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BY JOHN W. COLEMAN, JR.
SPECIAL TO THE UMCONNECTION

About a hundred United Methodists attended the Baltimore-Washington Conference’s annual Legislative Advocacy Day at Asbury UMC in Annapolis Feb. 15. Their goal: to persuade Maryland lawmakers to choose justice and mercy when voting on bills that could affect thousands of vulnerable residents.

The conference’s United Methodist Women (UMW) and Board of Church and Society collaborated for a second year to gather and inform advocates and then send them off in teams with talking points to lobby state senators and delegates face-to-face. This year’s focus was on 12 legislative bills addressing three critical issues: affordable housing, immigrant workers and human trafficking.

Passage of the Maryland HOME (Housing Opportunities Made Equal) Act would prevent landlords and other property owners statewide from discriminating against anyone seeking housing because of their source of income—whether that income is from wages, government aid, social security or other lawful sources. The Senate and House bills for the HOME Act, which coincides with the conference’s new commitment to help eradicate homelessness, would ensure housing fairness for low-income residents and remedy the unhealthy concentration of poverty in some communities because others lack equal access to housing.

In addition to lobbying efforts, one Advocacy Day participant, the Rev. Marlon Tilghman, pastor of Milford Mill UMC in Pikesville, spoke in support of the act at a committee hearing, which also received a statement from Bishop John Schol.

"Passing the HOME act reduces the discriminatory practices by property owners that disproportionately deny residency to senior citizens, people with disabilities, single mothers, veterans and lower wage earner in regards to their housing," read the statement. "The United Methodist Church across this nation has officially spoken out against discriminatory practices that limit our constitutional values for the pursuit of happiness. The HOME Act is vital to the eradication of homelessness."

Advocates for just immigration laws also lobbied legislators to oppose four bills that would require employers who do business with the state to use a federal identity database to confirm the legal immigration status of workers. Because the E-Verify electronic database is reportedly error-prone and could subject many legal immigrants and employers to undue hardships, advocates urged legislators to vote against the bills.

"We know, by the experiences of people in other states, that the consequences of possible mistakes in this system could destroy a family's livelihood," said the Rev. Eliezer Valentin-Castanon, pastor of Mountain View UMC in Damascus.

Advocates also lobbied for six bills that promise to enhance both prevention and prosecution of human trafficking crimes, an issue of growing public concern. The bills would:

• mandate posting of National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline information at bus stations and truck stops, which are frequent trafficking venues;
• include sex trafficking and prostitution of minors in the definition of child abuse;
• elevate the crime of child abduction for prostitution from a misdemeanor to a felony;
• disallow the frequent defense claim that an offender did not know the age of a minor victim;
• allow for victim’s compensation to be extended to children who are trafficking victims; and
• allow the forfeiture of any property used to commit human trafficking crimes and the conversion of such property into funds to be used for fighting human trafficking and helping victims.

"We divided the bills among our teams to present our concerns to state legislators, and most of the ones we visited were knowledgeable and supportive" recalled Sara Cochran, a member of Christ UMC in Columbia, where several UMW members actively advocate for anti-human trafficking laws. She noted, however, that House Judiciary Committee Chair Joseph Vallario (D) remains a stubborn obstacle to passage of the property forfeiture bill in his committee.

These and other bills relating to priority legislative issues for the conference (see sidebar) will go through committee hearings and be voted on in March or April if committees approve and pass them on to the General Assembly. Some participants at Legislative Advocacy Day may return for hearings, more lobbying visits and other activities, according to Beth Reilly, legislative advocacy consultant for the conference.

"Meeting with our elected officials is one of the most effective ways to influence their positions on social issues of importance to our church," said Reilly, who supports congregations in their education and advocacy efforts.

"Pulling this event together is an intensive operation requiring a great deal of coordination, and it’s amazing to see so many diverse people involved" said Ann Price, UMW Social Action Coordinator, who partnered with Reilly to organize Advocacy Day.

"We’re trying to get more local churches involved in this work as part of their Christian witness," said Sandy Ferguson, who provides conference staff assistance to both the UMW and the Church and Society board as Director of Mission and Justice. During an opening plenary session she reported on the conference’s new, non-profit Be the Change initiative, launched in November 2011 to help end homelessness by creating church-based, permanent supportive housing and services.

"We need to be more proactive and walk the walk," she said appealing for more advocates, partnerships and grantwriters to bolster the new initiative. "We’re more than just a denomination. We’re a movement."

Also addressing key legislative concerns and bills in the plenary and working group sessions were Church and Society Chairperson Sharon Leatherman and staff experts from CASA de Maryland (immigration), Shared Hope International (human trafficking) and Homeless Persons Representation Project (affordable housing).

State Delegate Justin Ross (D), a member of First UMC Hyattsville, also stopped by to talk to advocacy leaders about bills coming up for votes and the best lobbying tactics: personal visits, telephone calls, social media, letters and e-mail messages.