On Tuesday, January 22, members of Muhlenberg Lutheran were in Richmond to attend the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy’s “Day for All People” to advocate at the capital on issues that the Center is working on and that we as Lutherans feel strongly should be considered by our representative. We were joined in the 26th District group with students from JMU and EMU’s social work classes. We addressed our thought on several very important Bills that will be voted on in Senate and in the House during this session of the General Assembly. Some of the bills that we talked about are as follows:

Some of the Bills Supported

Wage Theft – all employees to receive a paystub, creating a Private Cause for Action for Non- Payment of Wages, prohibiting employers from firing an employee who has filed a case on Wage Theft. Removing Jim Crow language from our current law, paying piece workers the minimum wage (this Bill sadly failed), giving DOLI (Department of Labor and Industry) and other Wage theft issues

Create a Driver’s Privilege card

In-State Tuition for all

Some of the Bills Opposed

Guns in Worship – this Bill would remove the statutory prohibitions on carrying a gun, pistol, knife, dagger or other dangerous weapons into a place of worship while a meeting for religious purposes is being held

Anti-Sanctuary Cities

Forcing Localities to Collaborate with ICE

Workshops were also held and you could pick from the following to become further educated in how our congregations could get involved:

Medicaid Expansion Enrollment & Storytelling – learning about Health Care Hope Ambassadors Network can help the community through the Medicaid enrollment events

Social Media Bootcamp – how to best use social media platforms to support social justice campaigns and calls to action

Juvenile Justice & RISE for Youth – Valerie Slater, Executive Director of RISE for Youth shared the work to dismantle the youth prison model by promoting the creation of community-based alternatives to youth incarceration

Environmental Justice & Creation Care 101 – learn of resources to help mobilize your congregation to take collective action to care for your neighbor and our common home

Living Wage Certification Programs – the difference between a living wage and the minimum wage

We have a wonderful time having our voices heard as we advocated as people of faith for All Virginians. We all plan to take what we learned to continue to advocate for Justice for all our brothers and sisters in this wonderful place of God’s creation we call our home. We encourage all congregations no matter your size to consider attending next year’s “Day for All People” and we thank our VA Synod for all the work that it does to Advocate for Justice for all.