Just days after Congress passed a Farm Bill that preserved protections for people struggling to find jobs, the Trump Administration announced proposed rules that would make it harder for unemployed and underemployed people to make ends meet.
 
Under current rules, able-bodied adults without children or dependents have a three-month limit on receiving SNAP benefits (food stamps) unless they meet strict work requirements (80 hours per month).  However, states can request waivers to this time-limit for areas with a high unemployment rate (10% or higher).  Currently, 29 states have such waivers. The new Farm Bill left these waivers in place.
 
The Trump Administration’s USDA is proposing a rule that will fly in the face of Congressional intent and impose stricter limitations on the ability of states to obtain waivers.  Experts estimate that 750,000 people will lose their food benefits under these new rules. 
 
Your voice is needed to tell the Trump Administration to respect the will of Congress, recognize the needs of hard-working people struggling to feed their families, and rescind these proposed changes.  Please take action! Feeding America is gathering statements for the public comment period.  The Trump Administration is obligated to read every unique comment, so please take a few minutes to personalize the text provided.
 
SNAP is a vital program that helps seniors, children, veterans, and hard-working people to put food on the table. Please add your voice to protect SNAP!

Below is our testimony to the Joint Finance Committee on the five special session bills introduced today and to be voted on tomorrow, Dec. 4. These bills will take away Governor Evers' ability to refuse to implement waivers the Walker Administration sought to impose onerous work reporting requirements and other barriers to access to BadgerCare and FoodShare. They will take away Attorney General Josh Kaul's ability to withdraw from a lawsuit to do away with the Affordable Care Act. One bill will move the presidential primary from the April election to a special March session, which Senator Majority leader Scott Fitgerald openly said was solely for the purpose of benefiting the Republican-backed candidate to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.  Please call your legislators ASAP and tell them to vote against these dangerous and undemocratic bills!
 
Testimony to the Joint Finance Committee:

Good afternoon. I am Rabbi Bonnie Margulis, President of Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice. We are a state-wide interfaith education and advocacy organization.  I come before you today in opposition to these extraordinary session bills, which are a blatant attack on the constitutional separation of powers between the legislature, the Governor’s office, and the State Attorney General; on voter rights and access to voting; and on hard-working Wisconsin families who depend upon BadgerCare for their health care and FoodShare to help them make ends meet.
 
As we meet here today, our country is mourning the loss of President George H. W. Bush. President Bush said, “America is never wholly herself unless she is engaged in high moral principle. We as a people have such a purpose today. It is to make kinder the face of the nation and gentler the face of the world.” This is true no less of the leaders of our state than the leaders of our country.  It is neither kinder nor gentler to erect barriers to access to health care and nutrition, and it is neither moral nor democratic to put limits on access to the ballot box.
 
Bills to replace the authority of the Attorney General to enter into or withdraw from federal lawsuits with the will of the legislature, to abridge the authority of the Governor in appointing agency officials and making administrative rules in favor of the legislature, is to attack the fundamental principle of separation of powers.  
It has so often been noted in the last few years, in defense of controversial positions, that elections have consequences. That is no less true today. In this past election, the voters spoke loud and clear for the positions and policies espoused by Gov-elect Evers and Attorney General-elect Josh Kaul. Governor-elect Evers was clear about his support for the Medicaid expansion and his opposition to work requirements; he and Josh Kaul were clear about withdrawing from the lawsuit attacking the Affordable Care Act; Evers was clear about his intention to expand access to voter registration. 
 
These positions were clear and well-known, and it was these positions the voters responded to when they elected Tony Evers governor.  The bills proposed today are a deliberate attempt to overturn the will of the people.  I call upon all our legislators to honor their obligations as elected representatives of the people of Wisconsin, listen to our voices and our votes, and vote No on these bills.
 

A Week of Violence and Tragedy
weeping may stay for the night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning (Ps.30)
 
This past week was one of unrelenting violence, tragedy, and loss.  From pipe bombs sent to prominent Democratic leaders and critics of President Trump; to the murder of two African-Americans in Kentucky – killed when their assailant was unable to enter a black church and sought other prey; to the devastating attack on the Jewish community leaving eleven dead; it seemed the sorrow would never end.
 
These are not isolated incidents.  They are the very predictable outcome of the rhetoric, the hate speech, the dog whistles to racists and anti-Semites, that has been perpetuated by our president and not repudiated by his followers in Congress. They are part and parcel of the fear mongering and lies Trump is perpetuating about the Honduran refugees, claiming they are terrorists, when in reality, they are fleeing terror.
 
There is a direct line from Trump’s hateful lies to the murders in Pittsburgh. The terrorist who perpetrated this horror did so specifically because of Jewish support for refugees, through the Jewish refugee resettlement agency HIAS. The response of the Pittsburgh Jewish community has been to pledge to redouble their efforts, based on their Jewish values of tikkun olam, repairing the world, to reach out a helping hand to refugees.  Trump’s response has been to send 5000 troops to the border to keep out the Honduran refugees, and to threaten to take away citizen rights to people born in this country to foreign-born residents.
 
In the wake of Saturday’s shooting, President Trump said, ‘It’s a shame, something should be done’.  I could not agree more.  Something should be done, and next week we all have the opportunity – nay, the responsibility, to do that something. Nov. 6 is election day.  If we do not agree with what is happening to our country; if we do not want our elected officials to be fomenting hate and violence; if we want to be a country that welcomes people seeking safety and asylum; if we want to be a country that values each and every person regardless of religion, or ethnicity, or sexual orientation or gender identity; then we are obligated to go to the polls and vote.
 
This past weekend felt like one long night of mourning. But for many communities around the country, the weekend ended with interfaith vigils and ceremonies, as the many and varied sectors of our society came together in love and unity.  This outpouring of support brought light to the darkness, and helped those of us who were experiencing pain, and grief, and fear, to see that joy would be possible in the morning.  Let us look forward to seeing this joy carry through to Election Day and the opportunity to make our voices heard!

At Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice, we believe democracy only works when every eligible voter exercises the right to vote.  This is not a partisan issue.  The right to vote is fundamental to who we are as Americans.

Today is National Voter Registration Day. On this day, organizations and individuals across the country engage in a coordinated effort to get as many people registered to vote as possible. WFVJ is part of this effort!

Please help get as many people registered as possible.  Share widely our video, Register and Vote 2018, which gives helpful information and links to resources on how to register and vote.

A little-known fact: if you have been convicted of a felony in Wisconsin, have served your time and completed any probation or parole conditions (‘off-paper’), you are eligible to vote!  If you are in jail on a misdemeanor or awaiting trial, you are eligible to vote!

The next step after registering is to learn as much as possible about the candidates and their stands on the issues you care about.  Use the non-partisan Dignity at Work Voter’s Guide for Every Working Person. This guide can be used at candidate forums, town hall meetings, and any other venues where candidates are available for questioning.

As important as it is to get people registered, it is equally important to get everyone to the polls! Download and distribute freely these Voter Pledge Cards (for Dane County voters; for Wisconsin voters) to help remind people to vote, find their polling place, and arrange a ride to the polls.

Thank you all for your commitment to preserving our democracy!  See you at the polls!
  

Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice, a state-wide interfaith education and advocacy organization, is dismayed and distressed at the Supreme Court’s decision today to uphold President Trump’s ban on travel from predominantly Muslim countries.
 
President Trump has consistently stated that his intent was to keep Muslims out of the United States. The Supreme Court abdicated its responsibility as the court of last resort when it decided to ignore these statements.  The Court, in today’s decision, stated that the president’s own words about the intent of this ban were immaterial and that the ban itself was ‘neutral on its face’.  Yet intent has always been taken into account when deciding the constitutionality of a law. 
 
Further, the Court accepted at face value the Trump Administration’s contention that national security was at risk. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in her dissent from the bench, rightly countered that the excuse of national security merely was a cover for an “openly discriminatory policy motivated by animus” to a religious minority.
​
As people of many different faiths, many of whom have ourselves faced discriminatory immigration policies throughout history, we decry this decision and proclaim solidarity with our Muslim brothers and sisters. We will continue to work for understanding and to build bridges among our various faith communities and to work against the forces of discrimination and hate.

As people of differing faith traditions in the United States, we find it offensive when the Attorney General misuses any religious tradition to justify separating children from their families. As people of faith we derive our commitment to social justice from the teachings of our respective faiths, but it is entirely inappropriate for a government official to invoke religion in promoting an inhumane policy.
 
Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently quoted Christian Scripture – Romans 13 – in defense of his policy of tearing children away from their parents when they arrive at our border, seeking asylum. These are people fleeing from civil war, gang violence, and domestic violence. Border officials often take the children away, some as young as 18 months, under false pretenses of taking them for a bath. The parents realize too late that their children are not coming back, and they have no way to find where they have been taken or contact them. These people are seeking safety and hospitality at our borders, and they are receiving the opposite.
 
The Scripture AG Sessions cited (Romans 13:1) does indeed read, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God,” but he ignores the context. The following verses explain not only that we are to obey the law, but also lay out an expectation that the laws are made for the benefit of all God’s people. The passage culminates in this admonition: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor, therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.’”
 
While we deplore the misuse of scripture to justify public policy, if our government officials are going to use religious text, there are many others we suggest: “‘When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born, love them as yourself” from the Hebrew Bible (Lev. 19:33-34: 33). From Christian scripture: “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” (Matthew 25:40).
 
From the Quran: "And do good unto your parents, and near of kin, and unto orphans, and the needy, and the neighbour from among your own people, and the neighbor who is a stranger… " (Quran: An-Nisa (4:36)). From the Baha'i: "Be a home for the stranger, a balm to the suffering, a tower of strength for the fugitive" (Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh).
 
Faith traditions around the world teach versions of the Golden Rule. We encourage our elected representatives and government officials to look to that Golden Rule when making policies, for then our collective values of love, compassion, empathy, and generosity toward those who come seeking safety and peace will be reflected.
 

Reverend Susan Schneider
Trinity Lutheran Church
Madison, WI 53704
 
Rabbi Bonnie Margulis
President, Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice
Madison, WI 53719

 
Organizations/Congregations

Community of Hope UCC Steering Committee
Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin
Madison-Area Urban Ministry
Wisconsin Council of Churches
Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice

 
Signatories: (congregations/organizations for identification purposes only)
Rev. Anne Andert
ELCA (retired)
Janesville, WI
 
Alicia C. Armstrong
Immigration Attorney
Owner, Alicia C. Armstrong Law Office, LLC
Sun Prairie, Wisconsin
 
Rev. Ann Beaty
Associate Minister
First Congregational UCC
Madison, WI 53726
 
Joanna Berke
Madison, WI
 
Rabbi Jonathan Biatch
Temple Beth El
Madison, WI 53719
 
The Reverend Jeffry G. Billerbeck
Chaplain (retired)
Blue Mounds. WI
 
Rev. Winton Boyd
Senior Pastor
Orchard Ridge UCC
Madison WI
 
Rev. Joe Brosius
Pastor of Outreach
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
5701 Raymond Road
Madison, WI 53711
 
Marlene Buechel
Verona, WI
 
The Rev. Mark M. Clinger
Senior Pastor
First Baptist Madison
Madison, WI
 
Catherine Coberly
2580 Lalor Road
Oregon WI 53575
 
Merle Cohen
Madison, WI
 
Kia Conrad
Madison, WI 53704
 
Tim Coughlin
Middleton Community United Church of Christ
Middleton, WI
 
Rev. David C. Couper
Madison Chief of Police (Ret) and St Peter’s Episcopal Church
North Lake, WI
 
Reverend Cindy Crane
Director
Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin
Madison, WI 53719
 
Rev. Kirsten Curtis
Christ Lutheran Church
Spring Green, WI 53588
 
Rev. Timothy Dean
Senior Pastor
McFarland Lutheran Church
McFarland, WI 53558
 
Ruby Dow
Mauston, WI
 
Rev. Mark Elsdon, M.Div, MBA
Executive Director/Campus Pastor
Pres House at UW Madison
Madison, WI 53703
 
Rev. JoAnne Fabie
ELCA (retired)
Waunakee, WI
 
Rev. Dr. Jerry Folk
ELCA (retired)
Madison, WI
 
Reverend Jeff Fox-Kline
Minister of word and sacrament
Covenant Presbyterian Church
Madison, WI
 
Rev. Kristin Gorton
Memorial United Church of Christ
Fitchburg, WI 53712
 
The Rev'd Dr. D. Jonathan Grieser
Rector
Grace Episcopal Church
Madison, WI 53703
 
Reverend David Hart
Sherman Avenue United Methodist Church
Madison, WI 53704
 
Rev. Phil Haslanger
United Church of Christ (retired)
Fitchburg WI 53711
 
The Reverend Dr. Miranda Hassett
Rector
St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church
Madison, WI 53705
 
Rev. Heather Hayward
St. Luke’s Lutheran Church
Middleton, WI
 
Reverend Eldonna Hazen
First Congregational United Church of Christ
Madison, WI 53726
 
Nathan Houston
Madison, WI
 
Rev Breanna Illéné,
Pastor
Trinity & First United Methodist Church
Madison, WI
 
Reverend Sonja Ingebritsen
Community of Hope United Church of Christ
Madison, WI 53717
 
Rev. Peder Johanson
Bethlehem Lutheran Church
Broadhead, WI
 
The Rev.  Andy Jones
Saint Andrew's Episcopal Church
Madison, WI  53716
 
Barbara Katz
Madison, WI
 
Linda Ketcham
Executive Director
Madison-area Urban Ministry
Madison, WI 53713
 
Rev. Robb Kosky
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church
Waterloo, WI
 
Reverend Tina Lang
First United Methodist Church
Madison, WI
 
Reverend Lex Liberatore
Lake Edge United Church of Christ
Madison, WI 53716
 
Ellen Lindgren
Middleton WI
 
Rev. Erica Liu
Campus Pastor
Pres House
Madison, WI 5370
 
Rev. Doug Locken
Pastor
Peace Lutheran Church
Waunakee, WI
 
Rev. Karen Locken
Lead Pastor
Peace Lutheran Church
Waunakee, WI
 
Rev. Jason M Mack
First Baptist Church
Madison WI
 
Bill and Bobbie Malone
Madison, WI
 
Maureen McDonnell, O.P.
Madison, WI  53711
 
Rev. Dr. Paul J. Melrose ( ret )
United Methodist Church
Michigan Conference
Madison, WI
 
The Rev. Jonathan Melton
St. Francis House Episcopal Student Center
Madison, WI 53715
 
Rev. Lisa Nelson
Faith Lutheran Church
Columbus, WI
 
Rev. Katya Ouchakof
Lake Edge Lutheran Church (ELCA)
Madison WI 53716
 
Rev. Kathleen Cook Owens
Pastor
First Presbyterian Church
Oregon, WI 53575
 
Rev. Kerri Parker
Executive Director
Wisconsin Council of Churches
Sun Prairie, WI

Leila Pine
Madison, WI
 
Rev. Matthew Ploeger
Spiritual Care Coordinator
Heartland Hospice
Madison, WI
 
Rev. Lori Powell
Pastor
St. Mark's Lutheran Church
Madison, WI
 
Reverend Michael Rehak
Director, Institute for Congregational Identity
Cambridge, WI 53523-9401
 
The Rev. Oscar A. Rozo
Priest in charge
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church
Beaver Dam, WI 53916
 
Rev. Dick Runge
Retired UCC Pastor
Member of Memorial UCC
Fitchburg
 
Janet Ruszala-Coughlin
Middleton Community United Church of Christ
Middleton, WI

Mary Sanderson
De Forest, WI
 
Reverend Leslie Schenk
Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ
Madison, WI 53704
 
Erica Serlin Ph.D.
Licensed Psychologist
Co-Chair Temple Beth El Immigrant Action Team
Madison WI
 
Reverend Larry Sexe
Deerfield Lutheran Church
Deerfield, WI 53531
 
Janice Cittasubha Sheppard
Lay Buddhist Minister
Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery, and
Madison Insight Meditation Group Tuesday night weekly sitting
 
Pastor Pat Siegler
Zion Faith Community
Madison WI
​
Myrna Solganick
Madison, WI
 
Laura Stalder
Immigration Group Plymouth UCC
Madison Wisconsin
 
Rev. Nick Upthall
Advent Lutheran Church
Madison, WI 53717
 
Reverend Brad Van Fossen
Monona United Methodist Church
Monona, WI 53716
 
Rae Vogeler
Oregon, WI
 
Donna Vukelich-Selva
Madison, WI
 
Wendy Ward
Madison, WI 53704
 
Rev. Joe Wilkinson
Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church
Sussex, WI
 
Reverend Cynthia M. Wunder
Lodi First Presbyterian Church
Lodi WI 53555
 

44% of Wisconsin women who could vote, didn’t vote in the last midterm election.
Because voters trust information from people they know, we want to equip, engage, and empower people like you to help turn out more Wisconsin women voters. Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice is proud to partner with the Wisconsin Alliance for Women’s Health in this project.

If you’re interested in helping to get more Wisconsin women to the polls this year, we invite you to participate in the Relational Voter Program (RVP).  By encouraging 5 to 10 of your friends, neighbors or family members to get out and vote in 2018, you can make an enormous difference!

How does it work?  It’s easy, and you can do it at your own pace!

Step 1: Decide to give the relational voter program a try
Agree to participate and help turn out family, friends, and neighbors to vote this year!

Step 2: Identify 5 – 10 people you know and can contact to help get to the polls in 2018
Make a physical list of 5 to 10 people that you agree to work with through November 6th.  Ideally, select people who trust you, who respect you, and who would welcome your help to get them to the polls.  Once you have your list, enter it online at http://bit.ly/wiwomenvotervp.

Step 3: Have an initial conversation with each of your list of contacts

• Do they plan to vote?
• Are they registered to vote?
• Do they know they can register at the polls?
• Do they know where their polling place is?
• Do they have the voter ID they need to vote?
• What issues does the voter care about?
• Do they know who their representatives are?

 
Step 4: Follow up conversations (inform, persuade, and assist)
Have at least one follow-up conversation with each of your voters one or two weeks before the election.  All RVP leaders will be provided with additional information and resources that you can use for these conversations, but essentially, it will be a casual conversation reminding them about the upcoming elections.
 
Step 5: Get Out the Vote
Make an election day plan and follow up with your contacts to ensure they have voted.  You can even go with others to the polls or arrange to vote early as a group.
​
For more information, visit: http://www.asklearnvote.org/relational-voter-program.html
We are indebted to the Wisconsin Alliance for Women’s Health for their leadership in this project! 

You shall not abuse a needy and destitute laborer (Deuteronomy 24:14)
 
As people of faith, we believe that work is sacred and brings dignity to the worker. However, current proposals before our state legislature and coming from our federal government threaten that dignity and will harm low-income Wisconsinites’ ability to make ends meet. Our faith traditions teach us to honor the worker, to pay her appropriately and in a timely way, and to reach out a helping hand to those in need.
 
Many of these proposals – such as drug testing and work requirements, have no purpose other than to shame and stigmatize the poor. The real shame, though, is to a society whose policies and structures serve to keep people in poverty.
 
These proposals, Special Session AB/SB 1-5, and Special Session AB/SB 8-10, have passed in the Assemby and next week will be before the Senate. Among the provisions of these bills:

• Work requirements for ‘able-bodied adults’ to qualify for FoodShare (food stamps)
  • Exempted are adults caring for children under the age of 6. However, there is no provision for job placements to take place only during the school day. This leaves parents with the choice of losing food benefits or paying for after-school care.
  • Further, the FoodShare Education and Training program has been shown to be inadequate to providing stable, well-paying employment, but it has been shown to result in needy Wisconsinites losing access to nutrition.
  • The reality is, when an adult loses their FoodShare benefits, the whole family suffers, as FoodShare is allocated per household, not per family member. This legislation will result in increased hunger for low-income Wisconsinites. 
• Photo ID for FoodShare cards – Photo ID’s are expensive, and ultimately unworkable, as many states have found.
• Drug testing and employability for low-income housing –
  • low-income able-bodied Wisconsin residents who otherwise qualify for public housing would be required to be screened by local housing authorities to determine if they are unemployed or underemployed, requires the housing authority to create an employment plan, and the resident to follow the plan. However, local housing authorities have no expertise in creating or administering employment plans. Further, to deny public housing to someone based on their employment status only serves to exacerbate unemployment, as stable housing is an important factor in obtaining stable employment.
  • Drug-testing is simply an effort to stigmatize the poor and discourage them from applying for benefits.  There is no evidence to suggest low-income Wisconsinites are any more likely than the general population to engage in drug use. Further, no additional funding or support services are offered, either to assist with employment or to address treatment for drug use.

Click here for more information on these and other Special Session proposals.
Please call your Senator and ask them to oppose these bills.  Find your legislators here 

As I write this, we are hours away from a potential government shut-down.  The inability of our leadership to come together on issues that so profoundly affect people’s lives, such as DACA and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, is deeply disturbing.

Equally disturbing is the threats that are being made to our nation’s social safety net, to life-saving programs like Medicaid, SNAP (food stamps), and other supports that help families and individuals make ends meet. After enacting a tax cut bill that benefits the wealthy and corporations and will add up to $1.5 trillion to the deficit, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan is now poised to pay for the tax bill by cutting services for the poor, elderly, disabled, and children.

(To see how the tax bill will disproportionately harm Wisconsin’s poor and middle-class, and benefit the wealthy, read this)

Congressional Democrats and Republicans will each be holding retreats at the end of January/beginning of February, to talk about their party’s respective legislative priorities for 2018.  It is imperative that we keep in contact with our Wisconsin Congressional Delegation and let them know we fervently oppose policies that harm Wisconsin’s poor and middle-class. 

Please let your Congress member know you support programs that help struggling Wisconsinites make ends meet and that lift them out of poverty – programs like SNAP, Medicaid and Medicare, Social Security, and the Affordable Care Act. Let us each do our part to lift up our voices for those most in need. Call the Congressional switchboard to be connected to your member of Congress - 
(202) 224-3121.