The Lobby Team needs you! If you are vitally interested in a topic, do consider working with the Team.
 
We often hear, “I can’t do that!” But you can. The Lobby Team has positions for all types of skills and temperaments. If you don’t want to testify or meet with legislators, we need help with research and writing—become an Advocate, the people who support our Issue Chairs.  

But we also provide training if you would like to be a full-fledged Issue Chair, the name for our volunteer lobbyists. Issue Chairs convey information about their issues to League members, state legislators, and other organizations in coalitions the League joins. Issue Chairs stay up to date on state policy and advocate at the legislature based on League positions.   

Consider the range of issues in the LWVWA Program in Action (see page 4 for a list of positions). Right now, we are particularly seeking Issue Chairs for healthcare and children’s programs, but all of our Issue Chairs can use more Advocates! Some of our Issue Chairs are seeking League members to train to take over the Issue Chair role from those who’ve been doing it a long time.

Becoming a Lobby Team member is a great opportunity to learn more about important issues while helping the League impact them. Your skills, expertise, and time can make a significant difference!

For more information, or to volunteer, contact Cynthia Stewart, LWVWA Advocacy Chair.

This Month with the Lobby Team

The Lobby Team works throughout the year, not just during the state legislative session. But the work is different between sessions (the “interim”). This month, the Team is having its retreat to plan upcoming Action Workshops for the Fall, share information about issues, and discuss how to improve our communications with League members. If you have suggestions on the latter, please contact Cynthia Stewart.

Watch for more information about the upcoming Action Workshops in the next issue of In League. 

On the morning of June 29, League delegates from across the country gathered in Washington DC for the Saturday plenary session at the LWVUS National Convention. They came together in the Hilton’s sprawling International Ballroom, where nationally recognized journalists, Hollywood’s elite, and high-ranking government and elected officials—including the US President—gather every spring for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. It’s a big deal; a gala affair with attendees saluting the courage and tenacity of dedicated news professionals, raising money for scholarships and, of course, roasting the commander in chief.   

Likewise, what happened the last weekend in June in that same room also was a big deal. With overwhelming support, League delegates voted to adopt the LWVWA’s position on Local News and Democracy. This move empowers League members throughout the country—at the local, state, and national levels—to advocate for local news.  

The LWVWA could take its position to the National League Convention on this very special weekend because of you, the members of local Leagues throughout Washington State. Your support in the form of encouragement, last year’s consensus on the position, and financial assistance combined to make the weekend the success it was.    

All the members of the Local News team are grateful for your support—the encouragement and “atta-girls” we received—kept us going, particularly when the going got tough.

The concurrence vote your support made possible gives League members nationwide a tool to rally behind legislation and programs designed to bolster the local news ecosystem, making it possible for voters to be more informed, for the public to know better what’s happening in the halls of government and to expand awareness that might start chipping away at the political divide that threatens our democracy.  

After a break, the Local News team will renew its efforts, including the promotion of media literacy and awareness. If you’d like to participate, please contact Dee Anne Finken, Chair of the Local News and Democracy Committee. 

The 2024 LWVWA Council has come and gone, and we had a blast!

This year we were pleased to be able to offer both in-person and virtual options to participate in Council, and it's clear how much League members love to gather in-person—almost all of our attendees came down to Lacey this year to participate in-person.

A popular highlight for folks at Council this year was the Civics Bowl Competition held with dinner on Saturday night. League members were able to flex their civic knowledge and enjoy a spirited (but friendly) competition about something near and dear to all of our hearts. A big thank you to Karen Crowley and her excellent game show hosting skills! She really ensured the evening was a highly entertaining affair.

Other highlights include the insightful Keynote Speech delivered by Squaxin Tribal Chief Kris Peters and a lunch session discussing Dr. Carolyn Jefferson-Jenkins' book The Untold Story of Women of Color in the League of Women Voters. Jefferson-Jenkins is a former two-term LWVUS President.

This year Council included two Plenary Sessions to elect new Board members, with sessions on Saturday and Sunday morning. Virtual and in-person attendees engaged in a lively and important discussion about Staying Nonpartisan in Partisan Times, emphasizing its vital importance to the League's efforts during the 2024 Election.

We also had a packed workshop schedule, with nine separate workshops scheduled throughout Saturday. These workshops included:

• The "ME" in MELD—Membership & Engagement (Recording available)
• A National Convention Caucus (Recording available)
• Understanding the Lobby Team: Talk to Issue Chairs and Ask Questions (Recording available)
• Speaking with One Voice (Recording available)
• Programs Coming to Local Leagues Soon (Recording available)
• Local League Brainstorming: Communicating More Effectively with Diverse Entities (Recording available)
• Leadership is a Balancing Act (Recording available)
  
• Tabling with a Purpose (not recorded)
• Nuts and Bolts of Candidate Events (Recording available) 

The final session of the 2024 LWVWA Council was aimed at helping League members be more confident in remaining nonpartisan in increasingly partisan times. LWVWA President Mary Coltrane opened the session, noting that research done by Washington State University indicates that the League is not generally viewed as nonpartisan by the public. On top of this challenge, many League members report that defending democracy, while embracing nonpartisanship, raises a myriad of difficult questions.

As the final session continued, panel members Karen Tvedt, Ellie Hutton, and Jean Alliman teed-up questions about what nonpartisanship means as Leagues host candidate forums, conduct studies, protect our legacy, recruit leadership (and membership), and establish leadership teams to serve in lieu of local League presidents. Through these discussions, two premises emerged:

1. Promoting democracy and empowering voters is the foundation of the League of Women Voters—and they are non-negotiable.
   
   
2. Clearly differentiating between the League’s voter services work and its advocacy work is critical. This includes remembering that advocacy is not our purpose during our voter education activities, such as GOTV tabling or conducting candidate forums.

While the League is not responsible for rising political polarization in the US—and the redefining of terms like “democracy” or “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)” in increasingly partisan ways—there was agreement among members that the League’s effectiveness can be increased by minimizing the appearance of partisanship. Some suggestions to do this included:

1. Ensuring that candidate forums are civil and inclusive. This includes using skillful moderators and broad outreach for questions—especially including those of concern to local communities. To this end, some members advocated for in-person forums with questions coming from the audience. Other members noted “empty chair” concerns and the need to create environments that promote participation by candidates.
   
   
2. Honing our listening skills to further civil conversations and relationships with those who hold differing views. This includes being aware of words that can be triggers.
   
   
3. Making sure our members, particularly new members, are conversant with our nonpartisan and conflict of interest policies. The distinction between voter service and advocacy work is especially important—we need to be “speaking with one voice.”
   
   
4. Highlighting the work we do that resonates across the political divide—like promoting local news and our elder caregiving study.

In conclusion, against the backdrop of our evolving politics, questions around nonpartisanship will continue to surface, and such open discussions are needed on regular basis within the League of Women Voters, at all its levels.

After four years of challenging work, the team members of the LWVWA’s “Public Hospital District Civics Education Project” have wrapped up the live outreach and presentation phase of their project.

The Public Hospital District Civics Education Project was approved by the membership at the 2021 LWVWA Convention. The purpose of the project is to educate League members, and the public, about the nature and operation of Washington’s Public Hospital Districts (PHD). As local, voter-approved governmental entities, PHDs are not well understood—but they offer tremendous opportunities for input from the public about their healthcare options.

Between the LWVWA’s 2021 Convention and 2024 Council the PHD Civics Ed Project team organized itself statewide; set performance goals; surveyed existing awareness of WA PHDs statewide; and developed educational materials corresponding to the needs it uncovered, as well as in the media forms preferred by those surveyed.  The team combined all the above work into its one-hour introductory webinar, “PHD 101,” and facilitated successful presentations to numerous League audiences across the state.

For those who were not able to attend a webinar—or would like to use it to continue educating members and the public on PHDs—a recording of a presentation and all of the project’s PHD-related materials can still be accessed here. These materials include:

1. A recording of the one-hour “PHD 101” webinar. The presentation introduces League members, and the public, to the Public Hospital Districts of Washington and how local PHDs might address identified gaps in healthcare.
   
   
2. The PHD Formation Toolkit, which offers a self-study guide and other resources for learning about how Washington’s PHDs are formed.

The PHD Civics Ed Project team is grateful to the LWVWA Board and Project Liaison Dee Ann Kline for their support of the project; to the LWVWA Foundation Board for its financial subsidy of the webinar production; to LWVWA member Susan Daniel for her superb narration of our webinar script; and to the LWVWA Administrative Director Amy Peloff for her helpful and timely technical support.

Additionally, Project Chair Nancy Field (LWV Clallam County) would like to recognize the hard work and tremendous collegial spirit of the League members who contributed their invaluable work during the project’s lifetime. Special thanks to Cynthia Stewart (LWV Tacoma/Pierce County), Jody Disney (LWV Thurston County), Mary Lynne Courtney (LWV Bellingham/Whatcom County), and Tricia Grantham (LWV Pullman/Whitman County).

In Star Trek, a “mind meld” is a kind of telepathic touch that enables the rapid sharing of knowledge and experience. Unfortunately for (at least most of) us, we are neither telepathic nor within touching distance of each other, so we have created a MELD Network* to provide a mechanism to better share tools, methods, practices, and accomplishments across the state with each other.  

The “League Mind MELD” column is a way to share even more information to all our members across the state. This column will run each month and will include the responses we receive to the questions posed at the end of the previous month’s column.   
June’s MELD Moment
In one sense, the LWVWA 2024 Council could be described as a giant MELD gathering—as its focus was on Membership, Engagement, Leadership, and Development.

At Council, members engaged with one another and discussed the various ways they hold their member orientations and welcome new members. As well as how they hold social events, training for League activities, their leadership models, and how they develop leaders withing their League.

There were three workshops that delved deeper into the “who,” “how,” and “why” folks engage with their members and their community at large. Talks about what DEI means to specific Leagues, and how they incorporate DEI into their League’s work occurred. Different models of leadership, as well as how they are working or not working, were discussed. Workshop panelists described how they identify and develop leaders—from the beginning when they join the League, to identifying their interests and figuring out ways to involve them, to helping them grow with the League. And, of course, since the League is also a “people business,” tips on how to address the challenges and conflicts that come up as we work were also offered.

The 2024 LWVWA Council offered plenty of opportunities to meet new friends, learn new ideas, and share valuable information and experiences. We also came away with a renewed understanding and sense of nonpartisanship—what it means and why it’s an important part of our work as we navigate an increasingly partisan culture.

In future MELD meetings, our MELD pods will continue to explore many of the topics that came up during Council. We hope you will join us!

The League Mind MELD
Last month we asked, “do you have a relationship with your local library and museum?” and it turns out the WA Leagues do have strong bonds with the libraries in their communities! With the new partnership between LWVUS and the American Library Association, these ties will likely become even stronger.

The connections between local Leagues and libraries ranged from access to meeting rooms to activities and programs focused on civics education and voter registration to community forums and much more. Increasingly, Leagues are also partnering with their local museums to create historical displays, programs, and community forums.  These projects range from covering women’s history with programs like local women’s history walks to “League Nights at the Museum.”

A crucial part of our work is the connections the League can make with those around us, and the positive impact we can have because of those connections. And we’re seeing that local Leagues around Washington are working hard to build these connections!

For June's MELD questions, we are hoping to strengthen the LWVWA's communication with our members and local Leagues. To inform those communications, please answer the questions below.

June's questions:

1. What does the LWVWA do for your League?
2. What do you wish the LWVWA would or could do?
   

For more details about the MELD workshops held at the 2024 LWVWA Council, or about MELD pods, please contact Nancy Halvorson. And don’t forget to send your answers to June’s question to Nancy as well!

* In the context of the League, MELD actually has zero connection to Star Trek; it is an acronym for Membership, Engagement, Leadership, and Development. MELD pods meet each month to serve as platforms for sharing successes, addressing challenges, and exchanging ideas among local Leagues. Are you interested in learning more about MELD? Talk to your Local League Leadership about becoming involved in MELD. Are you interested in learning more about MELD? Talk to your Local League Leadership about becoming involved in MELD.

The LWVWA Biennial Council will be Friday, May 31 to Sunday, June 2 and we can't wait to gather 'in League!' If you haven't already, make sure you register.

This year, we have a wide selection of workshops scheduled, with eleven workshops folks can choose to attend. Below you will find the full list of the workshops with a brief description of each.

Elevator Speeches and Testifying for Local News and Democracy
Organizer: Dee Anne Finken (LWVWA)

This caucus is geared towards empowering delegates for the 2024 LWVUS Convention to support concurrence on the Local News and Democracy position. This workshop will be hands-on and interactive, providing the opportunity to practice writing and delivering "elevator speeches" and testimony for the LWVUS Convention. Attendees will walk away from this caucus prepared to be a confident delegate.

Immigration and Immigrant Policy
Organizer: Susan Martin (LWV San Juan County)

Immigration is one of the leading policy issues in the 2024 election. This workshop will provide an overview of immigration in WA State—including numbers of immigrants, as well as their geographic distribution, socioeconomic status, legal status, and more. The current LWVUS and LWVWA positions on immigration will also be discusses, as well as recent and proposed legislative actions on immigration reform at the state and national levels. Attendees will also have the opportunity to ask questions about the LWVWA study "Immigration and Immigrant Integration in Washington."

What Does Serving on the LWVWA Board of Directors Involve and Require?
Organizer: Jean Alliman (LWV Spokane Area)

This workshop will provide attendees with an informal opportunity to ask questions about the responsibilities and expectations for those who serve on the LWVWA's Board of Directors. We aim to empower members who want to serve on the Board to apply themselves, or to nominate other members that could help the Board shape the LWVWA's future.

What are the Keys to Getting The State We're In: WA into Schools Across Washington?
Organizer: Karen Verrill (LWVWA), Bonnie Bless-Boenish and Jean Snider will also help lead the discussion.

Civic education should inspire students to be active, informed citizens. This is what our civics textbook does! The State We're In: Washington is a tremendous aid in creating a well-informed and voting public. The books are now available in both English and Spanish for elementary, middle, and high school classrooms, however, getting those books into classrooms is often a struggle. This workshop will provide a lively discussion about how to help connect students to our valuable textbooks. Attendees will learn from teachers how to effectively approach schools, school districts, and libraries to increase the distribution of our book. Ideas for increasing the visibility of these books availability will also be discussed.

Treasurer Affinity Group: Transformational Journey
Organizer: Dee Kline Parkinson (LWV Mason County)

This workshop will continue to build on our work on the financial portion of the LWV Transformational Journey. It's suitable for Local League Treasurers, Presidents, Roster Managers, and Webmasters.

Got Any Plans for NVRD? Here’s What’s Happening…!
Organizer: Jeanne Crevier (LWV Snohomish County)

This workshop is geared toward demonstrating the possibilities of teaming up with Evergreen Goodwill and Common Power to reach traditionally marginalized communities and young voters—just in time for National Voter Registration Day (NVRD)! For four years, LWV Snohomish has partnered with Goodwill and Common Power for a multi-day voter registration and information event that culminates in a large registration push on NVRD. This year NVRD is on September 17 and events wills be held in 12 Goodwill stores throughout King, Snohomish, Skagit, Whatcom, and Kitsap Counties. We hope to take it statewide next year! Join us as we showcase this work, highlight the successes, and outline our plans for the 2024 NVRD voter registration event.

Collaborative Leadership Structures
Organizer: Susan Fiksdal (LWV Thurston County)

This workshop will focus on collaborative leadership structures as a response to the difficulties in finding members to serve in the role of local League President. LWV Thurston County was unable to find a member willing to serve as president, and instead formed a leadership team which is expected to be elected at their annual meeting. Attendees will discuss experiences, ideas, and advice related to collaborative leadership structures.

Indian Nations’ Federal Recognition Issues: Chinook Tribe
Organizer: Susan Fleming (LWV Clark County)

Treaties, laws and court actions have created a labyrinth of regulations for tribes to navigate, and which also compromise their independence and rights. This workshop will focus on how the Chinook Tribe has been impacted in WA and OR and how their situation can be improved.

Redistricting Reform Putting People First
Organizer: Alison McCaffree (LWVWA)

As a result of the Soto Palmer v. Hobbs lawsuit, new legislative maps have been drawn. It's impacts include a new district—intended to provide better representation for Latino voters—as well as moving nearly half a million people to different legislative districts and displacing 5 current legislators. The LWVWA believes the uncertainty caused by this lawsuit illustrates the need to change our state’s redistricting process, and workshop attendees will hear from the LWVWA Redistricting Reform Task Force about the new 2024 legislative map boundaries and how proposed reform efforts will reduce similar turmoil for voters. A People First Redistricting Commission would minimize partisan influences and emphasize a consensus around what’s best for all communities. Come find out how you can help make this new commission a reality.

Explore a Democracy Scorecard Project for Washington State
Organizer: Linnea Hirst (LWVWA)

Biannually, the LWV of Maine produces the "Maine Report Card," which assesses the effectiveness of the democratic processes in Maine. Their evaluations are based on publicly available data. This workshop will discuss bringing a similar project to the state of Washington. Attendees will discuss what measures of the democratic processes should be used in Washington. This discussion will include the relevance of the measures used by Maine, as well as the possibility of partnering with other non-profits who focus on the effectiveness of democratic institutions.

Civics Comes Alive!
Organizer: Barbara Tengtio (LWV Seattle/King County)

This workshop will focus on LWV Seattle/King County's "Civics and You!" project. "Civics and You!" is a civics education program developed by LWV Seattle/King County and Inglemoor High School's Social Studies Teacher, A. Baker. It consists of student-led forums and practice voting and was utilized during the fall of 2023. The teaching module is available on LWV Seattle/King County's website.

The LWVWA will hold a candidate forum for the state Superintendent of Public Instruction primary race on Monday, May 20 at 6:30 PM. The public is invited to attend in-person, as well as through a live broadcast provided by TVW. After the forum, a recording of the event will be available to view on our website, as well as on TVW's website.

The forum will be held in conjunction with Central Valley School District and the LWV Spokane Area and will be held at the Ridgeline High School auditorium (20150 E Country Vista Dr, Liberty Lake, WA 99019). TVW Executive Director Renee Radcliff Sinclair will be the moderator for the event.

League members are working with local high school students to develop questions for the candidates, and those same high school students will be the panelists asking the questions of the candidates. This event is a great opportunity for the League to advance several of its top goals. Beyond bringing crucial voter education to the public, we're also providing a hands-on experience with civic engagement and education to the high school students involved in the project. And, of course, through all of this we are empowering folks to get out and vote!

The LWVWA has been very busy this past year with programs! At the 2023 LWVWA Convention, the membership approved three programs for the 2023-2024 biennium. These programs included two studies and an education project. The studies were "Elder Caregiving" and "Immigration and Immigrant Integration in Washington." The education project focused on Multi-Member Districts Local Leagues will be involved in the final product of these programs.

Updates on the above studies and project will be presented during a June 1 workshop at the 2024 LWVWA Council in Lacey. The workshop, titled "Studies and Civic Education Project Coming to Local Leagues Soon," will be hosted by the Chairs of these three programs, Karen Tvedt (Elder caregiving study), Susan Martin (Immigration study), and Kit Muehlman (Multi-Member Districts).

A LWVWA position on local news was approved and adopted in 2023 after an 18-month study, the Decline of Local News and It's Impact on Democracy, was released. The study highlighted a nationwide problem and has received attention from Leagues throughout the country since being released. Currently, LWVUS has no adopted position addressing the local news crisis, and thus members of the LWVWA have been working hard this year to get national concurrence on it's local news position.

Concurrence is process where a League adopts a position without having to conduct its own study, by reviewing and agreeing with a position developed by another League based on a study. The LWVWA was joined by 41 other Leagues in proposing the LWVUS adopt this position. The LWVUS Board agreed and has included it in its recommended Program for 2024-2026! Final adoption will take place at the 2024 LWVUS Convention on June 29, subject to a 2/3 vote of approval by the delegates attending Convention.

How does Advocacy in the local Leagues work?

Local Leagues often advocate for issues in their communities, and when the issue or policy is confined within their region, that League follows their own advocacy/approval processes. However, if the issue or policy covers more than one local League, or requires advocacy with state officials, then the action must be coordinated with the LWVWA—and likely with the LWVWA Lobby Team—to ensure the League is speaking with one voice and its advocacy is supported by our positions. To help us apply this to real life situations, we can look at two different examples of advocacy with LWV Bellingham/Whatcom County (LWVBWC) and LWV Snohomish County (LWVSC).

In an example of necessary coordination between a local League and the LWVWA, the LWVBWC advocated for safe and clean Puget Sound shorelines in their region when the Department of Ecology was considering rule making to cap liability for spills in the Puget Sound. The LWVBWC joined a coalition opposing the proposed liability cap because the rationale was based on outdated economic considerations. Local and state governments would bear the cost of cleanup above the cap and any funding from the federal government. Because this was a state-level policy, The LWVBWC needed to coordinate with the LWVWA to ensure our state positions enabled us to advocate to increase the liability cap. Together, we determined that our positions validated our advocacy.  

However, when the LWVSC advocates for the forests in their county—most recently to preserve mature, carbon-dense, structurally complex, state-managed forests subject to potential harvest for revenue—they are working with the Snohomish County Council to identify tracts of particular value for their environmental benefit, then request the Board of Natural Resources to withdraw them from consideration. Because the LWVSC is working with their county government (it is the county that makes the formal request), they are free to advocate compliant with their own policies. Thousands of acres of similar forests exist in many Washington counties, so this opportunity is available in other counties and regions as well.  

Many more advocacy efforts are underway in local Leagues around the state, and the League maintains positions on many issues related to democracy and self-governance. The LWVWA Lobby Team is available as a resource to local Leagues to help determine if their local advocacy is covered by our positions—or if higher level coordination is needed. Contact Martin Gibbins for consultations and help planning, or with questions and concerns for your local advocacy.