STATE LEVEL ACTION INITIATIVE

JFASD’s state level cohorts are actively working to impact public policy across the country.

Much of our work is done at the state and local levels. We are currently most active in Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, New York and Pennsylvania.

If you’d like to develop a network of volunteers or a chapter in your state, please contact Katie Reiter, our National Program Coordinator, at katie@jfasd.org. Here are a few updates on our some of our state work this year:

ARIZONA

• Earlier this year, residents in Arizona formed a new JFASD chapter. JFASD Arizona now has over 20 chapter volunteers and has met multiple times. While they are working on several issues related to church/state separation, their primary focus this year and next is the upcoming reproductive rights ballot initiative in Arizona. For more information on the JFASD Arizona chapter, please contact Megan Brooks at Megan.jfasd@gmail.com.

• The group plans on being actively involved with the citizen’s led ballot initiative to protect the reproductive rights of Arizonans.

• Along with the Secular Humanistic Jewish Circle, they sponsored an in-person workshop “Separation of Church and State in the Arizona State Legislature” with Jeanne Casteen, Executive Director of Secular Arizona.

FLORIDA

• Florida boasts an active JFASD state chapter that meets monthly. For more information on participating please contact Florida Chapter lead Rick Gold at goldrickus@gmail.com.  We are also looking into developing a Naples area chapter. If you’d be interested in participating in that chapter please contact Katie at Katie@jfasd.org.

• In Florida, JFASD received a grant from Herizon (https://joinherizon.org/) for a multi-year project titled, “Jewish Women and Religious Freedom.”  We recently created a steering committee of organizations and individuals from around the state to help develop this important project. For webinar and conference programs and information on this project, go HERE. JFASD.ORG/FLORIDA

• JFASD Florida is also a part of the Floridians Protecting Freedom Coalition to help secure reproductive rights through a ballot initiative.

MICHIGAN

• Earlier this year, we formed a Michigan JFASD chapter. This active chapter decided that the main areas they want to focus on are: Abortion access, LGBTQ+ rights, and Christian nationalist efforts to take over local school boards and libraries. If you would like to get involved, please contact JFASD Michigan Director, Nomi Joyrich at nomi@jfasd.org.

• JFASD Michigan has been busy tracking and advocating for the separation of religion and government in Michigan.

• JFASD Michigan has also been heavily involved with both the National and the Michigan Coalitions to Ban Child Marriage.

NEW YORK

• Thanks in part to the advocacy of our New York JFASD volunteers, the Nonreligious Recovery Options bill passed the New York legislature! The bill guarantees that anyone mandated by a court to attend recovery treatment or meetings has the opportunity to request and be provided with a nonreligious option.

• This is the second year that the bill has passed, and our volunteers will soon be turning their attention to urging Governor Hochul to sign the bill into law—last year she vetoed the bill. If you’re a New York constituent, we need your voice over the next few months to make calls and write to the Governor’s office. Contact Sarah Levin at sarah@jfasd.org to get involved.

• JFASD will also continue to support the critical work of our partners at Yaffed to ensure all nonpublic schools in New York, including yeshivas, are providing students with the basic secular education they are entitled to. With your support, we will keep up the fight for students’ rights to a secular education!

GAINING STEAM: MINNESOTA & PENNSYLVANIA

In addition to all of the above, we are working on developing a chapter in Minnesota, and developing programming centering religious freedom and Jewish women in Pittsburgh with the support of a seed grant from The Jewish Women’s Foundation of Greater Pittsburgh. If you’d live in either state and would like to be involved, please contact Katie at Katie@jfasd.org.