Dear ,

There is still no official word on budget negotiations. Although I have great respect for the leaders of the money committees, the budget process is not a transparent one. A handful of legislators hammer out compromises with little input from other legislators, let alone the rest of us. Neither the House nor the Senate budget had much new money for affordable housing despite legislators’ and the Governor’s publicly expressed concern about housing. Nonetheless, we will keep pushing for more money to build affordable housing, rental assistance, and home ownership for historically excluded groups.

If you haven’t yet sent an email to your legislators about the budget (as requested in the last few editions of this newsletter), please send one today. Simply CLICK HERE to do so or click the button below my signature.  

We also believe congregations could do more to help with the affordable housing crisis. Many of our congregations are sitting on extra land or buildings that are not being used. Some congregations have dwindled to small numbers worshipping in enormous caverns of buildings. Some of these properties or land might be perfect for developing affordable housing. 

Over the next couple of years, VICPP is planning to learn from congregations that have undertaken affordable housing building projects and identify congregations that might be interested in learning more about how to use their spaces to address affordable housing concerns. In the process, we will uncover policy changes Virginia could consider that could help assist congregations interested in affordable housing.

If your congregation has been involved in an affordable housing development project or is interested in learning more about how it could be, please contact VICPP Faith Organizer Sheila Herlihy Hennessee at Sheila@virginiainterfaithcenter.org. We are also interested in conversations occurring within denominations/judicatories about affordable housing. 

Most of my staff took a well-deserved break last week. We’re back! If you’d like one of us to speak at your congregation, please let me know. 

Thankful for your support and advocacy, 

Kim Bobo
Executive Director

There is a health equity crisis in Virginia. It is up to us, as people who value both faith and medical care, to add hope to the conversation. Join us this evening, on March 8, at 6:30 p.m. to discuss where our health equity priorities stand after the legislative session, and what issues we're likely to focus on next year. There will be a presentation about vaccine equity, both for COVID-19 and for other adult vaccinations. We'll also have a chance to brainstorm how we can stand up for equity in our own communities. Click the button below to register.

The James River Chapter of VICPP is hosting its Spring meeting on March 15 from noon to 1. The theme is Healing Wounded Communities by Disarming Hearts, Forging Peace and Cultivating Justice, featuring special guests, VICPP Executive Director Kim Bobo, and Shane Claiborne, bestselling author and renowned activist. Shane is a self-described “champion for grace” who values helping the homeless, protesting against wars, advocating for the end of the death penalty, and supporting methods to end gun violence. He has worked with Mother Teresa in Calcutta, founded The Simple Way in Philadelphia, and heads up Red Letter Christians.

The program will be held virtually via Zoom. Zoom information will be provided once registration has been completed. Please click the button below to register! 

For additional information, please contact James River Chapter Leader John Gregoire at: johngregoire185@hotmail.com

Join the Northern Virginia Chapter of VICPP as we review the General Assembly, and discuss what we can do going forward to promote justice in our area and our commonwealth. Featured guests include VICPP Executive Director Kim Bobo and Rodrigo Soto, Campaign Manager at The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis. The virtual meeting will take place via Zoom on Monday, March 20 at 7:20 p.m. Zoom link and information will be shared after registration is completed. Click the button below to register!

VICPP is hiring for a new Health Equity Manager. Please encourage strong applicants to apply by March 17, 2023 by clicking the button below.

Upcoming events are posted to the web regularly. Please click the button below to check out the VICPP Events webpage.  

VICPP Faith Organizer Sheila Herlihy Hennessee quoted in:

Housing reform bills saw mixed success in General Assembly

Capital News Service via Virginia Business, Mar. 3, 2023.

By Darlene Johnson

Excerpt:

SB 1447: The SCC would establish limitations on the authority of investor-owned utilities to disconnect service for nonpayment of bills or fees during a statewide emergency declared by the governor, during temperature weather extremes, or on a Friday, weekend, state holiday, or day immediately before a state holiday.

“During instances of public emergency … everyone needs access to water, everyone needs access to heat in a snowstorm, everyone needs access to AC during a heatwave,” said Sheila Herlihy Hennessee, faith organizer with the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy. The organization primarily lobbies in support of racial, social, and economic justice policies.

It is more efficient to keep people in their homes and “protect folks where they are,” Herlihy Hennessee said.

Read full article by clicking the button below.

VICPP Economic Justice Program Manager Jase Hatcher quoted in:

Bills to ensure workers paid sick days failed in Va. House. Legislation also would have removed barriers for grocery, health care workers.

Capital News Service via Virginia Business, Mar. 3, 2023.

By Mackenzie Meleski

Excerpt:

The Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy advocated for Guzman’s bill in 2021. The bill provided five paid sick days per year for 30,000 home health care workers in Virginia, according to the VICPP website.

VICPP conducted a study in 2015 that reported 1.2 million workers in Virginia have no paid sick leave, according to Jase Hatcher, VICPP economic justice program manager. This totals to 41% of private sector workers in Virginia, according to Hatcher. Taking just 3.5 unpaid sick days can result in an average family losing a month’s worth of groceries, Hatcher said.

“That means that workers are choosing between taking care of themselves and their family member, or paying their bills,” Hatcher said. “That is not how we should do that.”

The VICPP study stated that 83% of registered Virginia voters supported a paid sick day standard, according to the VICPP website. Home health care providers need paid sick leave to tend to their health and also to help prevent further outbreaks of illness, VICPP stated. A 2020 study by Health Affairs found that paid sick leave reduced the spread of the coronavirus.

The VICPP believed the bill failed due to the “issues around its impact” on small businesses, Hatcher said. The Senate version of the bill added that a grocery store worker did not include any employee of a business that employs fewer than 25 employees.

“What it comes down to is there are a lot of folks who just don’t believe that there should be mandates or any mandates on paper, but as the data shows, without that mandate, 1.2 million workers go without,” Hatcher said.

The VICPP will continue to advocate for a paid sick leave bill during the next session, because it is one of the most important issues for workers, according to Hatcher.

“The U.S. is one of the very, very few countries in the world which does not have a national paid sick leave policy,” Hatcher said. “So making sure that we’re filling the gaps at the local and state level is really essential before we can get that nationally.”

Read full article by clicking the button below.

Solitary Confinement Senate Bill Patron, Sen. Joe Morrissey, quoted in:

Virginia, West Va. Kroger employees allege computer-generated wage theft. Class-action suit, one of four nationwide, filed in Richmond in January.

Virginia Mercury, Mar. 7, 2023

By Stephanie Overman

Excerpt:

In Virginia, the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy and Virginia Employment Lawyers Association operate a hotline at 804-821-1768 that workers can call if they believe their employer is engaging in wage theft.

The calls to the hotline come from “construction workers, people incorrectly classified as independent contractors, home health workers or caretakers of the elderly or children,” said Sheila Herlihy Hennessee, an organizer for the interfaith center. “Wage theft hits low-wage workers more than higher-wage workers. It’s people who are just trying to make ends meet.”

Workers can submit a complaint to the hotline and someone at the center can draft a letter to try to address the issue, she said. If that doesn’t work, the groups can put the employee in touch with an attorney.

“Once in a while we find people of good will who didn’t know they were committing wage theft and we have a lovely conversation,” she said. “More often they won’t respond to the letter.”

Read full article by clicking the button below.

Not Issue-Related but check out VICPP E.D. Kim Bobo and her choir in:

This group is uniting Richmonders of different backgrounds through song

CBS 6/WTVR, Feb. 27, 2023

By Leland Pinder

Excerpt:

One Richmond group is celebrating Black History Month while also promoting diversity and racial reconciliation year-round through music.

Richmond's One Voice Community Chorus is a choir with a cause. Online, they describe their group as an "intentionally integrated chorus bringing a musically diverse range of excellent choral performances to people in Richmond, VA and wherever there are those who need to hear our voice."

Watch the news story and read the article by clicking the button below.