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.”

Latino Action Network Testifies in Support of Assembly Bill 2147 Which Would Increase Accountability and Transparency in New Jersey Charter Schools

On Thursday, February 2, 2012 the New Jersey Assembly Education Committee considered Assembly bill 2147 (bills A3356/S3005/S3001 last session), which would increase Charter School educational and financial accountability and transparency and address the fact that New Jersey Charter School students do not represent the demographics of their sending districts.  Christian Estevez, Executive Vice President of the Latino Action Network, testified in support of A-2147 which would reform the state’s broken charter school law.  This bill was favorably reported out of committee by a unanimous bipartisan vote.  You can read his testimony below.

TESTIMONY BY

THE LATINO ACTION NETWORK

BEFORE THE NEW JERSEY ASSEMBLY EDUCATION COMMITTEE

FEBRUARY 2, 2012

DELIVERED BY:

Christian Estevez, Executive Vice President

Latino Action Network

P.O. Box 943

Freehold, NJ 07728

Phone: (973) 418-7012

esteveznj@gmail.com

Good afternoon, my name is Christian Estevez and I am the Vice President of the Latino Action Network.  We are a statewide advocacy organization dedicated to mobilizing New Jersey’s Latino community to seek greater social, economic and educational justice.

I thank you for the opportunity to testify today in support of Assembly Bill A-2147 which improves accountability and transparency in New Jersey’s Charter Schools.

While our state has some of the best schools in the nation, it is also abundantly clear that many of the schools in our urban communities are in crisis.  We must do everything that we can to improve the educational opportunities available to the children in our urban communities.  We recognize that quality Charter Schools can play an important role in the provision of additional educational opportunities for our children.

We see quality Charter Schools as a part of the solution to the crisis faced by many Latino families.  We welcome any approach that contributes positively toward helping those children with the most need.  However, in cases where any school, whether they are a Charter School or a regular public school, is not providing quality opportunities to our children, they become part of the problem instead of being part of the solution. 

 

Latino Action Network Announces Opposition to Opportunity Scholarship Act

For Immediate Release: December 5, 2011

Christian Estevez, Chair, Education Committee – 973-418-7012

Daniel Santo Pietro, Chair, Public Policy Committee – 732-496-9628

The Latino Action Network [LAN] today announced its opposition to the Opportunity Scholarship Act because it would drain money away from public education and give it to corporate interests so it could be doled out to private schools.

“The Opportunity Scholarship Act is a big gimmick that benefits corporate interests that would do nothing to help poor children stuck in failing school districts,” said Christian Estevez, Executive Vice President of the Latino Action Network and Chair of the Education Committee. “Not one penny of corporate money would fund the scholarships established by this misguided legislation. The state would take money from our public schools and hand it to the corporations, who would then claim corporate philanthropy with our tax dollars.”

Estevez concluded: “This is an educational gimmick of the worst sort. This legislation does nothing to address the core issues of housing and educational segregation. We pledge to work with legislators to address the real issues that hurt so many children of low and moderate-income families.”

Below is the official policy statement of the Latino Action Network with regards to the Opportunity Scholarship Act: 

LAN FYI: Star-Ledger: NJ Supreme Court judges should reflect state's diversity

"The state Supreme Court that returned to work this week holds a troubling distinction: For the first time in 20 years, there are no minority judges on the bench. And yet more than 40 percent of the state's population is black, Hispanic or Asian." 

-Star-Ledger Editorial Board

The Star-Ledger printed an editorial today where they joined in the call for the Governor to create a court that better reflects all of the state's residents. The Latino Action Network (LAN) issued a press release in conjunction with allied organizations in the African-American and Latino communities on September 12, 2011 announcing a letter sent by this coalition to Senator Sweeney and state leadership demanding that they only advance nominations to the New Jersey Supreme Court if they result in an independent court representative of all New Jerseyans. 

See Star-Ledger Editorial below:   

LAN FYI: Judge dismisses tea party's request for injunction on new legislative map | Politicker NJ

A Superior Court judge today rejected the Bayshore Tea party's motion to enjoin the current legislative map, saying the tea party had not demonstrated that their suit to invalidate the map would succeed in court.  [Note: The Latino Action Network was actively involved in the Legislative Redistricting process as a member of the New Jersey Redistricting Coalition which included the NJ NAACP, La Causa NJ, Black Issues Convention and other organizations.]

http://bit.ly/nkImPP

Judge dismisses tea party's request for injunction on new legislative map

By Darryl R. Isherwood | August 18th, 2011 - 2:59pm

|More

  

A Superior Court judge today rejected the Bayshore Tea party's motion to enjoin the current legislative map, saying the tea party had not demonstrated that their suit to invalidate the map would succeed in court.

Judge Linda Feinberg said she was inclined to dismiss the complaint entirely but will reserve judgment until the end of next week.

"We are obviously pleased with Judge Feinberg's decision today and are hopeful the entire complaint will be dismissed next week," said attorney Bill Castner, who is acting as counsel to the Democratic commissioners.

Had the tea party's request for injunction been granted all current legislative candidates would have been declared invalid.

The tea party is seeking to have the map thrown out on the grounds that it was gerrymandered and would give Democrats control of the Legislature for the next decade.

The map was chosen in April by the 11-member reapportionment commission made up of five Democrats,  five Republicans and a neutral tie-breaking member.  The tie-breaker, Rutgers Professor Alan Rosenthal, sided with the Democratic map, all but ensuring the party would maintain control of the Legislature.

The suit claims "the Commission Map in its current construction dilutes or nullifies the voice of the voters in the southern half of the state and in the state's two largest municipalities, Newark and Jersey City."

The lawsuit claims the Commission Map over-packed the southern half of the state, causing an unconstitutional 18 percent deviation, which is 8 percent higher than the 10 percent deviation permitted by U.S. Supreme Court precedent. Also alleged in this suit are illegal splits of Newark and Jersey City from three districts each to two.

"These splits dilute the representation of these urban municipalities by reducing the number of elected legislators from 9 representatives to 6 in violation of New Jersey Supreme Court precedent," according to a release issued by the Bayshore Tea Party.

The legislative map is redrawn once per decade to coincide with the release of new census numbers. 

Latino Action Network Calls on Governor Christie to Compromise with Legislature on Budget

The Latino Action Network [LAN] today called on Governor Christie to compromise with the State Legislature on the current budget after carefully analyzing its impact on the Latino community.

Latino Action Network Calls on Governor Christie to Compromise with Legislature on Budget

For Immediate Release: June 29, 2011

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

Daniel Santo Pietro, Chair, Public Policy Committee – 732-496-9628

            The Latino Action Network [LAN] today called on Governor Christie to compromise with the State Legislature on the current budget after carefully analyzing its impact on the Latino community.

Budget bill A-4200 softens the impact on the Latino community by doing the following:

• Adds $660 million in aid for non-Abbott school districts with “at-risk” low-income students. $447 million were already mandated by a recent New Jersey Supreme Court decision for Abbott districts. 
• It softens the impact on Medicaid and FamilyCare eligibility, which Governor Christie has cruelly sought to reduce.
• Restores funding for some Latino community-based non-profits by providing additional funds for  the Hispanic Women’s Resource Centers, the Center for Hispanic Policy Research and Development and Division of Youth and Family Services community support services.

“For the last two years this Governor has endorsed measures that have disproportionately hurt the economically vulnerable, working families, and the middle class,” said Frank Argote-Freyre, President of the Latino Action Network. “Governor Christie has perpetuated the myth of shared sacrifice, but has asked nothing of the wealthiest citizens and the corporate interests. He has distinguished himself as a coddler of the wealthy and a miser to the poor.”

            An analysis by the Latino Action Network indicates that the Legislature’s budget softens cuts to FamilyCare and Medicaid advocated by Governor Christie. The Governor’s proposed budget looks to save $300 million by asking the federal government to approve a waiver freezing adults out of FamilyCare by lowering eligibility to families earning less than $5,000 a year, and  by restricting Medicaid eligibility. The LAN is urging the federal government to reject Governor’s Christie’s application seeking the new restrictions.

            The Legislature’s budget alternative also restores just over $2 million to the Center for Hispanic Policy Research and Development, an agency that was decimated last year as a result of a 75% percent reduction in funding. “Governor Christie has virtually dismantled the Center which has served as an important institution in the community for more than three decades,” noted Daniel Santo Pietro, Chair of the LAN’s Public Policy Committee. “LAN expects that all Latino legislators will take a leadership role in promoting Latino needs and pressure the Governor to compromise on these areas important to our community.”

            The Latino Action Network was founded in 2009 to fight for political empowerment and defend civil rights. It is the largest statewide advocacy organization dedicated to championing issues of concern to the Latino community.