National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund Report

The board of NCPTF met on May 20 &21, at Arch Memorial United Methodist Church in Philadelphia, PA. The meetings were held in Philadelphia to give NCPTF members in the area a chance to participate in our annual meeting. The meetings in downtown Philadelphia also made it possible to plan with folksinger John McCutcheon to present a benefit concert for NCPTF on Sunday night at Arch church. It was a small concert but enjoyed by those in attendance.

On Sunday afternoon the Board met and heard reports from the Executive Director, Alan Gamble, and Associate, Daniel Longwing. Due to financial troubles, Alan is now the only full-time staff member for NCPTF. Daniel officially stopped working on May 31 and has not been replaced. Ben Schmidt, a Mennonite Voluntary Service worker, will begin a year's assignment in August. It has been a particular difficult year financially and the transition to a new Executive Director has had its bumps as well. Alan had originally intended to move his family to Washington, DC, shortly after becoming Executive Director but that still hasn't materialized. Presently he flies back to Michigan every other weekend - not an ideal situation for him or for NCPTF. Consequently, lobbying has not been a priority for Alan and it is becoming more apparent that this will need to become one. Needless to say, the campaign's focus has not been as clear and we are trying to redefine ourselves after Marian. Marian Franz was such a fixture at NCPTF for nearly a quarter century and she single-handedly kept things moving during that time. Perhaps it is only natural that the transition to a new director would be problematic. So, it is a time of transition and change which will need some diligent action and care as well as some difficult decision-making. It is an on-going struggle for a small non-profit organization like ours.

The good news is that the bill was re-introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. John Lewis of Georgia and already has over 20 cosponsors. With each new Congress we need to renew contacts with all old sponsors to renew their support and so far we only have about half of the past supporters on board. We are working hard on getting Republican Senators to introduce the bill in the Senate as well. Concerted action has centered around Senator Chuck Hagel from Nebraska, Senator Luger from Indiana and Senator Brownback from Kansas. We are planning to introduce the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund Bill in the Senate in this legislative session. Board members have been working in Nebraska to bring Senator Hagel on board. If that happens, he will join with a Democratic Senator (likely Harkin from Iowa) to bring the bill to the Senate.

We continue to update and add to our website http://www.peacetaxfund.org . We continue our partnership with Democracy in Action (a web server) that enables us to take donations on line as well as to allow visitors to our website to click on an option to send an e-mail letter 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, particularly since I now live in California. 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