LWVUS Receives DC Statehood and Voting Rights Grant
Led by the LWVDC Committee for Full Rights for DC Citizens, members are presenting DC Statehood Toolkit materials in five places soon, with other visits planned, like LWV Hong Kong in November. Up first are Anchorage and Tanana Valley, Alaska Leagues, and the Missouri State Fall Conference. Denver and Ft. Collins, Colorado Leagues will follow, with New England Regional Conference in April. Information: www.lwvdc.org. To schedule: lwvdc1920@gmail.com, please use “Statehood” in the subject line.
“Setting the Table for Civility” over the Holidays
As part of the League’s partnership with the National Institute for Civil Discourse, LWV members are invited to participate in “Setting the Table for Civility”. It is an opportunity for individuals, as we gather with friends and family for the upcoming Thanksgiving and year-end holiday season, to take action to promote civility. These include exploring three basic questions:
• What are you most thankful for about living in America?
• How do you feel about the deep divisions and incivility we see now in our country?
• What can we do to revive civility and respect and find more effective ways to listen to each other and
work together?
Tools and materials are available to support conversations at family gatherings, within faith communities, on campuses and on social media. This could be a great way to engage new members and to invite non-members to join the League in an activity that brings people together and helps us build more civil dialogue in communities.
League Urges U.S. Senators to Cosponsor We the People Act
The League sent a letter to the U.S. Senate urging Senators to cosponsor and support the We the People Democracy Reform Act of 2017. This legislation is a comprehensive solution to the issues facing our democracy. The reforms included will empower citizens and remove barriers to participation for all Americans, irrespective of political party. The Act provides an important road map for solving the vital issues facing our political system and serves as a vehicle to help renew Americans’ faith that the problems facing our democracy can be solved. Members of the LWVUS Lobby Corps will be visiting Senators to address this legislation.
League Supports Honest Ads Act
The League supports the bipartisan Honest Ads Act, legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate that addresses the need for new rules to expose efforts undertaken by foreign interests to intervene in U.S. elections and that will improve transparency of online political ads. The League joined 27 reform groups calling on Senators to support and cosponsor the legislation.
League Expresses Concerns Over Healthcare.gov Outages
The League joined a letter sent to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services regarding scheduled outages of healthcare.gov during the shortened 2017 open enrollment period. The letter urges the department to restrict outages to typical website management efforts so that consumers shopping for, enrolling and re-enrolling in Marketplace health insurance are not affected.
