FALMOUTH – Engage Falmouth and the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA) is offering a free workshop next week to encourage participation in the legislative process.
The course is called “Democracy School: State Legislative Process 101,” and will be held on Tuesday, November 27 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in the Hermann Foundation Room of the Falmouth Public Library.
“Engage Falmouth is a civic engagement organization. We’re grassroots and on a shoestring budget we’ve put together ourselves. Our purpose is to mobilize and empower the community to become agents for progressive change,” said Engage Falmouth Co-Founder Jarita Davis.
“We try to give people the resources, tools, and opportunities to become actively involved and to become part of the solution.”
Liza Ryan, organizing director of MIRA, will present an overview of the stages of a state bill before it becomes law in Massachusetts. Participants will learn the about the legislative calendar in addition to methods of tracking and advocating for legislation, using a bill addressing immigration rights as an example.
Davis encourages participation from residents who want to learn more about how state laws are developed. With this training, participants will be empowered to take an active role in the legislative process.
“This is for state laws. There’s a schedule and the legislative session begins on January 3, and there are certain deadlines a bill has to meet in order to progress and get along the path of eventually being voted into law,” said Davis.
“A lot of folks who are just everyday citizens who may vote in elections don’t necessarily know about this schedule and the process of bills as they’re passed into laws.”
MIRA is the largest coalition in New England promoting the rights and integration of immigrants and refugees through education and training, leadership development, institutional organizing, strategic communications, policy analysis and advocacy.
Since joining MIRA in 2015, Ms. Ryan’s background in diplomacy and foreign relations has helped advance the rights of immigrants and refugee residents of Massachusetts.
By TIM DUNN, CapeCod.com News Center
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