Last week, staff and lay leaders from Jewish Federation Los Angeles, along with more than 15 Jewish organizations from across California, participated in the 2012 Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California (JPAC) Advocacy Day in Sacramento. We joined together to discuss issues of legislative importance to our communities and to advocate on your behalf.
Our group met with high-ranking public officials, including Speaker of the Assembly John Perez, State Treasurer Bill Lockyer and State Controller John Chiang, to talk about what the future holds for our State and our budget. And we were on-hand as JPAC’s Chair, Michael Sweet, presented Assemblymember Bob Blumenfield with the 2012 Jerry Sampson Memorial Award as Legislator of the Year.
We also met with State Senators and Assemblymembers to advocate on issues of interest to JPAC’s members, such as supporting AB 2160 (Blumenfield), which calls for insurance companies to publicly declare those businesses they invest in which conduct business in Iran. Additionally, we asked for their support in maintaining the social service safety net funding at current levels, as well as their support for bills increasing access to assistance for victims of human trafficking and helping schools further protect their students from cyber bullying.
JPAC Advocacy Day is held every year in May. We hope you’ll join us next year! For more information, please contact Debbie Dyner Harris at DDynerHarris@JewishLA.org.
About JPAC:
The Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California (JPAC) is the largest single-state coalition of Jewish organizations in the nation. Comprised of local Jewish Federations, Jewish Community Relations Committees and Councils, and other Jewish community advocacy groups from throughout California, it advocates on behalf of Jewish social service agencies, traditional community concerns, and broadly shared values that affect the citizens of our State. Click here for more information about JPAC.
