Blog: Remarks on the leaked Roe v. Wade draft opinion: Given by the League’s national organizing director, Alma Couverthie, on the steps on the U.S. Supreme Court about the leaked opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health. 

Blog and Video: Remarks by LWVUS CEO Virginia Kase Solomon: Given at a meeting of Black Women Leaders and Allies on the voting rights and reproductive call to action.

Leagues in the News: 

• Suzanne Brock, president of the LWV of the Cape Cod (Massachusetts) Area, wrote a powerful op-ed on the right to privacy and how repealing Roe v. Wade could impact our democracy. Read the piece, “Opinion: I had an abortion. Here's why Roe v. Wade should not be repealed,” in the Cape Cod Times.
• Read and share a statement from the LWV of Texas in response to the mass shooting in Uvalde, "A Child's Life Outweighs Anyone's Right to Keep and Bear Arms."

Letter: LWVUS urges U.S. Senate to vote yes on Women’s Health Protection Act: The LWVUS urges U.S. senators to vote yes on S.4132, codifying women’s right to reproductive choice by prohibiting governmental restrictions on access to abortion services. 

Letter: League joins call for social media companies to address election disinformation: The LWVUS joined a letter with more than 120 groups to urge social media platform leaders to control the spread of disinformation online as we head into the midterm elections. 

Letter: LWVUS advocates for passage of the DISCLOSE Act of 2021: The LWVUS urges the U.S. Senate to debate and pass the DISCLOSE Act (S.443) that would provide transparency and complete, truthful information in campaign funding. The act  would require organizations and politicians to disclose donations over $10,000 during an election cycle. 

March: Saturday, June 18, the LWVUS will participate in the Moral March on Washington in partnership with the Poor People’s Campaign and the Low-Wage Workers Assembly.  

Video: Climate Change Threats to Democratic Elections: View a panel discussion on how elections are disrupted by severe climate change and environmental threats. 

Webinar: Reproductive Rights: Overview and Advocacy: June 8, noon PT, the LWVUS will present a webinar that looks at what is happening around reproductive rights at the national and state levels and discuss opportunities for advocacy going forward. 

The following are volunteer roles the LWV of Washington is seeking help with. This is your opportunity to play an important part in your state League! 

Office 365 Support 

Do you know how to use SharePoint and/or Microsoft Teams? Have you ever set up some Power Automate actions? We need someone to help take the LWVWA to the next level in our technology usage. An expert would be great, but a tech-savvy person who is really interested in figuring out how to use these technologies to make the League more efficient and connected (and has the time and energy to do so) would be a big help, too! This work could include experimenting with the technology, providing tech support to members, administering guest access, exploring how to make this technology available to local Leagues, and any other ideas that we come up with. Contact Amy at apeloff@lwvwa.org. 

Social Media Expert 

The LWVWA is seeking a social-media savvy League member to help post to the LWVWA’s social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram). The role would require checking daily news alerts and news sources for information about the League as well as posting interesting and educational events in line with League issues. The League especially needs someone who knows Instagram. Contact Lea at lgalanter@lwvwa.org. 

Newsletter Editor 

The LWV of Washington is seeking someone to edit the state newsletters, The Voter and This Month in the League. Each newsletter is published once a month (first and third Fridays). Tasks include collecting articles, reviewing articles for adherence to League style and proper English, making sure graphics are royalty-free or finding graphics for articles, and working with the LWVWA staff to produce the newsletters. The ideal person would have excellent writing and editing skills and be able to follow the LWVWA Style Guide, the Associated Press Stylebook, and LWVUS guidelines. Contact Lea at lgalanter@lwvwa.org. 

MELD Pod Facilitator 

The LWVWA is seeking Membership Engagement Leadership and Development (MELD) program pod facilitators, a position that involves about five hours a month. This includes a monthly 60-minute Zoom meeting with your assigned pod and writing a short report. The facilitators also meet once a month for an hour. The MELD program is a way for all League levels—local, state, and national—to communicate, share their successes and challenges, and receive information about programs and resources. This leadership position requires good listening and communication skills and the ability to facilitate a group discussion. If you’re interesting in being a pod facilitator, contact Linda Benson for more information. 

By Shelley Kneip, Study Committee Chair, LWV of Washington 

The LWVWA has completed a study of the state Shoreline Management Act (SMA) and its implementation (download the study from the LWVWA website). Pursuant to League protocol, the study is an objective analysis of the SMA. Once completed, it is reviewed by local Leagues, which are asked to find consensus on the questions on issues identified in the study. Once statewide consensus is reached, the LWVWA will form a position on the issues. 

Why Is This Important?  

The SMA was one of the first environmental laws enacted in the state of Washington. The act was proposed by Washington citizens to protect our state’s environmentally significant shorelines and its natural resources. The SMA is administered by cities and counties through local shoreline management programs, which are overseen by the Washington State Department of Ecology. The SMA covers many different types of shorelines: streams, lakes, rivers, and coastal shorelines. The legislative policy goals in the SMA are meant to protect shoreline ecological functions while fostering appropriate shoreline uses, with preference to water-dependent uses and ensuring public access to shorelines. While a raft of other state and federal environmental regulations have subsequently been adopted, the SMA remains the primary mechanism for protecting Washington’s shorelines, biodiversity, and natural resources. We have seen substantial changes since the SMA was adopted over 50 years ago, but the last significant updates to its rules and procedures were almost 20 years ago in 2003. Importantly, most local jurisdictions are currently in the process of updating their shoreline programs, so now is the time to be involved.  

The Study Committee spent two years evaluating how the SMA is working. Is it truly protecting our shorelines? Is it up to date? What conditions have changed over the past 50 years that may need to be addressed? Moreover, since many local governments are in the process of updating their shoreline management programs, the background in this document will assist local  Leagues in participating and commenting on those programs. 

What’s Coming Next 

There will be a presentation and display table at the LWVWA June council in Everett. Following the council meeting, a statewide virtual meeting with local  Leagues will go into more detail on the study. Local Leagues should review the study, meet, and develop their answers to the consensus questions. For more information, contact Shelley Kneip.  

By Lunell Haught, President, LWV of Washington 

Washington is in a unique position regarding reproductive choice compared to many other states. In order to reinforce how important this is, in May, LWVWA President Lunell Haught sent the following letter about reproductive choice to each Washington state senator and representative. The LWV uses privacy and health care positions to support reproductive choice. Lunell has received a few thank you notes from legislators.  

Family planning is difficult. Those who are parents know the challenges and uncertainties of bringing a new life into the world and realize that it affects not only the individual but the entire family constellation and society. The League of Women Voters of Washington supports universal access to a comprehensive, uniform, and affordable set of health services and an individual’s right to privacy in making their own reproductive choices. 

The League is grateful for the foresight that Washington voters showed in securing the right to terminate a pregnancy (1973). Adding to this is the legislative work done to enact RCW 9.02.110 (a woman’s right to choose). We appreciate your recognizing that every individual has the fundamental right to choose or refuse birth control and that every pregnant person has the fundamental right to choose or refuse to terminate a pregnancy (except as specifically limited). 

Those of us who lived through the days when there was no access to reproductive choices know firsthand how lives can be upturned and ended without access to reproductive care. We are thankful to live in a state that recognizes this is a family, not a government, decision. Thank you for your service to the people of Washington in ensuring the rights of women and their families to make their own decisions about important family matters. 

It’s almost time to “Reconnect, Restore, and Renew” with League members across the state at the LWVWA 2022 Council in Everett, June 10-12. It’s too late to register but the following are some important reminders: 

• Don’t forget to download council documents and print out beforehand or bring your laptop so you have them handy. The League will be saving paper and the environment by not providing paper copies. 

• Proof of vaccination and booster are required for all attendees. If you did not upload a photo of your vaccine card when you registered, you can download a PDF from the Washington State Department of Health or show us a photo of your card on-site at registration. 

• Bring your own thermos and/or water bottle, as the League is conserving resources by not providing single-use bottled water. There will be a water/coffee/tea station. 

• It is not necessary to bring your own mask, as the League will be providing providing facemasks with clear panels on front (check them out) to all attendees to facilitate communication for our hard-of-hearing attendees (as well as captioning as much as possible on the projection screen). A state Board member (Jayne Freitag) who is a nurse has provided extensive advice on how to hold a safe in-person event. The physical space will be arranged so that people are not too close to each other. We will also ask each attendee to put either a red, yellow, or green dot on their name badge to indicate their level of comfort with physical interaction.

• You can still investigate public transportation.  

• Get ready to have fun with your League sisters and brothers! 

The LWVWA’s “Be a Voter” campaign was selected as a finalist for the LWV of the US Powering Democracy Award, which will be announced on June 26 at the national convention. The Powering Democracy Award recognizes state and local Leagues for their exemplary work over the past biennium. The award’s theme was inspired by the national League’s Women Power Democracy campaign, and ideal submissions support the Women Power Democracy goals and/or the goals of the Campaign for Making Democracy Work and the League’s Strategic Framework. All winners will receive a cash prize from the LWVUS in recognition of their excellent work over the past biennium. 

The Be a Voter Campaign is a voter outreach project highlighting local Leagues working together with the state League, statewide outreach, materials in Spanish, a social media campaign, and a partnership with a major newspaper, The Spokesman-Review. The Be a Voter Campaign is  a research-based project providing a broad suite of tools for local Leagues to use across Washington state. With uniform messaging, an accompanying Be a Voter graphic, and the LWVWA logo on voter outreach tools, local Leagues achieved messaging synergies across a statewide audience. 

The LWVWA worked with local Leagues to develop voter outreach tools and graphics that local Leagues could download from the state website. The state League encouraged members to use these tools to help spread the word. The tools include full- and half-page printer-friendly flyers and bookmarks, and some voter education materials are also in Spanish, such as a flyer promoting VOTE411.  

The Be a Voter social media campaign, which was active leading up to the 2021 election, featured 33 mis- and disinformation info bites—short factoids regarding elections in Washington state. The state League also worked with local Leagues to develop a toolkit with the social media info bites for local Leagues to use. To prepare the 33 factoids of mis-disinformation for the social media campaign, the League asked our Office of the Secretary of State (OSOS) to share the major questions that voters had brought up during the 2020 election. State League volunteers organized these queries and drafted responses, and the OSOS reviewed the questions to ensure accuracy. 

The mis- and disinformation factoids were featured in the Your Vote publication, a “tabloid” that was produced in partnership with The Spokesman-Review, the major newspaper in Spokane, Washington, and most of Eastern Washington. Your Vote, which also included selected voter information articles, was made available to the public in a PDF format in Spanish and English.  

The Your Vote materials are available to download from the LWV of Washington website on the Voter Tools page (no login required); the Be a Voter Toolkit is available in the For Members section of the LWVWA website (login required). 

League Actions Around the Country 

The LWV of Kansas and various partners appealed a lawsuit challenging anti-voter laws passed in 2021. The laws include vote-disqualifying signature requirements and a delivery assistance ban that would disproportionately impact voters with disabilities or who live in rural areas or on tribal land. 

The LWV of Arizona was victorious when that state's Supreme Court dismissed an Arizona Republican Party petition that attempted to end all early voting. The LWV of Arizona had filed an amicus brief challenging the petition in March. 

The LWV of Florida joined partners in filing a lawsuit against Florida's new congressional map, citing both racial and partisan gerrymandering. The League and other plaintiffs argue that the congressional map, insisted upon by Governor Ron DeSantis and approved by the state legislature, was not drawn in compliance with the current laws governing redistricting in Florida. 

The LWV of New York state filed an amicus brief challenging the redistricting maps drawn by its legislature after the New York State Independent Redistricting Commission failed to submit a second set of maps as required by a 2014 amendment. 

Action Alerts 

Tell Your Representatives That You Want Equality to Be Part of the Constitution 

Tell Your Senators to Support the Equal Rights Amendment 

By Mary Coltrane, 1st Vice President, LWV of Washington 

The LWVWA Voter Services Committee has been focusing on candidate forums and debates, with local Leagues gearing up for an important voter services season. With such major concerns as mis- and disinformation and hyper-partisanship, there’s much to do. If you would like to get involved, please let your local League know. There are many voter services jobs: tabling events, forums and debates, and the League’s online voter guide, VOTE411, are just some of the voter services the League works on. Here’s a roundup of what’s happening in voter services in the state League to give you a sense of the work we do.  

The Voter Services Committee will next meet Wednesday, May 11 at 6:30 p.m. Committee members will be sent the Zoom link and agenda closer to the meeting time. If you would like to attend as a guest, send an email to Mary Coltrane to be put on the list. 

Candidate Forums and Debates Workshops. I hope everyone who wanted to attend the Candidate Forums and Debates workshop on April 23 had a chance to do so. The recording and PowerPoint of the meeting will be placed on the state League website as soon as possible. In the meantime, you can access link to the recording and PowerPoint from the first workshop (scroll down to Voter Services). 

VOTE411 Questions. Cynthia Stewart is the go-to person for questions about VOTE411. She would like to hear from each League—in whatever manner works best for your League—regarding questions from your community to go into VOTE411. Please contact Cynthia and let her know if there is someone from your League she can work with directly: 

As for the last few years, I have agreed to coordinate local League questions for candidates that will go into Vote411 for this year’s election. Although filing for office is still nearly a month away, we can anticipate much of what will be relevant to the offices on the ballot this year. All House of Representatives positions will be on the ballot as well as half of the Senate positions. There will be congressional races as well and some local races (that differs by jurisdiction). 

So my request to you is to please let me know who in your League will be compiling the Vote411 questions, and that person’s email address. It may be you, it may be your Action Chair or it may be someone else.  I will let them know what our deadline is when I can verify it and send some guidelines for crafting the questions.  

If you want more information about how to help out with these kinds of voter services activities, please let me, Mary Coltrane, know!

In Washington state, the League of Women Voters has had a long-standing Membership Engagement and Leadership Development (MELD) program. This program is a conduit for communication among all levels of the League, local, state, and national. MELD meetings are where local Leagues can share their successes and challenges and receive information about programs and resources from state, national, and local Leagues. Along with TMIL (This Month in the League), The Voter, and affinity groups, MELD meetings allow League members to stay connected to programs and resources that benefit local Leagues. 

The local League members from across the state who are in a MELD meeting, along with a facilitator and a Board representative, are called a pod. The four pod facilitators manage each group, meeting virtually via Zoom once a month with representatives from four or five local Leagues and the state Board. The Board member provides updates, answers questions, listens to members’ concerns and thoughts, and then takes the comments and suggestions back to the Board. 

The LWV of Washington is currently seeking pod facilitators, a position that involves about five hours a month. This includes the 60-minute Zoom meeting with your assigned pod each month and writing a short report. The facilitators also meet once a month for an hour. The pod facilitator is considered a leadership position, requiring good listening and communication skills and the ability to manage a group discussion. You don’t have to be expert in anything other than listening and facilitating a group discussion.  

If you’re interesting in being a pod facilitator, contact Linda Benson for more information. 

By Cynthia Stewart, Revenue & Budget Issue Chair, LWV of Washington 

In 2021, the Washington State Legislature passed the capital gains tax, a 7% excise tax on the sale of capital gains exceeding $250,000. This has been likened to a real estate excise tax paid on property when it is sold. It was estimated that the tax would generate nearly $1 billion per year and would affect only about 0.2% of Washington’s population because of various exemptions from the tax—such as sales of residences, retirement funds, and more—that protect less wealthy people.  

The first $500 million of revenue from the tax is dedicated to the state Education Legacy Trust Account, which can only be used for education (supporting common schools, expanding access to higher education through funding for new enrollments and financial aid, early learning and child care programs, and other educational improvement efforts). The remainder would be deposited into the Common School Construction Fund. 

In March of this year, Initiative 1929 was filed to repeal this tax, calling it an income tax. If it receives enough signatures, it will go on the ballot in November and, if approved by the voters, would repeal the capital gains tax. However, Washington state needs new revenue to cover the costs of many as yet un- and underfunded needs. The League of Women Voters supported the capital gains tax as one of several ways to generate more revenue while making our currently unfair tax structure more fair. Right now, people with fewer means and income pay far more of their income in state and local taxes than people with higher incomes. The capital gains tax would affect only the most wealthy in the state. 

At its April meeting, the LWVWA Board approved the League’s participation in the “Decline to Sign I-1929” campaign urging voters not to sign I-1929, with the intention of keeping it off the ballot. League members are encouraged to tell friends, family, social media contacts, and others not sign this initiative and to join with other organizations as they campaign to keep this off the ballot. 

For more information, refer to this fact sheet produced by the Washington State Budget and Policy Center. And please, Decline to Sign.