Greetings, Everyone! Here is some information on the coalition and campaign:
Please put Wednesday, Feb. 16, 8 p.m. on your calendar for a conference call of the Fund Our Communities: Bring the War Dollars Home coalition: 1-218-936-4700, 980221#. RSVP to the call by replying to me, so that I can be sure to reserve enough phone lines for everyone. And please send me any agenda items that you would like us to discuss.
Coalition Growth: A month ago, we had 19 groups in our coalition. Today, we have 34! One of these is UFCW Local 1994 MCGEO--that's the main labor union in Montgomery County representing government workers. We are SO excited to have this organization in our coalition. We hope that all of you are working very, very hard to grow the coalition, and that you are thinking hard about how to encourage new groups to join us. This is how we will become powerful in Maryland! A force to be reckoned with . . .
I've pasted below the latest list of coalition members, FYI.
General Assembly Letter: To date, 28 Delegates and 11 Senators have signed the letter written by Sen. Jamie Raskin and Del. Sheila Hixson, asking the members of Maryland's Congressional delegation to cut the military budget. This is a very respectable number, but we would like to get many more legislators to sign. I've pasted below the names of those who have signed the letter. Please look over this list and see who is missing: and then do what you can to get the slackers to sign the letter! There may well be some legislators who don't even remember getting the letter from Sen. Raskin or Del. Hixson, but who would certainly be willing to sign it if they get just a little pressure from constituents. Please do what you can to help us get more signers.
We are working with Sen. Raskin and Del. Hixson on a press conference to publicly present the letter. We will have the press conference just prior to the "Progressive Summit," which will be March 7 in Annapolis. This press conference will be either at 5 p.m. or 5:30--we are still working out the details. In a note from Sen. Raskin today about the press conference, he states that with the press conference, "We hope to kick off a national movement of state legislators raising the question of national budget priorities." That may be ambitious, but that's what we hope will happen!
We need your help with organizing and planning this press conference. That will be a topic of discussion on the Wednesday conference call. And be sure to put this event on your calendar and encourage people in your organization to attend.
March 26 Mini-Conference:
We are planning a half-day conference for representatives of the Fund Our Communities coalition. We hope to have 1 to 2 representatives from each organization in our coalition attend, plus representatives from groups that might consider joining. The mini-conference will begin at 9 a.m. and continue to 12:30 Saturday, March 26, at Cedar Lane Unitarian Church, Bethesda. A draft agenda is attached. There is quite a bit of work that needs to be done on this conference and so your help is requested. We will discuss this some more on the conference call.
Cost of War Sign in March:
We are getting a scrolling sign from NY in March. It can count up dollar costs of the war for a state or locality, or you can create a scrolling message. This sign is available to your group if you have a good use for it. We can discuss that some more on Wednesday night. The sign can be attached to a building (inside or outside) or carted around on a truck or trolley--it weighs about 150 pounds, and is 7 1/2 feet long. The sign can be a great way to advertise our message, so please give it some thought and see if your group has a use for it some time during the month of March.
Organizational Issues:
Because we are growing with leaps and bounds, we need to talk about how we want to work together and how we can all share the load. That is something that we will certainly want to discuss at the March 26 mini-conference. But initial thoughts are welcome.
Please remember to join the conference call on Wednesday night! And is there someone who is willing to take notes and distribute them to the participants?
In solidarity and peace,
Jean Athey, for the Fund Our Communities: Bring the War Dollars Home planning group
Legislators who Have Signed the Raskin/Hixson Letter:
Senators
Ulysses Currie – D25 (1/24)
Brian Frosh –D16 (1/25)
Delores Kelley – D10 (1/20)
Nancy King – D39 (2/7)
Richard Madaleno – D18 (1/31)
Roger Manno – D19 (1/31)
Karen Montgomery – D14 (2/7)
Paul Pinsky – D22 (1/21)
Catherine Pugh – D40 (1/21)
Jamie Raskin – D20
Ronald Young – D3 (1/25)
Delegates
Sam Arora – D19 (1/20)
Elizabeth Bobo - D12B (1/20)
Alfred Carr – D18 (1/21)
Bonnie Cullison – D19 (1/20)
Steven DeBoy – D12A (1/28)
Barbara Frush – D21 (2/1)
Cheryl Glenn – D45 (1/28)
Ana Sol Gutierrez – D18 (1/21)
Hattie Harrison – D45 (1/25)
Sheila Hixson – D20
Tom Hucker – D20 (1/31)
Anne Kaiser - D14 (1/21)
Ariana Kelly – D16 (1/24)
Benjamin Kramer – D19 (1/24)
Susan Lee – D16 (1/20)
Mary Ann Love - D32 (1/20)
Eric Luedtke – D14 (1/20)
Heather Mizeur – D20 (2/7)
Aruna Miller – D15 (1/21)
Dan Morhaim – D11 (1/20)
Peter Murphy – D28 (1/24)
Doyle Niemann – D47 (1/20)
Kirill Reznik – D39 (1/25)
Shane Robinson – D39 (1/31)
Samuel Rosenberg - D41 (1/21)
Michael Summers – D47 (2/2)
Joseph Vallario – D27A (1/21)
Mary Washington – D43 (1/25)
FUND OUR COMMUNITIES COALITION MEMBERS
(as of February 12, 2011)
- Baltimore Nonviolence Center
- CASA de Maryland
- Chesapeake Climate Action Network
- Citizens for Peace/Baltimore
- Columbia United Christian Church’s Peace and Justice Committee
- Democracy for America/Montgomery County
- Gray Panthers of Metropolitan Washington
- Green Party/Anne Arundel County
- Green Party/Montgomery County
- Little Friends for Peace
- Maryland Black Family Alliance
- Maryland United for Peace and Justice
- Montgomery County Civil Rights Coalition
- Montgomery County Progressive Alliance
- NAACP/Maryland
- Network of Spiritual Progressives/MD
- Orthodox Peace Fellowship
- Pax Christi/MD
- Peace Action Anne Arundel
- Peace Action Montgomery
- Peace and Justice Coalition, Prince George’s County
- Pledge of Resistance/Baltimore
- Progressive Democrats of America/MD
- Progressive Cheverly
- Progressive Maryland
- Progressive Neighbors
- Prosperity Agenda
- Sandy Spring Friends Meeting Peace Committee
- Southern Christian Leadership Conference/Montgomery County
- UFCW Local 1994 MCGEO
- Veterans for Peace/Baltimore chapter
- Veterans for Peace/Washington, DC Area Chapter
- Voters for Peace
- Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom/DC
