Events
Support DACA Recipients – Build a Better Wisconsin (DACA Bills in the Wisconsin State Legislature)
Learn more about four DACA bills and have a voice with your legislators on THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2024
9:30 AM Registration
Begin at Bethel Lutheran Church – 312 Wisconsin Avenue, Madison, WI 53703
End at the Capitol
Please Register by January 22, 2024, to help us contact your legislators ahead of time.
Sponsors include the Wisconsin Council of Churches and Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice.
Tentative Schedule:
- 9:45 Introduction and Opening Prayer
- 10:00 Panel discussion with Q&A
- 11:15 Tips on how to talk to your legislators
- 11:30 Meet with others from your senate district
- 11:45 Lunch
- 1:00 PM Visit Senators
- 2:00 Visit Assembly Representatives
- Option to meet with our group in a room in the capitol to debrief
Suggested donation for lunch is $15.
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients are individuals who came to the U.S. undocumented at age 15 or younger, have lived in this country for at least five years and are in school or have a diploma. Many of the improvements we seek for legislation DACA recipients are on a federal level. However, in our legislature, we currently have four bills to support DACA recipients, as well as our Wisconsin workforce.
There are 578,680 DACA workers in the United States in total and 5,790 right here in Wisconsin. As a state, we are able to address the following that DACA recipients cannot currently do here:
- Receive professional licenses to be teachers, nurses, electricians, plumbers, etc.
- Pay in-state tuition even if they have lived in Wisconsin most of their lives.
- Receive a tax credit to help renew their status every two years.
- Become police officers and sheriff’s deputies.
AB822/SB828 likely has the most support. The bill would directly impact our workforce by allowing individuals who are part of the DACA program to be eligible to receive occupational licenses. At least 16 states have this eligibility for DACA recipients for at least one type of professional license and most of these states allow for most or all types of professional licenses in the state. This legislation would help Wisconsin fill our labor shortages. According to DWD’s Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey, there were a total of 187,000 job openings across the state and widely expressed concerns by employers about the challenge of filling these positions.
“I got into nursing school only to learn that even after graduating, I wouldn’t be able to get a nursing license.” –DACA recipient at a public hearing on AB822
AB821/SB843 would allow DACA recipients to pay in-state tuition for Wisconsin schools like most residents who have lived in the state for 12 months. The current exclusion of DACA recipients from this is an undue burden on these individuals and harms Wisconsin due to the potential of them leaving the state rather than help fill our state’s labor shortage. Moreover, a loophole in reciprocity law currently allows DACA recipients living in Minnesota to pay in-state tuition for Minnesota. 25 other states and D.C. already allow in-state tuition for DACA students, so it is time for Wisconsin to get up to speed on where these other states are.
“I lived in Wisconsin since I was a child, went to school in Wisconsin. I love the Packers. But I had to pay out-of-state tuition.” Paraphrase from a Daca recipient who testified on AB 822 but also mentioned tuition.
AB820/SB865 would create a tax credit for DACA recipients of $250 for their annual taxes. Currently, DACA recipients have to go through many hurdles to remain in Wisconsin due to their status. This tax credit would target one condition of their status renewal which requires them to pay $495 every two years for the ability to work and pay taxes in this country. With other hurdles that DACA recipients have to go through, it is time for Wisconsin to help them have one less concern in their lives.
AB51/SB78 would allow the sheriff of a county or appointing authority of a local law enforcement agency to authorize the appointment of DACA recipients. The bill also prevents the law enforcement standards board from preventing a DACA recipient from participating in a
law enforcement preparatory training program. “Under current law, no person may be appointed as a deputy sheriff of any county or police officer of any city, village, or town unless that person is a citizen of the United States.”
We have a shortage of employees in many of our professions. We need to stop sending our talent to other states to study and remain. Let’s to do what is right for our neighbors and our communities.
Past Events
2023 National Workshop on Christian Unity Registration
Developed by the Minnesota Council of Churches in response to the injustice experienced by people of color in their state and beyond, the theme for the 2023 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, “Do Good; Seek Justice (Isaiah 1:17),” will serve as theme for NWCU 2023 as well. Theologian-in-Residence the Rev. Canon Stephanie Spellers will lead us in considering the theme under three sub-topics: listening to the biblical call to justice, lamenting the lack of justice in our world, and living into justice in our communities. Each day Workshop participants will join in table conversations around the praxis of justice facilitated by the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center.
LOPPW’s director will be one of the ELCA representatives speaking on a seminar panel on May 10.
DEADLINE TO REGISTER EXTENDED APRIL 3! Go to our Youth Advocacy page to register and find more information: Youth Advocacy Retreat
- Location: Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Madison West, 1109 Fourier Dr., Madison, Wisconsin, 53717
- Date: Friday, Apr 14, 2023 – Sunday, Apr 16, 2023
- Time: 6:00pm on Friday – 1:00pm on Sunday
- Cost: $75
Join the Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin and Faith in Place day of action to advocate for hunger relief, climate justice, and clean water in the Wisconsin State Budget.
DEADLINE TO REGISTER: FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 2023
Date: March 21
Time: 9:30 AM and ends at approximately 2:15 PM (lunch included)
Location: First United Methodist Church (ending at the Capitol)
203 Wisconsin AveMadison, WI, 53703
There is no charge but any donation would be welcome on the day of the event to help defray costs.
Sponsors include the Wisconsin Council of Churches and Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice.
Join us at https://www.facebook.com/LOPPW on January 5 at noon for Wednesday Noon Live!
Our special guest will be Giovana Oaxaca, ELCA Program Director on Migration Policy. Giovana will give highlights of immigration and refugee policies in 2021 and on what to advocate for in 2022.
Wednesday Noon Live: Join us on LOPPW’s Facebook this week on November 3. The focus will be on the United Nations Climate Conference – Conference of Parties 26 (COP26). The ELCA is sending several observers.
COP26: LOPPW’s director will join several other leaders from the ELCA to be observers at COP26 the second week of November. COP26 will be held Oct. 31 – Nov. 12, 2021
Celebrate Generations of Sisters in Christ at the Nineteenth Biennial Convention! Saturday, November 13, 2021 from 8 am to 3:30 pm at St Mark’s Lutheran Church 140 S Green Bay Road, Neenah. Register here.
Workshops include
● LOPPW by Shirley Paulson and Rev Barb Girod
● AMMPARO by Paul Edison-Swift
● Thrivent representatives!
● Human Trafficking advocacy by Lisa McCormick
Join us on Wednesday, September 8 at Noon for Wednesday Noon Live! Hear from Vance Hear from Vance Blackfox, our new ELCA Director for American Indian Alaska Native Tribal Nations. Vance is a member of the Cherokee Nation working with tribal nations around the country on just public policies.
Advocacy and Youth: The director and Hunger Advocacy Fellow will lead a workshop on advocacy to youth at St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church in Wauwatosa on June 22 at 1:00 PM.
Summer Biblical Justice Forums: LOPPW staff will present at Biblical justice forums organized by the Northwest Synod of Wisconsin on July 24 at Luther Point Bible Camp in Grantsburg and August 14 at Luther Park Bible Camp in Chetek. Contact Deacon David Rask Behling, Hunger and Justice Advocate (NWSW) with any questions: hungerandjustice@nwswi.org
Standing With Our: Conversations on Immigration – Tuesday, May 25th, 2021.
Standing With Our Neighbors: Conversations on Immigration – Tuesday, March 23rd, 2021.
The ELCA’s South Central Synod Team for Immigration Reform and Refugee Support is pleased to offer a series of conversations meant to educate and inspire advocacy for immigration issues among individuals and congregations.
Erin Barbato is the Director of the Immigrant Justice Clinic at the University of Wisconsin Law School and an expert on immigration policy. In addition to assisting with pro bono services for local immigrant communities, Barbato frequently takes law students to the Dilley Detention Center in Texas to provide legal aid to detained immigrants and asylum seekers at the border.
Join us as we learn about experiences from the border, discuss federal and state immigration policy, and answer your most pressing questions.
Faith Advocacy for Climate Justice
As Wisconsin lawmakers examine and revise the Governor’s Wisconsin State Budget, we have an opportunity to lift our voices. Join us on March 18 to focus on budgetary items related to climate change. We will especially focus on renewable energy, agriculture, and green jobs.
Governor Evers Budget Listening Sessions
Governor Evers and Lt. Governor Barnes announced they will be hosting virtual listening sessions as they begin the 2021-23 state budget process. They will hold four virtual “issued-based” listening sessions. The sessions include:
- Budget Listening Session on Healthcare and Public Health
- Tuesday, November 17, at 6 p.m.
- See link here for that full session already held
- Budget Listening Session on Environment, Infrastructure, and the Economy
- Wednesday, December 2, at 6 p.m
- Register to attend HERE
- Budget Listening Session on Criminal Justice Reform
- Tuesday, December 8, at 6 p.m.
- Registration will be live one week before the listening session date.
- Budget Listening Session on Our Schools and Education
- Wednesday, December 16, at 6 p.m.
- Registration will be live on week before the listening session date.
Faithful Action for a Health Wisconsin Press Conference
On Nov. 16 at 10 AM, please join LOPPW, Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice, the Wisconsin Council of Churches and WISDOM at a press conference to support health care workers and a unified state plan that follows the guidelines of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. Join us on Facebook. Also consider sharing the FB invitation to a Faithful Action for a Healthy Wisconsin.
Lifting Our Voices During the Pandemic (Zoom Webinar)
Lifting our Voices during the Pandemic – So you know the why, but what about the how-to in advocacy? Learn about starting or expanding an advocacy ministry in your congregations and lifting your voices in public, with examples of addressing concrete issues relevant now and beyond the pandemic. Tuesday, October 13, 2020 from 6:30-7:30, sponsored by LOPPW and Women of the ELCA in the East Central Synod.
Governor’s Task Force on Climate Change Listening Sessions
Don’t miss your chance to shape Wisconsin’s fight against the climate crisis! Accepting public comments online until July 31, 2020 at ➡️climatechange.wi.gov
PRESS RELEASE on caring for God’s Creation, also to serve as examples for offering feedback to the Governor’s Task Force on Climate Change (thank you to the six bishops, our new climate team, and the council for signing on: Press Release.
The first listening sessions of the Governor’s Task Force on Climate Change included excellent presentations with plenty of time for everyone to share or just listen in virtual small groups. Zoom Link: bit.ly/37C7dyM OR Call: 1 (312) 626-6799 Meeting ID: 365 565 6200 and Password: 219745. Learn more at ClimateChange.wi.gov
- Listening Session #3: Tuesday, July 7, 2020, 6:00 – 8:00 PM
- Listening Session #4: Thursday, July 9, 2020, 6:00 – 8:00 PM
- Listening Session #5: Wednesday, July 15, 2020, 6:00 – 8:00 PM
June 23, 2020, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm: The Governor’s Task Force on Climate Change first public hearing – Stay tuned for instructions on how to join the virtual hearing. The task force now has a website with info on upcoming hearings and info on how to make comments. Take a look and stay tuned for more details about how to join a virtual public hearing! WEBSITE
June 22, 2020, 2:00 pm Join us for a short meeting on Zoom to prepare for the public listening sessions for the Governor’s Task Force on Climate Change. Email admin@loppw.org to help us prepare and to receive a reminder Zoom link. The Zoom link is also HERE.
Hunger Task Force Webinars on the Pandemic EBT for families who would have received free/reduced-price school meals before the schools closed.
Webinar in English: June P-EBT Webinar Invitation to Register (1)
Webinar in Spanish: Spanish P-EBT webinar flyer
EMANUEL 9 DAY OF REPENTANCE – June 17, 2020 (or the Sunday After) In 2019, as a result of grassroots organizing, the ELCA Churchwide Assembly adopted a resolution to establish June 17 as “Emanuel 9 Day of Repentance,” commemorating the martyrdom of Pickney, Graham-Hurd, Jackson, Lance, Middleton-Doctor, Sanders, Simmons, Coleman-Singleton and Thompson. The resolution calls for worship resources and deepening conversations with the African Methodist Episcopal Church on matters of racism and white supremacy. It was adopted alongside another resolution condemning white supremacy and racist rhetoric, and in the context of the ELCA’s public apology articulated in the “Declaration of the ELCA to People of African Descent.” Learn more HERE.
The Pandemic and Living on the Margins of Safety
June 3, 2020, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Co-Sponsored by the Women of the ELCA.
Join three professionals to learn about how the pandemic is impacting child abuse, sex trafficking, and domestic abuse. Our three panelists will give brief presentations and then open the discussion up for questions.
- Executive Director Sharyl Kato, Child and Family Therapist, The Rainbow Project (Madison) serving children and families who have experienced violence and deep trauma.
- Director Jan Miyasaki, J.D., Project Respect (Madison) serving adult and juvenile victims of prostitution, sexual exploitation, and human trafficking.
- Executive Director Sue Sippel, The Family Center (Wisconsin Rapids), guided by survivor voices, working through education and community involvement to eliminate violence and provide safety for all people victimized by abuse. Click here to Register!
Opening Prayer: Women of the ELCA Director for Justice Jen DeLeon
May 26, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm: join ELCA Director for Theological Ethics Rev. Dr. Roger Willer, who will moderate a discussion on the ELCA social message draft “Government and Civic Engagement: Discipleship in a Democracy.” Take this opportunity to also offer input, the deadline for which is the following day. We are reaching out to all synods with congregations in Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Click here to Register!
We encourage you to read the social message before our conference call: Draft Social Message on “Government and Civic Engagement: Discipleship in a Democracy,”
Tuesday, May 4 at 3:00 pm on Facebook Live for Say it in Five Minutes! Dr. Erin Zimmerman will in five minutes answer this question: “How has the environment improved since the beginning of the pandemic and what can we do to keep up the positive trend?” She has a PhD in political science with an emphasis in environmental security and governance, and is trained as a Climate Reality Leader. Erin currently lives in Silicon Valley and is a former member of Advent Lutheran Church in Madison.
Erin’s presentation will only be for five minutes, but if you have questions we will go longer. You’ll be able to ask questions in the comments.
What’s Going on with Chief Meteorologist Bob Lindmeier? Presentations on Climate Change Coming up:
April 1, 2020 at Noon: Wednesday Noon Live – special interview with JUDITH ROBERTS, ELCA Program Director for Racial Justice Ministries and Lamont Wells, President of the African Descent Lutheran Association,
January 16, 2020, 11:00 am: Pastor Cindy spoke on advocacy at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Madison.
