Unitarian Universalist FaithAction NJ
A Unitarian Universalist voice for justice, equity and compassion in NJ
UPDATE: The “Freedom to Read Act” (S2421) was removed from the agenda of the February 15th meeting of the NJ Senate Education Committee. We expect the bill to be heard and voted at the next Senate Education Committee meeting.
On Saturday, February 10th, UU FaithAction NJ supporters and partners gathered in fellowship and celebration at the UU Congregation of Princeton for the Justice For All Gala!
Our “Justice For All” Gala honored the work and leadership that advances immigrant justice and equity. We were joined by Immigration Justice Task Force partners: New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, Princeton IRRC, American Friends Service Committee, First Friends NJ NY, Interfaith-RISE, New Labor, Faith in NJ, and ACLU of New Jersey. Louise Sandburg, a local organizer for refugee resettlement, spoke to the work of The Jewish Center’s Interfaith Refugee Resettlement Committee in Princeton. Amy Torres, Executive Director of the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, delivered an impactful keynote address.
Our “Justice For All” Gala is this Saturday!
Originally scheduled for September 2023, our “Justice For All” Gala had to be canceled. However, thanks to the dedication of our Gala Planning Committee and our many supporters, we were able to reschedule our event for February 10th, 2024. Our Gala luncheon is being hosted at the beautiful Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton.
We are pleased to share the updated version of our “Justice For All” Gala Digital Ad Journal!
View and share our Digital Ad Journal in PDF format or in the slideshow below.
Thank you to all our contributors for your messages of support, love and witness!
For immediate release: Senator Raj Mukherji introduces bill to give incarcerated senior citizens a second chance
Last Thursday, January 25, Senator Raj Mukherji introduced into the New Jersey Legislature the Rehabilitative Release bill which, if passed, will offer hundreds of incarcerated senior citizens the opportunity to prove that they are ready to return home to their families.
WHEN: May 11, 2024
WHERE: Beacon: Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Summit
Our UU FaithAction NJ Annual Meeting will be on May 11th, 2024. The meeting will be hosted at Beacon UU, in Summit, and online. All New Jersey UUs are encouraged to attend!
We celebrate with our coalition partners the passage of Demographic Data Disaggregation, the New Jersey Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights, and Language Access into law by signature of the Governor on January 12th.
“The mood in the room was celebratory,” reflects Rev. Charles Loflin, who attended the Governor’s signing on January 12th on behalf of UU FaithAction NJ. “That room was packed, with coalition partners and some heavy-hitting legislators, and it was special to have a seat for UU FaithAction.”
The youth alcohol bill (A5610/S3954) was signed into law with amendments following Governor Murphy’s conditional veto on January 8th.
UU FaithAction NJ joined ACLU-NJ and coalition partners in opposing this legislation, which sought to reinstate fines and criminal consequences for youth alcohol possession. The bill also sought to make it more difficult to charge a police officer with deprivation of civil rights when police detain or search a young person suspected of cannabis or alcohol possession. UUs across the state responded to our Action Alert to contact to their senators on December 20th and flooded the Governor’s Office with phone calls during our January Action Hour.
The brief window between November elections and the convening of the new legislature in January—known as the “lame duck”—is a critical time in New Jersey politics. Heading into this lame duck season, we entered arm-in-arm with a broad coalition of our partners, calling with one voice for The People’s Lame Duck Agenda.
The current legislature adjourns on January 8th, 2024. Here’s a look at how we did.
From the Gala Committee
We appreciate your patience while we were working out the details for rescheduling our Justice for All Gala.
The Gala will be held on Saturday, February 10th from noon to 3 pm, at the UU Congregation of Princeton.
We are in a climate emergency, and right now two bills are under consideration in the New Jersey legislature that could make or break our state’s transition to clean energy.
Join us on Monday, December 18th, at 9 AM in the Statehouse Annex Courtyard in Trenton to rally for a clean energy future for New Jersey!