President’s Report, 2018/2019
The past year has been extremely eventful for UU FaithAction on a number of fronts. I will let our Executive Director, Rev. Rob Gregson, detail our many successes over the past year and won’t repeat his recitation here.
However, on a personal level, I do have to say that the demonstration concerning the detention of Jorge Chacon, in the company of his wife and children and friends in Newark was incredibly heart-warming and the fact that our actions helped lead to his release was something that delighted me for the next several weeks. I know it was only one detainee and that the horrible ICE/Trump inhuman machine continues to roll on, but it was nice to win one and to change someone’s life. We bent the bar a little bit towards justice there.
And I also have to note that it was exciting to be in Trenton for the hearings that led to the passage of a significant increase in the minimum wage in New Jersey. The agreement of Governor Murphy, Senate Leader Sweeny and Assembly Leader Coughlin may have made it a fait accompli, but the excitement and pride of all of our coalition partners who had been working on this for years was palpable and made my opportunity to testify especially meaningful. It is these kinds of celebrations of progress that makes all of the frustrations of the past worthwhile.
Our Task Forces have been energized by the opportunities to make a difference and have been doing incredible work. I am sure that many of you know that we have been pushing our own Signature Legislation, which you will hear more about. Our proposed regulation regarding the administration of video visitation in the jails was accepted by the Department of Corrections and has changed the lives of prisoners and their families. And our first piece of legislation, concerning confidentiality for workers and clients at clinics will hopefully be signed into law this year. Those Task Forces will continue to bend the bar towards justice, with the help of our new Legal Advocacy Program Director, Lina Genovesi.
On the Board level, we have been doing the sometimes boring, but vital work that keeps our organization functioning. We have adopted a detailed financial policy, created an Endowment Fund, revitalized our Nominating Committee and, after ten years of operation, created a new Affiliation Agreement, which reflects our expanded focus and our role as the only state-wide UU organization. At the same time, we have been doing the important work of looking inward at our own operations to address any white supremacy and paternalism that might prevent us form being the organization that we should be.
We have also been busy on the education front, holding a number of events, in addition to the information that you can get form going onto our website or getting involved with one of our Task Forces. Our Economics Justice Task Force sponsored an eye-opening seminar on economic inequality at East Brunswick in January. In February, the Princeton Congregation hosted a fascinating conference on immigration, featuring Matt Katz, a reporter from WNYC who has done important work in this area. And on Super Bowl Sunday, Morristown hosted an informative talk by Professor Meghan Sacks, Assoc. Professor of Criminology and Criminology Program Director, Fairleigh Dickinson University, on the problems associated with mass incarceration. The Board and I are convinced that this is a crucial part of our role in leading UU Social Action in the state. We know that well informed UUs are even more committed to doing justice work.
Our Board has been somewhat under-populated for the past year, which makes our administrative achievements all the more noteworthy. I am excited by the nomination of impressive new Board members, which you will vote on at this Plenary Meeting. Our expanded Board will be able to do even more in the coming year to make sure that FaithAction continues to be a leader in social action and liberal religious advocacy in the State of New Jersey.
Finally, it is important to note that all of this takes money. Our budget it small, but we accomplish a lot with the money that we are able to raise. But think how much more we could do, how much more we could bend the bar towards justice, how many lives we might be able change for the better if we had a little more money. We are incredibly grateful for all of our supporters and hope that you will consider an extremely generous contribution, either by making a donation at the Plenary meeting or going on line to give.
Report Concerning the UULMNJ Public Policy Network
The Public Policy Network is a sister organization to FaithAction (and to the UU Legislative Ministry of New Jersey before it). Established under 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code, its function is to pay excess lobbying expenses that would otherwise have been incurred by FaithAction and which, if paid by FaithAction, would exceed the statutory limit, thereby imperiling FaithAction’s tax-exempt status. Because no such payments have been required to be made by the Public Policy Network to date and it is not anticipated that such payments will be needed in the immediate future, that organization was placed in dormancy two years ago in order to save needless operating costs and it has remained in that state during this past year. However, it should be noted that our tradition is that the Board of the Public Policy Network participates fully in all Board functions and that it would be nearly impossible for us to function well without this support.