Team Leader Training Lobby Days 2021 AGENDA • Welcome • Introductions (Break out rooms) • NASW Advocacy & Team Leader Role • Review Lobby Days Website • Legislative Process • Lobby Days Bills • Checklist and Reminders NASW ADVOCACY • SOCIAL WORKERS ADVOCATE! – It’s in our code of ethics • 6.04 Social workers should engage in social and political action that seeks to ensure that all people have equal access to the resources, employment, services and opportunities they require to meet their basic human needs and to develop fully. – It’s in our history and tradition • Connecting policy and practice and part of social work education NASW LOBBY DAYS • Component of NASW advocacy program (800 advocates, meeting over 100 legislators) • Training social workers to be advocates within the legislative system • The power of social workers lobbying issues that impact their clients and their profession • Team leaders bring organization and leadership to a mass effort TEAM LEADER ROLE • NASW trains the team leaders on Saturday • Team leaders organize and train their teams on Sunday • Team leaders lead their team on Monday • The team evaluates the experience TRAIN AND ORGANIZE THE TEAM • Your team is assigned to you based on the legislative district where they reside (6-8 team members). • Most will have little or no experience lobbying • Some team leaders will have more than one team, if this is the case, you train everyone together in one Zoom meeting. TRAIN AND ORGANIZE THE TEAM On Sunday after the end of the program (1:30 PM): ❑ Make sure everyone has the link to the team meeting(s) ❑ Make sure the team members know when their appointment is on Monday and that they have the correct Zoom link. ❑ Short introductions (school, internships) ❑ Share the legislator background info (Profile, committee assignments, voting record) ❑ Discuss and learn the lobby bills/topics Organize your team ❑ Assign team members to speaking roles ❑ Team leader should introduce the team and NASW and start off the meeting ❑ One person can talk about the role of social workers and 1-2 people can talk about each bill. Personal stories are always useful. ❑ Each bill should take 2-3 minutes, total meeting 15 - 30 minutes ❑ Make sure you ask the Legislator or staff how the member will vote on the bill. ❑ Team leader should wrap up meeting and put the link to our lobby day page in the chat: https://www.naswca.org/page/164 ❑ Practice, Practice, Practice!! Who We Are • We represent the National Assn. of Social Workers, CA Chapter and we are professional social workers and social work students. • Professional social workers have an accredited degree in social work. • Social workers serve as mental health clinicians, child welfare workers, medical social workers, and school social workers (just to name a few). • Social workers also work in our courtrooms, health clinics, senior centers, homeless shelters, nursing homes, the military, disaster relief centers, prisons, and in community-based organizations. • Social workers are essential workers, and we are everywhere! 10 AB 71 (L.Rivas, Bloom, Chiu, Wicks) (Principal coauthor: Kalra) (Coauthors: Carillo and Lee) Bring California Home Act Background/Problem • Our state is facing an unprecedented homelessness crisis which has been exacerbated by Covid-19. • California is the fifth largest economy in the world, yet, one in four Americans who experience homelessness reside in CA. • A recent poll by the Public Policy Institute of CA concluded that Californians identified homelessness as one of the most pressing issues facing our state. • California has historically financed very few homelessness programs with ongoing funding. AB 71 Summary • AB 71 plans to address homelessness by investing, for the first time ever, dedicated annual state funding to our local governments for homelessness. • This bill aspires to raise $2.4 billion a year for local governments to invest in localized housing solutions. • Conforms to federal tax law on the Global Intangible Low- Tax Income (GILTI) tax law, which taxes a percentage of profits from corporations that have shifted profits overseas to avoid U.S. Taxes. • Conforms to federal tax law on repatriated income (one-time funding). • The bill’s sponsors are also looking to secure additional funding in the budget. AB 71 • In addition, AB 71 offers a comprehensive approach to addressing homelessness, by: Ø Promoting best practices among local jurisdictions. Ø Holding local governments accountable for how the money is spent. Ø Allowing local governments to invest in housing solutions that take into account a community’s unique needs. Ø Restructuring the existing members of Homeless Coordinating Financing Council Ø Includes programs that fund emergency shelters within the purview of the council. Ø Special attentions to vulnerable populations such as: domestic violence survivors, former foster youth, those formerly incarcerated, racial, ethnic, LGBTQ+ communities, mental health & SUD conditions, veterans, parenting youth, etc. 14 AB 71 Amendments • Removed the increase in the corporate income tax rate. • Incorporated recommendations from the Franchise Tax Board to strengthen their ability to implement AB 71. • Removed references to housing development in the bill. • Expands the ability of counties and homeless continuums of care to pay for the ongoing operating and services costs of board and care for those who cannot live independently. Arguments for the Bill • California was already seeing an increase in homelessness prior to the pandemic. • Between 2018 and 2019, CA’s homeless population increased by nearly 17 percent. • Researchers believe we could experience another 25 percent increase in homelessness due to the pandemic. • Our current approach to homelessness does not address the specific needs of certain communities, such as racial, ethnic, LGBTQ+. Two in five Californians experiencing homeless are African American. • Local Governments do not want to be left on the hook for funding. • This bill will provide a reliable sources of revenue. Support • NASW-CA • Corporation for Supportive Housing • Housing CA • City of Los Angeles, Mayor Eric Garcetti • City of San Francisco, Mayor London Breed • City of Oakland, Mayor Libby Schaaf • Episcopal Community Services – San Francisco • John Burton Advocates for Youth • National Alliance to End Homelessness • Non-Profit Housing Assn. of Northern CA • Steinberg Institute • United Way of Greater Los Angeles (Partial list) Status • This bill has been referred to the Assembly Revenue and Taxation committee for a hearing on April 19, and to the Housing and Community Development Committee on April 29. • The Members of Rev & Tax are: Chair, Autumn Burke (D), Vice-Chair, Janet Nguyen (R), Adam Gray (D), Timothy Grayson (D), Marc Levine (D), Chad Mayes (I), Kevin Mullin (D), Cottie Petrie-Norris (D), Bill Quirk (D), Luz Rivas (D), Kelly Seyarto (R). • The Members of Housing & Community Development include: Chair, David Chiu (D), Vice-Chair, Kelly Seyarto (R), Jesse Gabriel (D), Ash Kalra (D), Kevin Kiley (R), Brian Maienschein (D), Sharon QuirK-Silva (D), Buffy Wicks (D). Political Realities • This bill as amended, improved its chances • The May Revise is expected to show increased revenues which increases the changes to augment the funding for this program. • There is competition to secure General Fund revenue from the budget surplus. • This is an urgency measure, requires a 2/3 vote • Work through the Budget Process AB 1400 (Kalra, Lee, and Santiago) (Principal coauthors: Asm. Chiu and Asm.Ting) (Coauthors: Assemblymembers Friedman, Kamlager, McCarty, Nazarian, Luz Rivas, and Wicks) (Coauthors: Senators Becker, Cortese, Laird, and Wieckowski) Guaranteed Health Care for All Why Single Payer Healthcare? • Our System is Terrible • High Costs • Uninsured and underinsured • Bad Results • Extreme inequity • Failed public health though resource starvation 21 Background/Problem • Nearly 3 million Californians do not have health insurance, while millions more have insurance they can’t afford to use because their copays and deductibles are too high. • This number has grown since the Covid-19 pandemic caused many people to lose their employer-based health care. • Even before the pandemic, 57 percent of all Californians supported replacing private insurance with guaranteed coverage provided by the government. • Health care spending in the US far outpaces other industrialized countries. • Yet, we have worse health outcomes, including shorter life expectancy and a greater prevalence of chronic conditions. • Disparities among vulnerable populations and our growing senior population further strains our health care system. AB 1400 Summary • Creates the California Guaranteed Health Care for All Act (CalCare). • This will guarantee comprehensive, high-quality health care for all Californians as a human right. • A single payer system will take the profit out of healthcare. • Will save families and businesses thousands in annual health care costs by cutting out the bloat, waste, and inefficiencies of our fragmented, for-profit insurance system. • Will streamline payments and lower per-capita spending. • Aligns reimbursements with the actual cost of care. • Will set in place a comprehensive framework of governance, eligibility and enrollment, benefits, delivery of care and health care cost controls and program standards. CalCare Mission and Duties • Comprehensive benefits – including prescription drugs, reproductive care, mental health & dental. Must meet or exceed, Medicaid/Cal, Medicare,