With 50% of prisoners testing positive for COVID-10 in one prison alone, and after several conversations with the Governor, DOC Director and Director of Health Services, Valley Interfaith Project leaders are calling for rapid testing of prisoners across Arizona.

"Your current testing plan for the state’s prisons, which just commenced, is too drawn out," Valley Interfaith Project leaders said in a letter to Shinn on Wednesday. "The rapid spread of the virus and the still ongoing unevenness of response by your Department will lead to more loss of life without drastic and immediate interventions."

After COVID-19 Cases Spike in Tucson Prison Unit, Advocates Demand Action to Spare Inmates, AZ Central [pdf]

Arizona Prison Stories, Valley Interfaith Project

After hundreds of VIP clergy and leaders, through a petition with their state Arizona Interfaith Network (AIN), called on Governor Ducey to extend the Stay-at-Home order past April 30, the Governor announced an extension of the Executive Order, with gradual loosening of current restrictions over coming weeks. 

Clergy representatives of AIN responded with a statement of cautious approval:

"May 15 could very well be a premature re-opening of the state, but we appreciate that the state will proceed cautiously and in accord with CDC guidelines. We could face a disastrous rebound of the Covid-19 crisis if we are not careful and vigilant. This is no time for false optimism. There is only one path to safety and that is an escalation of testing capacity."

Arizona Interfaith Network Applauds Continuation of State Order, Arizona Interfaith Network [pdf]

Ducey Extends Stay-At-Home Order Through May 15 But Eases Some Restrictions on Businesses, The Arizona Republic [pdf]

Religious Leaders Urge Ducey To Extend Stay-At-Home Order, KJZZ

 

[Excerpt]

Hundreds of Arizona religious leaders urged Gov. Doug Ducey to extend his stay-at-home order.

Ducey’s executive order, made over a month ago, is set to expire at midnight on Thursday, unless the governor modifies or extends it.

In a letter organized by the Arizona Interfaith Network, [including Valley Interfaith Project and Pima County Interfaith] religious leaders praised Ducey for issuing the order in the first place. Now the governor must avoid the “false calculus” that pits Arizona’s economy against peoples’ lives, they wrote.

"The economy should serve the common good and promote dignified, safe work, particularly for the most vulnerable,” the letter states. “This a moral decision, not just a business decision. We must do all we can to save lives; life is irreplaceable.”

Ducey faces pressure from Republican leaders in Arizona, including the head of the Arizona GOP, to reopen the economy as soon as possible.

But faith leaders stated that Ducey should rely on clear and convincing science — that means robust testing and contact tracing — to decide when it’s safe to reopen Arizona’s economy.

“The coronavirus will only be contained by broad testing and the application of our best public health measures,” they wrote. “The disease will not cooperate with deadlines imposed by us.  It will not respond to political calculations or wishful thinking, and neither should the state of Arizona.”

Religious Leaders Urge Ducey To Extend Stay-At-Home Order, KJZZ Radio [pdf]

Governor Ducey: The Stay-at-Home Order Saves Lives, Arizona Interfaith Network

When four hundred Valley Interfaith Project leaders crowded into Scottsdale United Methodist church Nov. 5 to discuss state school finance, four area legislators listened.

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Over 100 leaders from across Central Arizona gathered to develop local summer and fall organizing plans in key legislative districts. After reflecting on the importance of organizing, the assembly reviewed the new Arizona State Budget and the 2015 legislative process. VIP leaders then broke out into groups by legislative district to develop plans for maximum impact on school district override and bond measures, prison reform, workforce development, and access to quality healthcare.

Phoenix, AZ - 200 Valley Interfaith Project delegates assembled after the fall 2014 election to celebrate the leveraging of $26.6 Million in public school dollars for Tempe Elementary and Scottsdale Unified School Districts. Leaders achieved this by passing school override ballot measures.

Key legislative allies in attendance vowed to to protect Medicaid expansion that was won in 2013, re-connect public school funding to inflation and advance new legislation for Respite Care, all part of VIP's 2015 Human Development agenda.

250 Valley Interfaith Project leaders challenged Republican and Democrat legislative candidates for Districts 23 and 28 to commit to supporting Medicaid expansion, school funding increases, and workforce development. Most of the candidates committed to supporting VIP's three-point agenda.

Those that participated in the assembly include: Rep. John Kavanaugh (District 23), Jeff Schwartz and Paula Pennypacker; Effie Carlson, Jay Lawrence, and Bob Littefield; and Michelle Ugenti. District 28 candidates included Senator Adam Driggs and Kelli Butler; and House candidates Rep. Eric Meyer, Rep. Kaye Brophy-McGee and Mary Hamway.

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As part of a long-term regional economic development strategy, Valley Interfaith Project leader Monica Dorcey testified at a Maricopa Community College District board meeting to support increasing local investment in the community colleges. "These community colleges are the best driver of economic development that we have," said Dorcey, who is also a member of the board of Arizona Career Pathways, a non-profit job-training program that has a partnership with the community colleges.

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135 Valley Interfaith Project leaders convened at Paradise Valley United Methodist Church to celebrate last year's Medicaid Expansion victory and announce its Spring action agenda to key legislative allies including Governor Brewer's Policy and Budget Directors, who briefed the leadership on the Governor's proposed budget, released just the day before.

More here...

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At a press conference convened by Valley Interfaith Project with the Arizona bishops, Catholic Bishop Thomas Olmsted signed a letter to the Arizona congressional delegation for immigration reform, attesting that "the cost of inaction is too high." Bishop Olmsted was joined by Auxiliary Bishop Eduardo Nevares, Rabbi John Linder, ELCA Bishop Steve Talmage, Denise Resnick of DRA Stategic Communications in Phoenix and Barry Broome, president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council. Broome noted that some companies don't come to Arizona because they think the state does not treat people well.

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