Saturday, Jan. 20, 2–4 p.m., Blinn House, Pasadena

Kick Off the New Year Right! Help Decide Priorities for Education and Advocacy

As we enter a major election year, it is vital that the League’s voice remain respected and effective, nationally and within our local communities. To ensure this, both LWVUS and our own LWV-PA look to us, the grassroots members, to help decide which issues will be the priorities for education and advocacy in 2024–2025. Don’t miss this opportunity to share ideas with fellow Leaguers and make your voice heard.

On Saturday, January 20, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., we will meet at Blinn House in Pasadena to do the job of program planning. Please register on the LWV-PA website at www.lwv-pa.org, and look for forthcoming email blasts with more details about the plans for the day. Light refreshments will be provided to keep the energy level high and the creative juices flowing. There is no charge for attendance, but your contributions to help cover the costs will be very welcome.

To help you get started thinking about issues on which the League should focus its efforts in the coming year, here are some recommendations from the national League Board. The results of our discussion on January 20, along with the recommendations from other local Leagues across the country gathering at their own Program Planning meetings, will be considered by the LWVUS Board and then presented at the biannual LWVUS Convention in June 2024. For those interested looking at the 2023–2024 LWV-PA Program Priorities, you can review them here.

LWVUS Program Recommendations

The LWVUS Board recommends that the program for 2024–2025 continue the Campaign for Making Democracy Work®, which focuses on:

• voting rights
• improving elections
• money in politics
• redistricting
• abolishing the Electoral College

The main goal of the Campaign for Making Democracy Work® is to ensure a free, fair, and accessible electoral system for all voters. Leagues at every level continue working to protect and advance voting rights and election reform at this critical time for our democracy, as well as to fight efforts in Washington, DC, and in state legislatures to suppress voters.

In addition, local Leagues can recommend another critical issue of their choosing to receive priority in the national League’s education and advocacy work.

LWV-PA Program for 2024–2025

The following 2023–2024 priorities were adopted at our Annual Meeting in June 2023. Are they still relevant and timely? Were we able to act upon them during the past year? Should we replace them or add new priorities for 2024–2025?

• The core mission of our League and an ongoing priority is Making Democracy Work, ensuring fair and open elections and voting rights.

Other priorities, both directly and indirectly in support of this core mission, include:

• Development of a Civic Academy to educate about democracy and voting, with emphasis on building an informed electorate.
• Climate action in our cities.
• Advocacy for diversity, equity, and inclusion, including a recommendation for “land acknowledgments” that recognize the original Native American/Indigenous inhabitants of our area.
• Promotion of citizen redistricting commissions in our service area.
• Policing practices reform.
• Community outreach, including outreach to students and school groups.
• Homelessness and food insecurity mitigation (new area).
• Gun violence prevention (new area).

Important Note

When considering issues to prioritize for education and advocacy, at both national and local levels of the League, we need to identify the committees and individual members who will commit to spearheading and ensuring the completion of the actual work on these issues. Without committed volunteers, a priority is meaningless.

—Katherine Gavzy