This is a partial list of past campaigns that JUFJ has participated in, and it is being updated right now, in 2021. If you were part of a JUFJ campaign that is not listed here, please email sam@jufj.org and let him know when, where, and what that campaign was!
Emergency Rent Stabilization (2021): In 2021, JUFJ worked in coordination with our MORE Network partners to pass Bill 30-21, which limited rent increases County-wide and prohibited landlords from charging late rent payment fees to many renters for six months.
Use of Force Bill (27-20): In 2020, JUFJ and our Silver Spring Justice Coalition partners advocated for this bill, which limits police use of force in Montgomery County, and in August, this bill became law!
Ballot Measures 2020: JUFJ successfully organized a multi-interest coalition of dozens of organizations, businesses, nonprofits, and faith groups to protect Montgomery County against harmful ballot measures. These harmful ballot measures would have prevented our County from funding a just recovery from the ongoing pandemic and from investing in a representative democracy.
Housing Justice Act (Bill 49-20): The Housing Justice Act was a “ban the box” bill for renters that will lower barriers to rental housing by minimizing the ability for landlords to conduct criminal background checks on tenants. We and our partners were successful in getting the strongest version of this bill passed, without weakening amendments!
Emergency Rent Stabilization (2020): Throughout the pandemic, JUFJ worked with partners on legislation to prevent evictions. In 2020 we supported Bill 18-20, Rent Stabilization During Emergencies, which passed in April 2020 and provided critical support to renters by providing limits to how much rent can increase during the emergency and in the 180 days following.
Racial Equity in Government: JUFJ is part of the DC Initiative on Racial Equity and Local Government. The initiative supported the Racial Equity Achieves Change (REACH) Act that passed in Fall 2020, mandating that DC laws and government officials consider racial equity impacts. The campaign is now in an implementation phase.
COVID Response: Transparency and Public Testimony during the Pandemic: At the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, JUFJ organized an effort to push the Council to allow Montgomery County residents to testify remotely for County hearings. The Council listened, and residents were able to provide oral testimony from the safety of their own homes!
Racial Equity and Social Justice Bill (27-19): In coordination with our partners in the MORE Network (which was formed to create a vision for a more equitable county,) we advocated for a stronger Racial Equity and Social Justice policy that would help our government treat everyone fairly and with dignity. At the end of 2019, this bill passed!
Trust Act (Executive Order): JUFJ advocated for the Trust Act alongside our partners. The executive order was signed in 2019, making our community healthier and safer, by prohibiting county police from immigration enforcement or handing people over to ICE.
Policing Advisory Commission (Bill 14-19): JUFJ and our partners advocated for the creation of a diverse commission that represents the most impacted members of the community when evaluating County policing policies, and in 2019, the Policing Advisory Commission was created.
Paid Family Leave: JUFJ was a lead organization in the DC Paid Family Leave Campaign that led to a precedent-setting paid family and medical leave policy passed in December 2016 that became law in April 2017. After years of fighting to protect and implement that law, benefits became available to DC working families in July 2020.
Fight for $15: In 2017, we helped lead the coalition that passed legislation raising the minimum wage in MoCo to $15 an hour. MoCo was the first suburban jurisdiction in the country to pass a $15 minimum wage.
Rent Control: In 2016, JUFJ and partners advocated for two laws that DC Council passed to protect elderly and disabled renters and prevent catastrophic rent hikes. We are still working to fix rent control as part of the Reclaim Rent Control coalition.
PIE – Property Tax Increase: In 2016, JUFJ supported a property tax increase for school and safety net funding, partnered with Nonprofit Montgomery and PTAs. The County Council unanimously voted to increase the property tax rate by 8.9% with limitations on the burdens placed on low- or fixed-income homeowners.
Police Accountability: In the 2016 General Assembly, we partnered with groups in fighting for key legislation to increase police accountability and transparency. We won several important measures, and will keep fighting at the local and state level to improve how law enforcement operates in our city.
Paid Sick Days: JUFJ and our partners in the Working Matters Coalition secured paid sick days for 97,000 workers in Montgomery County. (2015)
Raise Maryland: Our members helped raise Maryland’s minimum wage to $10.10 by 2018, and raised Montgomery County’s minimum wage even higher, giving thousands of hard-working families a boost. (2013-2014)
Paid Sick Days for All: We were a driving force in the successful effort to expand D.C.’s 2008 paid sick leave law to include tipped restaurant workers and to strengthen enforcement of paid sick leave. (2011-2013)
Dream for Equality: Jews spoke out and organized to win LGBTQ marriage equality and immigrant tuition equity at the ballot box in Maryland. (2012)
Money Out of Politics: JUFJ and DC Public Trust worked to end corporate money in DC politics by introducing a ballot initiative that would ban corporate donations to politicians. (2012)
Invest in DC: In 2011, we fought for and won progressive income taxation of people who can invest in our city and pay taxes according to their means, to protect vital safety net programs that ensure all DC residents’ basic needs are met. In 2014, we campaigned using #YogaTaxYes for a new budget proposal facing opposition from yogis and other fitness workers. These industries are now equally subject to DC’s sale tax, thanks to us.
Respect DC: We were part of the coalition demanding that Walmart pay a living wage and treat workers and communities with dignity. (2011)
Fair Purple Line: We organized to ensure that the proposed light rail Purple Line benefits communities along its route in southern MD.(2008-2012)
Domestic Worker Rights: We helped pass legislation in Montgomery County, Maryland that protects the rights of domestic workers, including nannies, housekeepers, and others.
DC Voting Rights: We continue to work towards the passing of the DC Housing Voting Rights Act that would give DC a voting member of the House of Representatives.
Day Laborer Justice: We educated the public about the challenges day laborers face, from exploitation to wage theft, and built better relationships between day laborers and the rest of the community.
Older campaigns:
- Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning: Our “Yes In My Backyard” campaign played a critical role in applying new affordable housing policies (particularly Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning) to the entire city by dispelling the impression that more affluent regions of DC opposed affordable housing.
- Eviction Prevention/Emergency Assistance: JUFJ played a key role in the dramatic expansion of the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, which helps keep families in their homes and out of shelters through small one-time assistance for rent.
- Hotel Worker Rights
- Living Wages in DC and Montgomery County
- Parking Worker Rights
