| Possumus Spring 2007 |
Leadership |
Who better to explain how it’s done than Joan Wittman, head of the Legislative Advocacy Partners Working Group? The first subject: Action Alerts. “We have a ready network of 8 to 90 people called LAP (Legislative Action Partners),” she explains. “When they receive an Action Alert, they contact their own legislators by phone, or email or in person, to advocate on behalf of the dear neighbor.” The Action Alerts, coming out of the various working groups, describe in great detail the issues at stake in a matter before the legislature. During the last legislative session, the LAPs handled 14 Action Alerts.
There is another way for the working groups to educate others. It’s called Justice Night. Each month, a different working group, with their unique focus, takes on the responsibility of hosting a gathering and presenting their own program. The evening is part education, part social event, part spiritual experience. Anyone who is interested is invited to hear what the group has to say. That includes the whole neighborhood.
But perhaps the most popular means of advocacy the Commission uses is referred to as Conversations With Legislators, which take place at the CSJ Provincial House. Picture a dining room filled with constituents, sitting around small tables, primed and ready to talk something over with their senators or representatives. They have spent the morning going over extensive briefs on various topics. They are ready for in-depth discussions on matters of their choosing. In the afternoon, the invited legislators arrive, and for one and a half hours straight, they talk completely off-script with the people they work for. “They look forward to these days,” Joan says. “They enjoy finding out what their constituents are thinking. Especially constituents as well-informed as we are.”
What’s next for the Justice Commission? Recently, the state legislature has formed a Committee to End Poverty in Minnesota. The Justice Commission has just formed a working group. It is another group of dedicated people getting together to speak up for the rights and interests of the dear neighbor. And united in their certainty that the Gospel demands nothing less.
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