State Budget, Action Alerts, Assisted Suicide

Governor and Legislature to Wrangle over Budget

The State Budget for the Fiscal Year 2015-16 is scheduled for a vote on Monday by both houses of the California Legislature.  It is expected to pass and will then be sent to the governor who will have until June 30 to approve it. 

Continuing discussions are expected between the governor’s office and leadership to negotiate specific areas of concern.  Gov.  Jerry Brown, with his line-item veto, is expected to stick with his fiscally conservative approach, preferring to keep revenue projections low.  The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), for instance, estimates $3.1 billion more in revenue than the governor predicts.

Some budget requests that we support are included in the budget to be approved by the Legislature on Monday of next week:

  • Funding for non-profits to help provide legal services for those individuals that qualify for the federal programs of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parent of (DAPA) as well as for the state’s own Naturalization Services Program (NSP), which helps legal permanent residents become U.S. Citizens. 
  • Elimination of the Maximum Family Grant rule.  Under the MFG, women already on assistance who become pregnant will feel forced to have an abortion or, get substandard prenatal care.
  • An EITC (Earned Income Tax Credit) -In the May revise of the budget, this was funded at a very low level which would only cover those that are very low-income and part-time workers.  The Legislature provided a state EITC that would help more working California families.

Stay tuned for alerts next week to send to Gov. Jerry Brown regarding these crucial items.

Use Our Action Alerts to Raise a Voice for Life & Dignity

Urge Legislators to Vote “No” on Assisted Suicide – Physician-Assisted Suicide endangers some of the most vulnerable members of our community. Physicians, disability rights groups, advocates for the elderly, religious organizations and many other groups oppose such a bill.  With the passage of SB 128 by the Senate last week, the Action Alert now sends a message to your Assembly Member.  Even if you have already acted on the physician-assisted suicide bill you should do so again now.  We will issue specific alerts as the bill is heard in Assembly committees.

Pida a los legisladores que voten “NO” al suicidio asistido – Está tomando impulso la oposición a la legalización del suicidio asistido por un médico (SB 128) a la vez que los Senadores de ambos partidos están dudando cada vez más de la sensatez de esta peligrosa legislación.

Unfair Legislation May Discourage Women from Getting Help at Pregnancy Centers – AB 775, authored by Assembly Member David Chiu (D-San Francisco), would discriminate against any and all pregnancy centers/clinics that hold a pro-life viewpoint.  

Vive y Lucha por la Vida                                                       

(English) La legalización del suicidio asistido por un médico (SB 128) ha llegado al pleno de la Cámara de representantes de California y tenemos que detener su avance.

Esta propuesta de ley nos pide que hagamos un alto en el camino y que nos preguntemos seriamente sobre los valores en los que creemos, aquellos que orientan nuestras decisiones y que podemos considerar fundamentales para la convivencia humana. ¿Cómo reaccionaríamos si nuestro padre o madre, hijo, e hija, hermana, hermano nos pidiera en su cama de enfermo que le facilitemos las cosas para que se suicide? ¿En que situación quedan las personas que rodean a un enfermo que solicita morir? Al final de cuentas esta ley eventualmente nos afectará a todos y es muy importante que nos opongamos a ella activamente pues si es aprobada todos sufriremos sus consecuencias.

Continúe leyendo

On the Web

The Church in the West – America Magazine is running a series of interviews with several Bishops in California examining the challenges and opportunities of the Catholic Church in the Western United States.  Featured are Bishop Gerald Barnes of San Bernardino, Bishop Patrick McGrath of San Jose and Bishop Armando Ochoa of Fresno.  

Freed at Last – In January 1991, Franky Carrillo Jr., 16, was arrested at his family’s home for the murder of Donald Sarpy in Lynwood, California. Despite professing his innocence, Carrillo was tried as an adult and convicted on witness testimony. Years later, his case was taken up by the Northern California Innocence Project, and in 2011, after witnesses recanted, Carrillo was exonerated. You can read his story in LMU, The Magazine of Loyola Marymount University, and learn more about the principles and practices of restorative justice at www.restorejustice.com.

The Fortnight for Freedom: Freedom to Bear Witness will take place from June 21 to July 4, 2015, a time when our liturgical calendar celebrates a series of great martyrs who remained faithful in the face of persecution by political power—St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher, St. John the Baptist, SS. Peter and Paul, and the First Martyrs of the Church of Rome. The theme of this year’s Fortnight will focus on the “freedom to bear witness” to the truth of the Gospel.  Resources are available here.

 

Water Saving Ideas

The upcoming encyclical by Pope Francis (Laudato Sii – Praise Be) will be released on Thursday, June 18, and is expected to focus on care of creation, consumerism and the environment’s impact on people.  In California, we are experiencing a terrible drought and anything we as individuals can do to save water is encouraged. Here are some easy tips for your household:

Water your lawns in the summer every three days and every five days in the winter.

When ice cubes are leftover from your drink, don’t throw them away- water a plant!

Use the garbage disposal sparingly, instead compost and save gallons every time.

SB 277 Update

This bill which mandates certain vaccines for schoolchildren passed out the Assembly Health Committee on Tuesday, it now moves to the floor at any time. For more information this bill and our position, click here.

June 12, 2015 Vol. 8, No. 22

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