The Lame Duck Digest

We find ourselves in a liminal legislative time: the November elections have been called, yet the current New Jersey Legislature holds office until January 11th, 2022. This unique window, called the “lame duck session,” can represent a window of opportunity for bills that struggled to progress during the regular legislative session.

The “lame duck” also represents a closing window of opportunity. January 12th, 2022 will mark the beginning of the new Legislature, and all bills that have not passed will go back to square one. A bill that is not passed by the 219th New Jersey Legislature (2020-2022) loses all progress and needs to be reintroduced in the 220th New Jersey Legislature (2022-2024).

Reparations

UUs for Reparations

Unitarian Universalists have a long history in the fight for racial justice, from advocating for the abolition of slavery, to supporting the Civil Rights movement, to participating in the Black Lives Matter movement. This history of combining hands-on work for social justice with the free search for truth and meaning continues in the work of our Reparations Task Force.

#GivingTuesday Spotlight: Reproductive Justice

Dear Friend,

There have been so many challenges this year. From a pandemic that has illuminated cruel societal inequities, to unceasing gun violence, environmental challenges, and systemic racism, our task forces have been hard at work addressing these issues on a legislative level to improve equity for all in our state. But the attack on reproductive freedom witnessed in other states as well as at the federal level is an especially urgent cause of concern for many. Our Reproductive Justice Task Force is focused on advocating for the passage of the Reproductive Freedom Act (S3030/A4848), which will ensure that all New Jerseyans have the right to make their own health decisions on issues of birth control and pregnancy related care, including abortion, as well as removing financial barriers to accessing such care.

Reproductive Justice

Rights are Not Enough — We Must Advance Equity by Removing Barriers to Reproductive Health Care

More than 75 New Jersey based organizations have signed on to a statement declaring their support for the Reproductive Freedom Act urging lawmakers to take action and pass the bill in its entirety before the close of the current legislative session. Introduced in October 2020, the Reproductive Freedom Act (S3030/A4848) is a proactive bill that both ensures the right to abortion in New Jersey and removes barriers to access, especially for our most vulnerable and marginalized populations.

Duck in flight

Justice Takes Flight in the ‘Lame Duck’

The New Jersey legislative cycle is a two-year process. This year is an election year, which means that the current legislative cycle will come to an end in early January. Any pending legislation that is not passed and signed into law within the current cycle must start over from the very beginning in the new legislature.