Each year, LWV-PA conducts interviews with the state legislators that represent our members. This year, we spoke with Assemblyman Mike Fong (AD 49), Assemblyman Chris Holden (AD 41), and Senator Anthony Portantino (SD 25).
The interview process begins in December and ends in February of the following year. In December, the LWV of California (LWVC) sends out an Interview Kit that contains background information and questions for legislators on three issues that the LWVC considers important for the upcoming legislative session. Local Leagues conduct interviews with local legislators. In addition to asking the questions provided by the LWVC, we learn about our legislators’ priorities for the upcoming legislative session and discuss the priorities of the local League. We report our findings to the LWVC to assist them in planning statewide advocacy and education.
This year’s issues are
- shrinking California’s voter participation gap,
- equitable funding for California’s school facilities program, and
- sustainable and equitable water resource management.
A diverse team of League members with many years of experience as well as members new to the League had an opportunity to work together. Our team comprised nine members from LWV-PA: me, Martha Zavala, Susan Sosin, Kathy Kunysz, Chris Olson, Jennifer Hall Lee, Veronica Jones, Anita Mackey, and Rosalinda Solis. We were joined by three members from neighboring Leagues, which occurs when a state representative’s or senator’s district overlaps two Leagues’ areas. Caroline De Llamas and Sally McMahon from the East San Gabriel Valley League and Elizabeth Ralston from the Greater Los Angeles League rounded out the team. In the coming months, we will report about the legislators and their responses.
By participating in the Legislative Interviews, newer members learned about and met our state representatives, and all members learned advocacy priorities of the LWVC for the upcoming session. If you are new to the LWV-PA, I encourage you to participate in the Legislative Interview process next year. Please reach out to the Advocacy Director to get involved.
—JoAnne Als, Advocacy Director, advocacy [at] lwv-pa.org
