Democracy and You: A Guide to NBLSA’s Legislative Advocacy
N ATIO NAL BLACK LAW STUDENTS ASSO CIATIO N www.nblsa.org ag@nblsa.org
How can my chapter get involved?
What is legislative advocacy?
There are numerous ways in which NBLSA members can engage in legislative advocacy, including:
Legislative advocacy refers to efforts to influence the introduction, enactment, or modification of legislation. The most common means of legislative advocacy is direct lobbying- contacting a legislator and sharing an organization’s views or asking him or her to vote a specific way on a bill. This can be accomplished with a letter or phone call or by scheduling a formal meeting with the legislator or the legislative staff.
• participating in the 2011 Lobby Day and meeting with legislators on Capitol Hill. • completing a form letter supporting NBLSA’s national and regional legislation at your regional convention. • contacting your regional Attorney General for information on organized efforts in your area.
National Legislation
W hat is the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)? The ESEA is federal legislation that was enacted in 1965. In March 2010, the Obama Administration introduced its blueprint for the latest reauthorization. The reauthorization reforms the ESEA in four key areas: (1) improving teacher and principal effectiveness; (2) increasing the availability of information to assist families with evaluating and improving their children’s schools; (3) implementing college- and career- ready standards and developing improved assessments aligned with those standards and (4) improving student learning and achievement in the nation’s lowest performing schools by providing intensive support and effective interventions. Racially and socioeconomically isolated schools, in high-poverty areas, tend to produce disproportionately lower scores on standardized tests and lower graduation rates. The Turn-Around Schools provision of the ESEA increases resources and support for underperforming schools, which are often found in minority communities. The ESEA blueprint is available at www.ed.gov.
Regional Legislation Mid-Atlantic Region Democracy Restoration Act An estimated 5.3 million citizens, in 35 states, cannot vote as a result of felony convictions. In the United States, 13% of African-American men have lost the right to vote as a result of a felony conviction- at a rate that is seven times the national average. Introduced by Representative John Conyers (D-MI) and Senator Russell Feingold (D-WI), the Democracy Restoration Act would restore voting rights in federal elections to nearly 4 million Americans who have been released from prison and are living in the community. In addition, the Democracy Restoration Act would ensure that probationers never lose their right to vote in federal elections and would notify individuals about their right to vote in federal elections when they are leaving prison, sentenced to probation, or convicted of a misdemeanor.
Regional Legislation Midwest Region Dream Act The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act is bipartisan legislation that addresses the plight of young people who were brought to the United States as undocumented immigrant children and who have since grown up here, stayed in school, and kept out of trouble. Each year, approximately 65,000 students raised in the U.S., who would qualify for the DREAM Act’s benefits, graduate from high school. Despite being raised in the U.S., these students face unique barriers to higher education, are unable to work legally in the U.S., and often live in constant fear of detection by immigration authorities. The DREAM Act, introduced by Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Richard Lugar (R- IN) and Representatives Howard Berman (D-CA), Lincoln DiazBalart (R-FL), and Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA), would permit these youth to obtain citizenship through a six-year process requiring completion of a college degree or two years of military service.
Regional Legislation
Northeast Region The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2010
Sponsored by Senators Menendez (D-NJ) and Leahy (D-VT), the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2010 aims to resolve the perennial issue of illegal immigration through border enforcement, interior enforcement, and employment verification. The Act also reforms the legal immigration system and the process by which undocumented immigrants become citizens. The Act proposes to adjust the status for certain Haitian orphans and Liberian nationals and stands to enhance the Office of Citizenship’s efforts to integrate immigrants into American communities.
Regional Legislation Rocky Mountain Region Keep Our Educators Working Act of 2010 Introduced on April 14, 2010 and sponsored by Senator Thomas Harkin (D-IA), the Keep Our Educators Working Act of 2010 appropriates funds for an “Education Jobs Fund,” which allocates the majority of the monies for grants to states. The allocation of this Fund is determined by a formula that considers each state’s share of individuals ages 5 through 24 and each state’s share of the national population. States are then empowered to reserve a part of these funds for retaining and/or creating state education positions.
Under the Act, the majority of a state’s allocated funds must be used to award sub-grants to local educational agencies and public institutions of higher education in an effort to restore the reduction in state funding for elementary, secondary, and higher education remaining for fiscal years 2010 and 2011.
Regional Legislation Southern Region Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act The reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) provides states and localities with federal standards and support for improving juvenile justice and delinquency prevention practices. Specifically, the bill strengthens the Act’s Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) core requirement by providing states with clear direction on how to implement data- driven approaches to ensure fairness and reduce racial and ethnic disparities. Additionally, the bill sets measurable objectives for DMC reduction and for publicly reporting such efforts. The JJDPA improves the jail removal and sight and sound core requirements to keep youth awaiting trial in criminal court out of adult lock-ups. The bill also ensures sight and sound separation in the limited circumstances where they are held in adult facilities. Furthermore, the bill improves conditions of confinement in juvenile facilities by requiring the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Administrator to report state data regarding the uses of isolation and restraints in juvenile detention and corrections facilities. The bill also encourages training of facility staff to eliminate dangerous practices. Â
Regional Legislation
Western Region Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 On October 7, 2008, President George W. Bush signed into law the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008, which was passed in the House of Representatives by voice vote and passed in the Senate by unanimous consent. Designed to amend Title IV (Parts B and E) of the Social Security Act, this legislation aims to aid youth in foster care by promoting permanent families for them through relative guardianship and adoption. The Act also extends federal support for youth to age 21 and offers children of Indian tribes foster care and adoption access. Â
Additional Ways to Get Involved 1. Start a letter-writing campaign on your campus and within your community. Personal testimonies or form letters can be submitted to your local representative or Congressperson. 2. Hold a demonstration or rally supporting legislation. Invite members of the community, local officials and the media. 3. Schedule a meeting with a legislator’s office. 4. Call or email your local representative or Congressperson’s office. 5. Track the vote. Stay informed on the status of proposed legislation through your Congressperson’s website, non-partisan research think tanks such as the Congressional Research Service, and various news media outlets. For tips on how to effectively write to Congress, visit: http://www.congress.org/news/2010/03/09/writing_to_congress_transcript
Need more information? National Attorney General, Ashlyn Shockley ag@nblsa.org National Legislative Liaison, Kendra Brown congressionalliaison@nblsa.org Mid-Atlantic Attorney General, Bryan Hull mablsaattorneygeneral@gmail.com Midwest Attorney General, Caryn Ragin r agin.4@buckeyemail.osu.edu Northeast Attorney General, Mikos Theodule mikos.theodule@gmail.com Rocky Mountain Attorney General, Lauren Brown laurenj.brown@yahoo.com Southern Attorney General, Shari Graham attorneygen.srblsa@gmail.com Western Attorney General, Xavier Carr carrxe@tjsl.edu National Advocacy Fellow, Jordan E. Webber ag.fellow@nblsa.org Find your representative www.congress.org