For a printable version of our agenda, click here.
In 2022, our areas of advocacy are:
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Ending Hunger
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Improve access and usage rates for SNAP benefits and encourage greater participation in food and nutrition programs, particularly for children and youth
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Address the material needs of ag workers who grow, tend, and harvest food in Colorado
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Collaborate with faith-based entities in the regional network, including ELCA World Hunger, Bread for the World, and the Rocky Mountain Synod Hunger Team
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Poverty Reduction
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Support follow-up legislative work to implement voter-approved Proposition 118, establishing a paid family and medical leave insurance program
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Protect access to federal programs for people living in poverty and support statewide direct assistance programs, including energy assistance, legal defense, and more
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Support reform of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights to give our democratically-elected legislature fiscal authority in taxation
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Access to Housing
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Promote measures to expand and protect housing options for low-income individuals and families, particularly renters
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Ensure that people experiencing homelessness have the right and responsibility to access robust services and support, particularly emergency shelters and health care
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Engage bills from the legislature's Interim Housing Task Force
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Criminal Justice Reform
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Work with advocates on sentencing reform, with a focus on sentences for which there is evidence of disproportionate racialized impacts
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Advocate for reduced and/or safer police interaction and increased intervention by trained mental health professionals for those experiencing mental health crises
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Public Health
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Protect health care access as a public good and human right that should be available to everyone regardless of ability to pay, including the need for follow-up care for those suffering long-term effects from COVID-19
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Support awareness of public safety in relation to firearms, and understanding firearm-involved deaths (homicides and suicides) as a major public health concern and support home safe storage measures
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Promote access to care and treatment for those suffering from opioid addiction
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Address the impacts of anxiety, depression, stress, suicidal ideation and other mental health conditions exacerbated by the pandemic, particularly among front-line health care workers and young people
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Engage bills from the legislature's Interim Behavioral Health Task Force
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Migrants and Refugees
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Interpret and promote the sanctuary denomination decision of the ELCA Churchwide Assembly
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Support ELCA Washington Office advocacy around asylum, refugee, and immigration policies and collaborate where possible with Lutheran Immigration & Refugee Services and Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountains
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Caring for Our Environment
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Engage legislation to address the root causes of the climate crisis, particularly fossil fuel extraction and greenhouse gas emissions
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Support incentive-building programs and grants to local communities to build renewable infrastructure
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Address economic implications of transitioning communities away from fossil fuel and extraction-based energy economy
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Support and collaborate with allied Lutheran entities in local and regional work, including the Rocky Mountain Synod Creation Care Team and Lutherans Restoring Creation
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