National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund Report

The board of NCPTF met on November 13 &14, at the Quaker meeting house in Providence, RI. The Executive Comm. met on Saturday afternoon to plan for the board meetings. Saturday evening Holly Near gave a benefit concert for NCPTF in the oldest Baptist church in the United States . . . where Roger Williams used to preach. It was a good evening.

The board heard reports from Executive Director, Marian Franz, and Research & Development Director, Tim Godshall. Beginning January 1, Marian will be moving to one day a week as lobbyist for NCPTF. Since we have not secured a new Executive Director, Tim Godshall has agreed to take on the Executive Director position for the next 6 months - until June 30. Job applications for the new Executive Director position will be accepted until January 17 after which the search committee will narrow the choices and hopefully have a new director hired by April 1 with a start date of June 1. Marian's expertise will still be present albeit on a smaller scale, but this is a shift of some magnitude for NCPTF. Marian has been Executive Director for 22 years and her contribution to the cause of the Peace Tax Fund has been enormous. It will not be easy to find someone of her stature and dedication. In conjunction with the May, 2006, board meetings, there will be a gala event in Washington, DC, on May 18, to honor Marian for her years of service to NCPTF. It is hoped that many of Marian's friends and co-workers as well as members of Congress that she worked with will all be able to attend.

Just prior to our board meetings in Providence the Providence City Council unanimously passed a resolution supporting the Peace Tax Fund legislation. Providence became the first city in the US to do so. New York City has a proposed resolution before the city council but has not yet voted on it. They have held hearings and it is expected that a vote will be forthcoming. This next Monday (December 12) a hearing on the Peace Tax Fund bill for all of Rhode Island's Congressional representatives is being held. It is hoped that this will lead some of them to co-sponsor the Peace Tax Fund legislation now pending in the House of Representatives. This new strategy of replicating the Providence City Council action in other cities seems to be gathering some momentum, and hopefully will garner more support in Congress as well. Other cities are now contemplating resolutions in their city councils in order to generate more grass-roots support nationwide. It seems to have the potential to move along the agenda of the Peace Tax Fund legislation.

As you can see, NCPTF is in the beginning stages of a major shift in strategy and in staff. The board has been energized by the various regional developments but are also aware that we need to find qualified staff replacements to continue. That will be the primary objective in the next 6 months. We are also committed to finding adequate resources to staff NCPTF for the next few years. We spent a good deal of time at the last board meetings brainstorming ways to increase the revenue stream for the long-term improvements we need to make. It is an on-going struggle for a small non-profit organization like ours.

We continue to make changes to our website. We have partnered with Democracy in Action ( a web server) to help us be able to take donations on line a well as to allow visitors to our website to click on an option to send an e-mail latter to their representatives in support of the RFPTF legislation. We have decided to use the website to be more deliberate in our fund-raising and in disseminating information. We feel that in the long run, this will make us much more effective in our lobbying and fund-raising efforts.

I continue to serve as the Chairperson of the Board and am grateful to Mennonite Church USA for the continued travel support which enables me to represent MC USA in this endeavor. It is with your support and others that we are able to continue to witness to the rights of conscience and religious freedom that Mennonites have adhered to for many decades.

Steve Ratzlaff