Many members of New Jersey's Latino community are extremely concerned about persistent rumors that there could be a leadership shakeup coming in the state Legislature next year, including the removal of Assemblyman Vincent Prieto as speaker of the New Jersey Assembly.

http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2017/06/legislature_is_better_when_leadership_reflects_states_diversity_opinion.html

Legislature is better when leadership reflects state's diversity | Opinion

Star-Ledger Guest Columnist

Updated on June 22, 2017 at 10:24 AMPosted on June 22, 2017 at 9:19 AM

By Chris Estevez and William Colon

Many members of New Jersey's Latino community are extremely concerned about persistent rumors that there could be a leadership shakeup coming in the state Legislature next year, including the removal of Assemblyman Vincent Prieto as speaker of the New Jersey Assembly.

Losing his proven, progressive leadership would be a tragedy, not just for Latinos but for everyone else in the state as well.

Almost nowhere are America's evolving racial and ethnic demographics more evident than in New Jersey. A 2015 report found that New Jersey was one of six states that will soon join California, Hawaii, New Mexico, and Texas as places where minority groups form the predominant percentage of the population. At current growth rates, by 2025 New Jersey will be "majority-minority."

New Jersey's rich diversity is one of our greatest assets, both socially and economically. Minority groups in the U.S. have always been enthusiastic entrepreneurs, with the motivation and work ethic that fuel economic growth. The Latino community is an especially powerful economic force in New Jersey. New Jersey Latinos (the seventh largest Hispanic population of all U.S. states) own 116,000 businesses that annually contribute more than $20 billion to the state economy.

Unfortunately, the makeup of the New Jersey Senate and General Assembly don't accurately reflect the state's population.

A recent Stockton University study found that, with the exception of African Americans, who are represented at a percentage level about the same as that of the general state population, New Jersey legislators are more likely to be white (and male) than the rest of us. Hispanics, who at that time made up 18 percent of the general population, held only eight percent of Senate and Assembly seats.

That's a job for voters and political parties to tackle. Making sure minority communities exercise their right to vote, encouraging qualified minority candidates to run for office, and educating everyone about the importance of a racially and ethnically balanced legislative body will make sure all New Jerseyans are fairly and equally represented in Trenton.

But sitting legislators have work to do too. Senate and Assembly leadership also needs to be ethnically and racially balanced, with minority-group legislators elected to fill positions of power, right alongside non-minority members.

There are many issues that are especially important to minority communities in New Jersey. Policies regarding education, language, employment, immigration, and law enforcement often have ramifications for minorities that are not the same as those affecting non-minority residents. Putting minority legislators in leadership positions will help make sure the rights and needs of all New Jerseyans receive the attention they deserve.

In his three and a half years as Assembly speaker, Prieto has consistently fought for progressive values and ideals that benefit Latino and other New Jersey communities. Among other accomplishments, he has helped increase the minimum wage, strengthen transportation funding, and institute fairer treatment of nonviolent offenders. 

Prieto has been a crucial voice in bringing awareness to important issues impacting New Jersey Latinos and other frequently underrepresented minorities. There is little question that Prieto has done an excellent job and deserves to continue as the leader of the Assembly.

We're all in this together. Just as it is good for New Jersey neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces to be diverse, our legislature will function better if it is diverse - bottom to top - as well. 

Chris Estevez is president of Latino Action Network.

William Colon is president and CEO of The Latino Institute Inc. 

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Register HERE for 2015 Annual Latino Action Network Legislative Conference

2015 Annual Latino Action Network Legislative Conference

You are cordially invited to the Latino Action Network’s Annual Legislative Conference. The conference will take place on Saturday, January 31, 2015 at the Crystal Room, Robert Treat Hotel Conference Center in Newark, New Jersey.

2015 LAN Legislative Conference Online Registration Form

The event will include a full program, with keynote presentations and dynamic workshops with panels discussing a full array of issues of great importance to New Jersey's Latino community.

Our Keynote Speakers will be:

NJ Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney and NJ Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto.

Breakout panels will cover the following subjects:

• Immigration Issues
• Education: K-12 and Financial Aid for DACA
• Health Disparities and the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)
• Affordable Housing
• Labor Issues
• State Budget Process

We expect an audience of over 200 persons, including Latino elected officials, civic and community leaders interested in developing a shared vision for New Jersey.

This Legislative Conference is hosted by the Latino Action Network (LAN) in collaboration with The Latino Institute, Inc., a private, non-profit, charitable organization, and the Latino Coalition, a member organization of the LAN.

Please click in HERE to register for the LAN Legislative Conference or go to:

2015 LAN Legislative Conference Online Registration Form

You can also contact Carmen Torres at973-273-0273 or via email at carmentorres50@optimum.net if you have any questions about the program.

We are looking forward to presence, as we work together to benefit the Latino community.

DREAMers’ political coming of age: a bolder more inclusive agenda

A national group of Dreamers have just released their platform calling for citizenship for the nation’s 11 million undocumented. A delegation from the New Jersey DREAM Act Coalition (NJDAC) travelled to Kansas City, Missouri to participate in the United We Dream 2012 National Congress. They were among the 600 DREAMer representatives that voted for an official platform with six demands, including a call for the creation of a road map to citizenship for the nation’s 11 million undocumented and an end to “senseless” deportations.

Read about them below:

DREAMers’ political coming of age: a bolder more inclusive agenda

Posted by Sandra Lilley
NBCLATINO

December 3, 2012 3:28pm

http://nbclatino.com/2012/12/03/dreamers-political-coming-of-age-a-bolder-more-inclusive-agenda/

Talk about dreaming big. What started out as a group of undocumented youth asking to be allowed to pursue higher education or work without fear of deportation has grown into a bold mandate calling for a national road map. DREAMers want citizenship not just for themselves, but for their parents, grandparents and neighbors, and are advocating for a broad, diverse coalition to make this happen.

“We strongly believe the immigrant youth movement has accomplished unprecedented power,” said Cristina Jimenez, managing director of the group United We Dream. Saying that DREAMers were instrumental in President Obama’s deferred deportation policy, as well as in encouraging large numbers of Latinos to vote in November’s election, “it really puts us in a position to be bold about our vision,” said Jimenez in a press call following a DREAMer national conference this weekend in Kansas City, Missouri.

At the United We Dream 2012 National Congress, 600 DREAMer representatives voted for an official platform with six demands. It calls for a road map to citizenship for the nation’s 11 million undocumented and an end to “senseless” deportations. It also demands the ability of undocumented immigrants to ‘travel without fear’ by ensuring access to driver’s licenses and the ability to visit family in other countries. It calls for extending state and federal financial aid opportunities for undocumented youth as well as in-state tuition rates to DREAMers, and demands an end to “excessive and costly immigration enforcement policies” such as Secure Communities, E-Verify, 287G, and roadside checkpoints.

The platform also advocates for access to health care and “safe, fair working conditions” and equal protection under the law for all. Lastly, the group wants to include more non-Latinos, as well as people of different sexual orientations, faith groups and and “differently-abled” people.

The group came out against the recent Achieve Act, a Republican-sponsored bill which would allow Dreamers to obtain visas for study or work without ensuring a pathway to citizenship. “Cynical political gestures like the Achieve Act are a step backwards,” said Lorella Praeli, United We Dream’s director of advocacy and policy. The group plans to have coordinated actions and press conferences across the country the week of President Obama’s inauguration. At the same time, United We Dream stresses it is will meet with legislators from both parties – they mentioned Democratic Illinois Congressman Luis Gutierrez and Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio – to press for bipartisan immigration reform in the next legislative session.

Political ‘coming of age?’

Political scientist Cristina Beltran, associate professor of social and cultural analysis and the director of Latino Studies at New York University, says the DREAMers’ platform represents a big change. ”We have been the ones talking about immigration, but now undocumented immigrants are talking to us,” says Beltran, who has written a book on Latino politics and the creation of identity. She says the DREAMers’ platform calling for more inclusion of non-Latinos, as well as people of different sexual orientations and abilities, is a smart move.

“In a way, one of the issues with the immigration debate is that it was very ‘Mexicanized’ – it was treated as a ‘Mexico’ issue,” Beltran says. ”By stressing the global nature of immigration and the fact it encompasses many different people, it keeps it from being all about ‘Latino-bashing’ and ensures more political buy-in,” Beltran explains.

“This is a group of young people who have been pretty tested, and they have seen the Dream Act fail repeatedly,” Beltran adds. “They are not naive, but young people are often bolder than their elders,and are more optimistic and less cynical,” she states. After all, Beltran says, it was the DREAMers who pushed for a deferred action policy when many in the Administration thought it would be impossible.

Some have questioned whether the recent focus on DREAMers has taken away from the larger issue of immigration. “Besides the individual level storytelling, they have not moved the debate except to focus much of the debate on them. I have a problem with that,” stated recently political scientist and Northern Arizona University professor Stephen Nuño.

Now, as the DREAMers push for a broader immigration reform agenda, the question is whether these Latino young activists will be able to successfully move the needle in the new Congress, which starts in January.

Judging from the statements today, they’re ready.

“We are gearing up for a fight – right after the Presidential inauguration,” said United We Dream’s Praeli. Saying she expects to see a bill on the floor of Congress in May, the Latina DREAMer said she expected some “really heated months” in February, March and April. ”Our strategies will be bold and new,” Praeli says.

N.J. Lawmakers Pass Minimum-Wage Boost as Showdown Looms

New Jersey’s Democratic-controlled Senate approved a bill to raise the minimum wage to $8.50 as a showdown with Republican Governor Chris Christie looms over a provision that would allow annual increases pegged to inflation.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-11-29/n-dot-j-dot-lawmakers-pass-minimum-wage-boost-as-showdown-looms

Latino Action Network Applauds Federal Court’s Response to Mosquera Decision

The Latino Action Network applauds the decision of the U.S. District Court of New Jersey on Tuesday to ensure that all future candidates for office are treated fairly when boundaries are redrawn based on legislative redistricting. The decision, written by Judge Dickinson Debevoise, rejects the reasoning of the recent New Jersey Supreme Court decision invalidating the election of Assemblywoman Gabriela Mosquera.

“The federal court’s decision lays out clear and fair rules for New Jersey’s legislative elections going forward,” said Latino Action Network President Frank Argote-Freyre. “These rules will benefit all candidates and allow anyone who wants to run for office – including Latinos who are drastically underrepresented in the New Jersey Legislature – to run for office knowing the rules of the election will not be changed after the fact.”

The decision vindicates the position of the Latino Action Network, which joined the New Jersey Democratic State Committee, the Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO, the Latino Coalition Of Monmouth County, Women’s Political Caucus of NJ, and the Latinas United For Political Empowerment Political Action Committee in the litigation to oppose the Attorney General’s request for the federal court to allow the state’s one-year residency requirement to “apply” to districts drawn after redistricting – districts that only would have existed for seven months.

“The Attorney General’s request would have produced chaos – potentially leading to yet more losing candidates challenging elections after the fact,” Argote-Freyre added. “The foundation of fair voting is predictability and clarity, and Judge Debevoise’s order provides that.”

The Latino Action Network is a statewide grassroots organization composed of individuals and organizations that are committed to engaging in collective action at the local, state and national levels in order to advance the equitable inclusion of the diverse Latino communities in all aspects of United States society.

LAN FYI: New Jersey Working Families Pre-Candidate Training

Saturday, April 28 and Sunday, April 29

Our friends at the New Jersey Working Families Alliance are hosting a "Pre-Candidate Training" designed to give progressive community organizers the tools they need to run successfully for public office.  We encourage all Latino community organizers that are interested in running for elected office at any level to attend this important training.  Please see the message below for more information.

In Solidarity,


Christian Estevez
Latino Action Network 

Pre-Candidate Training*

 

Date:               Saturday, April 28 and Sunday, April 29.

Time:              9:30 am to 5 pm

Location:       Newark, NJ

Fee:                 $25 (Covers two meals, customized training materials, and a comprehensive campaign guide for candidates, Winning Your Election the Wellstone Way.)

To Register:   Click Here or check out www.njworkingfamilies.org.       

Latino Action Network Announces Support For Marriage Equality

The Latino Action Network [LAN] today announced its support for the Marriage Equality and Religious Exemption Act and urged quick passage by the State Legislature.  You can read LAN's press release below.  Please take action today by calling your Assembly representatives and ask them to vote "YES" on this important legislation.

You can find contact information for your legislative representatives at the following link:

http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/districts/municipalities.asp

Latino Action Network Announces Support For Marriage Equality

For Immediate Release: February 15, 2012

Frank Argote-Freyre, President – 908-670-0552

Christian Estevez, Executive Vice President – 973-418-7012

            The Latino Action Network [LAN] today announced its support for the Marriage Equality and Religious Exemption Act and urged quick passage by the State Legislature.

            “We congratulate the State Senate for passing the legislation on Monday and urge the Assembly to do the same tomorrow,” said Frank Argote-Freyre, President of the Latino Action Network. “Marriage Equality is an important civil rights issue and we believe it is long overdue in the state of New Jersey.”