Dear friends,
We have about ten days more to work on the NJ tuition equality bill — the DREAM act. Below is good information that I’d like to share. (Wind of the Spirit, which Ilana Rossoff helps to lead, did much of this work, or at least was very much involved in this work.) Anyway, the data below shows that a majority of Assembly members are on board to vote for the NJ DREAM act when it comes to a vote in the Assembly. But Governor Christie has recently reneged on his support here, and last week he said he would not sign the bill in its present form. (He’s not yet saying just what changes would make him accept the bill, so we don’t want to compromise with ourselves yet. Maybe he’d sign a bill that did not include state financial aid, but that’s for him to say, and maybe make him say it in a conditional veto message.) Maybe, of course, his new opposition merely represents a new focus — instead of running for Governor, he may now be running for President, and there’s no satisfying his new vision.
But the important thing here is how many of the “maybe” votes listed below we could contact and perhaps help to persuade to vote yes. The legislative districts of the “maybes” are listed here. Please look them over. If you live in one of these districts, or if members of your congregation do, please do everything you can to contact the Assembly members and urge UUs to do so. We have this week and early next week to do so.
Let’s do it as soon as you can!
Best wishes,
Ted Fetter, Chair
UULMNJ Immigration Task Force