This International Women's Day, we affirm our commitment to work toward achieving legal, social, political, and economic equality for women around the world. And we call upon U.S. policy makers to do the same by ratifying the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

Thousands of our members from 25 states have signed postcards and petitions in support of this important treaty. On March 8, 2012 — International Women's Day — I will be delivering your message to Senator John Kerry's office. I can't wait!

At UUSC, we believe that achieving gender equality is fundamental to achieving universal human rights. To do this, we believe that the ratification of CEDAW by the United States — a global leader in standing up for women and girls around the world — is essential.

Thank you for speaking up for this important issue — and please keep up the good work!

Clean drinking water is essential to us all, but California's most vulnerable and impoverished communities have been receiving contaminated water for years. 

Yet when the human-right-to-water bill AB 685 — which calls for all Californians to have access to safe drinking water — came before legislative leaders last week, they blocked it without comment or explanation. Powerful, wealthy interests raised groundless concerns that apparently trump our right to safe water when we turn on our taps.

Affected families are very upset. They have waited way too long for safe water. Today, along with a broad coalition of allies, UUs are standing with California residents as they bring their toxic tap water from home — their "Central Valley Blend" — to pour into bottles for delivery to legislators in Sacramento. The partnership between UUSC and the UU Legislative Ministry of California has been successful thus far because thousands of concerned California residents have been supporting the human-right-to-water bills.

Special interests hope that we stop demanding our rights, but we won't stop now! Our voices need to be stronger than those special interests.

If you live in California, help us by speaking up and taking action. 

Why is a basic right endorsed by the United Nations, the federal government, and other states around the country being denied Californians? Even major corporations are starting to get on board with the human right to water.

The United Nations just issued a report pertaining to California and our human-right-to-water bills — and the local NPR affiliate has already picked up the story with a great interview of UUSC's Patricia Jones! You can listen to the program now at their website.

Thanks to grassroots action and advocacy inside the state capitol, the California human-right-to-water bill (AB 685) is still winding its way through the California State House. There have been many twists and turns, and there will be many more before we are through. Stay tuned for an update on the vote in the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee that took place in a special hearing on AB 685 on Thursday, July 7.

Overall, the human-right-to-water bill package is doing quite well. Five of the original six bills have made it through the first half of the legislative process and all have received some bipartisan support. We are excited to be partnering with the UU Legislative Ministry of California, the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water, and countless water-justice activists to help make the human right to water not only a law but also a reality in the state of California.

On Monday, we told you how the California human-right-to-water bill (AB 685) was in danger of meeting an untimely end in the state senate* Rules Committee. But thanks to everyone who took action over the last 24 hours, the bill is still alive! While we are not out of the woods yet, we are on a much better path.

The calls and e-mails activists made to Senator Steinberg's office definitely got their attention. Based on reports, callers heard different excuses from Rules Committee staff about why the bill wasn't moving. Thankfully, each hour their wording became more hopeful. In the end, the committee cancelled its regularly scheduled Wednesday afternoon hearing. When I heard the news, I felt like we had gotten a last-minute stay of execution!

So, what happens next? The negotiations with Senator Steinberg will continue. The best-case scenario is that the bill will be released to the Natural Resources and Water Policy Committee sometime before the final deadline for policy bills on Wednesday, June 29. Luckily, Patricia Jones, manager for UUSC's Environmental Justice Program, will be in Sacramento next week to work with our allies in the capitol.

As I have said before, UUSC is very proud to be in partnership with the UU Legislative Ministry of California and working with the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water, which represents residents who lack access to clean affordable water for their daily lives. Read the media advisory our coalition sent out yesterday to help ratchet up the pressure.

Thanks again to everyone who helped us get through this legislative challenge. We certainly succeeded in creating a powerful buzz around the human right to water this week. And we plan to continue working with policy makers until California becomes the first state in the nation to enact a human-right-to-water law!

* UPDATE: The July issue of Values in Action incorrectly mentioned the state assembly Rules Committee; please note that it was the state senate Rules Committee.

There are often strange twists and turns in the legislative process, but today we face a very unusual and dangerous situation in the California State House. We need your help right now to make sure that historic legislation on the human right to water succeeds.

The primary human-right-to-water bill (AB 685) is stuck in the California State Senate Rules Committee. If it does not move to the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee by the close of business Wednesday, June 22, the bill will die an untimely death. All other bills that have made it to this point in the legislative process have already been referred to the appropriate committees — except for AB 685. Our allies in Sacramento say that grassroots pressure is needed now!

Senator Darrell Steinberg, chair of the Senate Rules Committee and the president pro tempore of the senate, has the power to move the bill to the next step.

Please call Senator Steinberg at 916-651-4006 with this simple message:

"I am calling from _______, California, to urge Senator Steinberg to release AB 685, the human-right-to-water bill, from the Rules Committee. It is vital that it continues to move through the legislative process. It has broad-based support and will help 11.5 million Californians who each day lack access to safe, affordable water."

You can also e-mail him at senator.steinberg@senate.ca.gov.

Please post a note on UUSC's Facebook page to let us know you have taken action and what you hear from Senator Steinberg's office.

UUSC is proud to be in partnership with the UU Legislative Ministry of California and working with the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water, which represents residents directly affected by contaminated water.

Two years ago, we passed the Human Right to Water Act (AB 1242) through both the state assembly and senate only to see the bill vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger on the final day of the legislative session. Today, a package of human-right-to-water bills is winding their way through the Statehouse. The historic California human-right-to-water bill, AB 685 — the primary policy bill introduced by Assemblyman Mike Eng and the bill we need your help with — recently garnered bipartisan support on the assembly floor.

Let's keep water justice flowing. Can you make a call today? Wednesday is the deadline!

As you may know, I've been out in California over the past couple of weeks helping support our partners as the Human Right to Water (HRW) package of six bills moves through the California State House. I'm pleased to say that the Human Right to Water policy bill AB685 (Eng) passed the California State Assembly with a bipartisan 52-24 vote!

If AB685 is passed by the Senate and signed into law by the governor this summer, the state will have the "duty to consider" the human right to water policy when setting priorities, policy, and criteria for funding.

We are working hard to make sure that this happens. UUSC is proud to partner with the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of California, which has worked with congregations across the state to gather and deliver over 1,000 letters in support of the HRW package. UUs have been among the most visible supporters of the bills. Last week, five out of six of our bills made it through the committee phase and at least four of our bills have survived floor votes.

The update as of now is:

• AB 938 (Perez), Language Access on Public Health Notifications, requires public health agencies to give notice of non-compliance with drinking water quality standards in the appropriate language for consumers (passed to Senate).
• AB 983 (Perea), Access to Clean Up and Abatement Funding, allows the state Department of Public Health to take action to improve access to drinking water project funding for small and disadvantaged communities (passed to Senate)
• AB 1187 (Fong), Drinking Water Plans, requires the California Department of Water Resources to include access to safe drinking water plans in updates of the California Water Plan, which is to include current and future unmet needs of marginalized communities (did not pass out of Appropriations Committee)
• AB 1221 (Alejo), Drinking Water Funding Eligibility, allows nonprofits and Native American tribes to receive funding for clean-up of wastes/water pollution to address unmet needs (approved by Assembly)
• SB 244 (Wolk), General Plans Required to Assist Disadvantaged Unincorporated Communities, addresses needs for safe drinking water, sanitation, and other services (passed to Assembly)

There have been lots of twists and turns to get to this point and we are happy to report this good news!

Here is the latest update on the Human Right to Water from the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The package of bills is in the Appropriations Committee and we are on track to have two floor votes this Friday, May 27, 2011. One bill, AB938, would require that public health notifications about water be made available in the languages the community speaks; and S.244 would require municipalities to include a plan to provide services to island or fringe communities when they update their general plans. If these bills are not heard on Friday, they will be heard next week.

The rest of the package-the remaining four bills-come up in the Assembly Appropriations committee this Friday afternoon and floor votes are scheduled for the following Friday. We are cautiously optimistic that the bills will survive this process but we will need to continue our work here. These bills are:

• AB 685, which establishes the human right to water in California
• AB 983, which promotes water-system consolidation for small communities to provide sustainable, affordable solutions where possible
• AB 1187, which requires that the state water plan include provisions to provide everyone in California with safe drinking water
• AB 221, which ensures access to funding for disadvantaged communities to clean up contamination 

We met with the Speaker's office and Appropriations Committee and several of our bill authors' staff yesterday. Rev. Lindi Ramsden, head of the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of California, delivered another huge stack of UU letters from around the state, and our coalition partners and community members joined us for some productive staff meetings.  We will visit some more offices today.

If you live in California, you can help us. Please visit the UU Legislative Ministry of California website.