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Actions for the week of 4.14.2025
Actions for the week of 4.14.2025: League of Women Voters Oconee/Pickens (LWVOP) has a lot going on this week, so we will list the local action items first. State and National items are below.
These are just suggestions of actions you could take as an individual. If you are a League member, always remember to express your personal views, and not to speak on behalf of the League. Only League Presidents or designees can speak on behalf of the League.
Local-Level Actions
Action 1: Attend the LWVOP monthly program meeting “How to Run a Troll Farm: The Evolution of Disinformation”
Tuesday, April 15, 4 pm, Clemson United Methodist Church, 300 Frontage Rd, Clemson, SC.
This presentation will discuss the changing nature of how foreign states attempt to influence Western politics. Specific tactics countries like Russia and China use to manipulate social discourse, using real world examples, will be discussed.
We welcome back our favorite guest team, co-directors of the Watt Family Innovation Center Media Forensics Hub, Darren Linvill and Patrick Warren. Darren Linvill is a Clemson professor of communications. He has a B.A. and M.A. from Wake Forest University and a Ph.D. from Clemson University. His research explores social media disinformation and its influence on civil discourse (in and out of the classroom). Patrick Warren is a Clemson professor of economics, with an undergraduate degree from the University of South Carolina and a Ph.D. in economics from MIT. His research investigates the operation of organizations in the economy — for-profit and non-profit firms, bureaucracies, political parties, and even armies.
This discussion is timely and one you do not want to miss! This program is open to the public, so invite your friends.
Action 2: Rally in Greenville at Unity Park
Saturday, April 19, noon
Action 3: Save the Date: Town Hall at Wofford College with Rep. Clyburn
Thursday, April 24
Rep. Jim Clyburn is coming to the Upstate to host a Town Hall in lieu of our Republican representatives refusing to hold one. Details are coming.
Action 4: Education/Book Banning Update
Last week was National Library Week. On Monday, April 7 at the Pickens County Council Stephanie Howard, Pickens County Library System Director, spoke during the public comment period. She addressed the mass censorship campaign currently targeting our library. It is expected the State Board of Education will vote to ban the 10 books they delayed at this month's meeting. However, it is important they know people are watching and engaged. She spoke about the incredible job our librarians do for our county and thanked our advocates who have been steadfast in defending the library. Writing thank you notes to our Pickens County Librarians and staff is a great way to thank them for what they are doing.
Writing thank you notes to the State Board of Education members who have been willing to speak in favor of student’s of freedom to read, especially the Reverend Tony Vincent who is the new Oconee-Anderson appointee, is definitely a good idea. If you go to the recording of the last State Board of Education meeting and listen to his comments, you will be very proud to have him as your representative on the State Board. His comments start at about 1:07 on the recording.
Dr. David O’Shields (from Laurens) made some very helpful comments at the last meeting, too. Anyone who has a relationship with any State Board member could help by contacting them and encouraging them to revise the current regulations so that no book can be eliminated on the bis of just a short passage. Reviewers should at least have to consider the work as a whole.
You can also consider attending the State Board of Education meeting on May 6th at 1 pm in Columbia.
Action 5: LWV Members only: Annual convention registration deadline is fast approaching on April 16th.
Action 6: Get involved with your local community by attending public meetings.
Check our calendar for more complete listings.
State-Level Actions
Action 7: Call or write your State Senators about the Anti-DEI bill HB 3927.
“To cap this moment: we are far beyond buzz words (or defining DEI) at this point. Remember the following: the 19th Amendment is DEI work; simply, women having the right to vote is DEI work. All citizens having access to free and fair elections is DEI work. People having the right to make medical decisions about their own bodies is DEI work. Equitable access to healthcare, housing, legal, and other resources is DEI work. I applaud you and our partners who act upon and embody the league’s mission in doing the work to keep our democracy intact, fighting for basic human rights, and keeping the current administration and its sympathizers’ HANDS-OFF our Democracy, Our Bodies, Our Health Care, and rights.”
Courtesy of Hannah Parker, Board member LWVSC and LWV Florence.
If you are a constituent of Senator Alexander please ask to meet with him in-person and/or send a handwritten note and ask him to oppose the anti-DEI bill H.3927.
Find your SC Legislators here.
Action 8: Call or write your Legislators and members of Congress about threats to Medicaid nationwide and in SC.
Federal budget proposals threaten major cuts to Medicaid, which would severely affect SC's ability to serve children, the disabled and the elderly, unless the General Assembly used state funds to offset federal cuts. These potential cuts would also gut our ability to pass Medicaid Expansion. Learn what we can do to educate our state legislators on these budget issues that could devastate our ability to serve the most vulnerable.
In late February, the US House of Representatives passed and the Senate is now considering a budget resolution to cut $880 billion, mostly from the Medicaid insurance program over the next 10 years – “pay-fors” to fund tax reductions that mainly benefit the well-to-do and corporations. These cuts are massive – equal to 29% of all state funding for Medicaid across the country. While the detailed proposals matter on the impact for each state, cuts of this level would reduce South Carolinians’ access to healthcare and severely limit our ability to close the insurance coverage gap in the future. Four approaches to cuts have been discussed:
The Honorable Lindsey Graham (Dear Senator Graham)
290 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5972
The Honorable Tim Scott (Dear Senator Scott)
104 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
202-224-6121
The Honorable Sheri Biggs (Dear Representative Biggs)
1530 Longworth Office Building, Washington, DC 20515
202-225-5301 (DC), 864-224-7401 (Anderson).
Other counties, find your U.S. Representative’s name and contact information here.
Action 9: Learn more about Legislative transparency.
How Can They Do That?: Legislative Transparency with LWV Kentucky
Frustrated with your legislature's last minute hearings, substitute bills, and/or disregard of public participation in the legislative process? Wondering what your League can do? Please join LWVUS Advocacy and LWV Kentucky as we walk through LWVKY's experience producing a report on their legislature's lack of transparency. This webinar is open to all League members and leaders, and will be recorded! League members can register here.
National Level Actions
Action 10: TELL your U.S. Senators to oppose the SAVE Act.
The House just passed the SAVE Act, a dangerous bill that could strip millions of citizens of their right to vote. It is a blatant, underhanded attempt to kick lawful voters off the rolls and suppress voter participation under the false guise of preserving and protecting election integrity. With this bill now heading to the Senate for a vote, it is halfway to becoming the law of the land. We must do everything possible to stop it.
Background information from LWVUS: It doesn't happen
“Let’s be clear: there is absolutely no evidence of widespread non-citizen voting in federal or state elections. It is just not happening anywhere in federal or state elections.
False claims about non-citizens voting in federal elections are a pretext for undermining our access to vote, and they spread misinformation about voting.
These claims are coming from anti-immigrant conspiracy theorists attempting to fearmonger and sow distrust in our democratic process for their own political gain.
It is already illegal for non-citizens to register and vote in federal elections. Every state also bans non-citizens from voting in state elections. Violations can lead to imprisonment and deportation.
Municipalities in California, Maryland, and Vermont, as well as the District of Columbia, allow non-citizens to vote in local elections.
Voters in every state are already required to affirm or verify their citizenship status when registering to vote. State election officials also have existing systems to verify voter eligibility and ensure accurate voter rolls.”
What we need
Americans do not need MORE obstacles to vote.
We need Congress to restore the Voting Rights Act and pass pro-voting reforms like Same-Day Registration, protections for voters with disabilities, and funding for the Election Assistance Commission.
If legislators really want to secure and improve elections, they should invest in upgraded equipment, expanded staffing for election administrators, and training for poll workers.
The Honorable Lindsey Graham (Dear Senator Graham)
290 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5972
The Honorable Tim Scott (Dear Senator Scott)
104 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
202-224-6121
Action 11: Join the League (if you are not already a member!)
Help support the League in their mission of educating and informing voters.
Action 12: Sign up for the mailing list.
If someone forwarded this email to you, sign up to get it directly!
We would love to hear from you about this initiative. Feel free to forward this email to others who wish to find ways to participate. Whether it’s how this made you feel, results you saw, or suggestions for future topics, please let cherie.walker.lwv [at] gmail.com (Cherie Walker) know.
