The Grace Over Greed Campaign: October UPDATE

Since returning from August recess, The United States Congress has managed to avoid a government shutdown by passing a three-month continuing resolution. The Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act extends funding for all 12 annual spending bills through December 20, 2024.  

While this continuing resolution will allow the federal government to maintain operations, Congress must complete its work on determining funding levels for fiscal year 2025. The House has passed five of 12 spending bills on party-line votes and the Senate has advanced 11 of 12 spending bills out of committee with bipartisan support.

As the House and Senate prepare to negotiate spending bills, we must ensure that the needs and interests of God’s people and God’s good creation are protected. 

In the coming months, we will continue to advocate across all five of Church and Society’s legislative priorities of health, poverty, peace, climate, and civil and human rights. Stay on the lookout for new action alerts ahead of the December 20th budget deadline.

May our collective and continued charge be fueled by our Wesleyan heritage and theology – that the abundance of grace never be overshadowed by the greed of power.  

Take Action Now

If you have not already done so, be sure to take action and urge that your elected official prioritize grace over greed.     

Health

Tell Congress to Prioritize Healthcare As A Basic Human Right     Currently, five of the twelve appropriations bills presented by the United States House of Representatives pose grave threat to our communities. The House is intending to cut funding for access to maternal and reproductive health, HIV/AIDS prevention, suicide prevention, mitigating substance abuse, and addressing sexual violence.     

Poverty

Tell Congress to Prioritize Social Safety Programs in FY 2025 Appropriations     As United Methodists, we recognize the responsibility of governments to develop and implement sound fiscal and monetary policies that provide for the flourishing of our communities (2016 The Social Principles, The Economic Community). As the United States Congress seeks to negotiate the fiscal year 2025 federal budget, we must ensure that critical social safety programs are protected.     

Peace

Tell Congress to Prioritize True Human Security in FY 2025 Appropriations     On peace with justice issues, the appropriations process has included effectively no oversight or debate over billions of dollars of weapons and defense services, including nuclear weapons and unfettered aid to countries committing human rights violations. The process has glaringly omitted debate on issues such as cutting the Pentagon budget, reigning in the President’s war powers, prohibiting security assistance to countries that violate human rights, oversight of nuclear forces, and much more.     

Climate

Tell Congress to Advance Climate Policies That Reflect a Vision of Justice for God’s People and God’s Planet    With the help of consistent advocacy from United Methodists, the Fiscal Year 2024 budget package provides modest funding for climate and environmental programs. Now, Congress is turning its attention to the current budget year – Fiscal Year 2025 – and we must make the moral case for stronger support for critical climate investments. As people of faith, we must again press upon our elected officials the urgency and moral obligation to support bold climate action.     

Civil and Human Rights

Tell Congress to Stop Anti-Asylum and Anti-Immigrant Negotiations in Congress and Biden Administration      The United States asylum system is under attack. For too long, we have watched the erosion of a staple component of our immigration system. Since the former administration, there has been an intentional and debilitating movement to strike down access for asylum seekers to the U.S. This has caused devastating effects among both people and processes.