote to 60%, and the amendment that Ohio voters passed by 56.8% last November to constitutionally protect reproductive rights.
Gun Safety Advocacy Day at the Statehouse May 22, starting at Trinity Episcopal Church
Sign up here by May 17. You can also sign up for Ohio Moms’ Zoom call May 20 at 7 p.m. to prepare for the day.
On Gun Safety Advocacy Day, Ohio Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense is organizing visits to legislators in support of the gun safety bills that were introduced in February. These include restoring the requirement to get a permit for concealed carry of firearms (the legislature had repealed it), red flag measures to reduce the risk of suicide and domestic violence, and background checks on all firearms sales. Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health researched states which have enacted permitless concealed carry laws, and found that they have suffered a 13-15% increase in violent crime. Scroll down to the diocese’s Feb. 20 advocacy update for an overview of the five bills that will be the focus of advocacy on May 22.
Disarming Hate: Sharing Our Stories June 2
A panel discussion organized by Ohio Moms Demand Action, will discuss the intersection of gun violence and the LGBTQ+ community. Sunday, June 2 at 4 p.m. on Zoom. Sign up here.
Episcopal Migration Ministries resources for welcoming immigrants
Immigration is an increasingly complex and polarizing issue in the US and Europe, with the Biden Administration announcing a new proposed rule just last week to authorize immigration officers to speed up the rejection of asylum claims from people they deem to pose a national security or public safety risk. Although Ohio hasn’t garnered the national headlines of New York City or Chicago, congregations in Cincinnati, Columbus, and the Miami Valley are meeting an increasing number of refugees from Africa and Latin America and are teaming up with community organizations to try to help them build new lives. For example, congregations in Greater Cincinnati’s Mill Creek Valley are striving to help Mauritanian asylum applicants who have to wait for months for work permits while needing to pay for rent and food.
Nancy Sullivan of Church of Our Saviour /L’Iglesia de Nuestro Salvador, who has devoted years to serving as an advocate and resource for Central Americans in Cincinnati, has shared Episcopal Migration Ministries’ Neighbor to Neighbor resource kit:
- Supporting Asylum Seekers: a Training Toolkit for Neighbor to Neighbor Teams: If your parish would like to proceed and join NtN, you would start here. This is the toolkit you would follow throughout the training process. It is designed to allow local NtN team leaders guide their team members through training, in preparation for submitting their application. Page 32 in the Toolkit explains the contents of the application.
- Model Welcome Plan: This is an example of what Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM) considers to be a strong Welcome Plan (the major document you submit as part of your application).
- Neighbor to Neighbor Team MOU with Episcopal Migration Ministries: This is a covenant document – non-legally binding – which Neighbor to Neighbors teams sign with EMM prior to the commencement of sponsorship.
- Comparison chart of eligibility – The chart shows what various humanitarian entrants (different nationalities and immigration statuses) are eligible to access as of early May, 2024. “This is likely to change over time with Biden administration policy decisions, and to change again if we have a change in the White House.” writes Allison Duvall, EMM’s Senior Manager for Church and Community Engagement. “For example, Venezuelans who have/are granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) are able to get work authorization as a result of having TPS.
Energy bills stuck, but alive
Please call your Ohio Representative with your views on HB 79 (bipartisan bill reviving utilities’ energy efficiency programs, on a voluntary basis) and HB 197 (creating a community solar pilot program). You can read about these bills in last week’s diocesan advocacy update. Use this link to find out who represents you. You will find the phone number by clicking on the Rep’s photo.
The bipartisan energy efficiency bill HB 79 failed to make it onto the agenda for the full House session May 8, probably because the sponsors (including Republican leader Bill Seitz of Cincinnati) were not yet confident they have the votes to pass it.
The House Public Utilities Committee held an opponent hearing on HB 197, the Community Solar bill, and the primary opponent, American Electric Power, did not even send a representative to testify in person. The next scheduled hearing is May 22, during which the committee is expected to adopt amendments community solar advocates are not opposing. Ohio is facing a major shortage of electric generation capacity as major economic development projects are implemented and the number of heatwave days grows. The Chair supports the bill and the House Speaker is on record as supporting an increase in Ohio electric generation.
Advocacy updates are compiled by Ariel Miller, a longtime community advocate and member of Ascension & Holy Trinity, Wyoming. Connect with her at arielmillerwriter@gmail.com.
