Domestic Affairs
State and Federal Domestic Issues
While the nation experiences a period of unprecedented prosperity and economic expansion, too many Americans do not share in that abundance. The boom of the past decade has in fact widened an already large income gap between rich and poor. At a time of enormous federal budget surpluses with projections of continued growth in the decades ahead, there remains a great unmet need for investments in the welfare of low-income children and families.
The nation will continue to struggle with how most effectively to handle its new-found wealth and to debate what its responsibilities are regarding the poorest members of society. While battles about spending priorities continue, JCRC will urge greater attention to the needs of those left behind, including investments in affordable housing, healthcare, child care, and the urgent need to reinvest in the nation’s public schools. Also, continued growth in the number of people who lack health insurance, increasing health care costs after a period of price stability, spiraling prescription drug prices, and growing public concern over regulation of managed care, will place healthcare issues once again at the top of the nation’s public policy agenda.
Meanwhile, the nation has yet to address the long-term solvency of Social Security and Medicare. Finally, as demographic diversity increasingly affects how the nation deals with race and public policy, the JCRC will work to strengthen inter-group ties, creating new coalitions founded on concepts of equality and mutual respect, and will seek to engage other groups on issues that improve race relations while advancing the social justice agenda.
To view the archive of JCRC resolutions and position papers, please click here.
JCRC continues to lobby local, state and federal elected officials. For information on our recent visits with elected officials, please click here.
Advocating on behalf of Minnesota’s faith communities
JCRC is a founding member of the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition (JRLC).
JRLC enables the Jewish, Catholic, Protestant and Muslim communities in Minnesota to work together on behalf of social justice legislation before the State Legislature. Since 1971, when the JCRC, the Minnesota Catholic Conference, and the Minnesota Council of Churches created JRLC, this unique interfaith collaboration has been the voice of the religious community at the state capital. On issues ranging from hate crimes to services for immigrants, from hunger to the death penalty, and from school opening dates that conflict with Rosh Hashanah to campaign finance reform, the JRLC has been at the forefront of research, grass roots activism and lobbying.
Before the JRLC’s Executive Director and registered lobbyist can speak out on any proposed legislation, all four sponsors - Jewish, Catholic, Protestant and Muslim - must agree. If any one of these faith groups dissents, then JRLC will not address the issue. Amazingly, after 27 legislative sessions and the myriad of issues JRLC deals with, not once has one of the sponsors invoked its veto authority. This strong consensus reflects just how much in common we have, and how the JRLC has further added to interfaith understanding and cooperation.
In 2004, the Islamic Center of Minnesota joined the JRLC Board of Directors. The transition of the Islamic Center of Minnesota from observer status to a full voting organization made JRLC the only interfaith organization promoting social justice in Minnesota.
Click here to access a partial archive of official position statements of the JRLC, each authorized and approved by the boards of directors of the four sponsoring organizations. Compilations of past issue papers are also included in this library.