LWV-Wake Update 12/9/2024 | Welcome back to your exclusive, bi-monthly newsletter of the League of Women Voters of Wake County. If someone forwarded this to you and you'd like to become a member, just click here.
|  | Dear ~~first_name~~,
Season's Greetings!
May the blessings of the season be with you today and always. May the closeness of friends and family, the comfort of home, and your community, be with you this holiday season. Please take time to "re-charge" for our busy year ahead.
Remember, Giving Tuesday is not over until the end of the year. Please contribute, and thank you so much to all of you who have already contributed to the Giving Tuesday Fund. (Enjoy that cheesecake for the holidays!) For those of you who have not yet contributed, please see the Giving Tuesday section below and donate today.
January and February 2025 will be very busy with our new "Transformation" of the membership process. Starting February 1, LWVUS's new membership platform will be called ChapterSpot. Through ChapterSpot, you will be able to renew your membership online and update your own information (e.g. phone, email, and mailing address) as needed. Your Board of Directors and the Membership and Communications Committee Co-Chairs are busy planning for this transition. Immediate Past President Cheryl Tung is tasked with training all of us on these changes; please see details under LWV-Wake Member Events below.
2025 is shaping up to be a very interesting and challenging year. Thank you all for your continued support.
Helen
|  | We Still Need You
If you donated during our Giving Tuesday campaign last week - thank you for your contribution.
We know it's been a chaotic year. You may have made donations and attended fundraisers for various causes the past several months, and now it's the holidays. We get it.
LWV-Wake is primarily member funded. Without your support, we would struggle both to pay operating expenses and share with Wake County how we're Empowering Voters & Protecting Democracy.
All donations to LWV-Wake are tax-deductible. As a bonus, everyone who donates gets a copy of LWV-Wake President Helen Zimmerman's "Scrumptious Cheesecake Recipe," one that she's used over 350 times for her friends and family.
Because our members are like friends and family.
Click on the link below and please support the important work of LWV-Wake.
| You're Invited to the Women's Rights Social!
The Women's Rights Committee is hosting an in-person social, instead of their November and December monthly committee meetings, and you're invited!
The social will be Wednesday December 11, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Please register so they'll know how many to expect.
Hope to see you there!
|  | Membership Changes & Website Training
In early February, 2025, all LWV members will be emailed asking them to log into a new membership platform called ChapterSpot to confirm their contact information for subsequent dues payment when it is time for membership renewal.
ChapterSpot will ONLY be used at this time for dues collection, and we will continue using our existing website for all other League activities. This change is part of the LWVUS Transformation Journey that was approved by members during the 2018 convention to become a larger, more unified and impactful League.
In order to prepare for these changes, scheduled to begin the first week of February, LWV-Wake is hosting two Zoom sessions to provide members with information about upcoming membership changes, what actions you will need to take, and how these changes may affect our local League.
In addition, we will briefly review some of the common website tasks on LWV-Wake org. This includes logging in, creating/modifying your member profile, volunteer sign-ups, and event registration. There will be time for Q & A.
Two sessions will be offered to accommodate schedules. You may attend either session, as the content will be the same.
|  | Legislative Update on SB 382
The North Carolina House votes on the veto override of SB 382 on Saturday, January 11.
Remember, there are three House members from the Helene disaster area who voted against SB 382: Karl E. Gillespie (R); Mike Clampitt (R); and Mark Pless (R). Please call or text these members and encourage them to vote to sustain the veto of SB 382. Thank you so much for those who are participating in this advocacy.
If you'd like to take additional action, attend the Poor People's Campaign- Moral Monday Mass Mobilization at the NC State Capitol on Monday (today), December 9, 5:30 p.m.
Watch this recap video of North Carolinians explaining what this bill does.
|  | | LWVNC Presents "Citizen Initiative"
Join the Citizen Initiative Study Team on Zoom Wednesday, December 11, 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. to learn about the Citizen Initiative (CI) process. This is the second of the two-part series and features guest speaker, Carolyn Jefferson-Jenkins, a two-term LWVUS President and the first woman of color to hold the position.
She is an internationally respected educator, author and speaker on voting rights, women's rights, and racial equity. Carolyn, who currently lives in NC and is a member of League of Women Voters of DC, will share the importance and practical use of CI from her earlier work with the Colorado LWV. This presentation series is being organized by the LWVNC Study Team on Citizen Initiative.
Click to Register
Click here to learn more about Citizen Initiative, including:
- Video: Study Team’s Nov. 2024 talk by Justin Phillips, a Columbia University professor and expert on CI, who made an important point: CI enhances the relationship between what government does and what citizens want
- Video: May 2024 talk on CI by Asher Hildebrand, a professor at the Duke Sanford School of Public Policy, who discusses the Pros & Cons of CI
- Document: LWVNC Citizen Initiative Study Team Proposal
|  | Healthcare Committee Celebrates Medicaid Expansion Milestone
On December 1, LWV-Wake's Healthcare Committee celebrated the one-year anniversary of Medicaid expansion in our state.
On December 1,2023, as the state launched Medicaid expansion, Governor Roy Cooper in a press release stated, "After years of fighting for high-quality health care for every person in our state, today's launch of Medicaid Expansion means more than 600,000 North Carolinians can now access the care they need to stay healthier, treat sickness earlier and have the peace of mind knowing health care is within their reach."
The expansion now covers "adults ages 19-64 earning up to 138% of the federal poverty line (e.g., singles earning about $1,730/month or families of three earning about $2,970/month)," per the NCDHHS website.
The Healthcare Committee and other League members worked tirelessly to advocate for the expansion, partnering with the North Carolina Justice Center's Health Advocacy Project.
Efforts are still needed to continue this outreach and education to eligible populations. For more information, visit the Healthcare Issues page or contact Retta Riordan or Mary Ellen Anderson, co-chairs of the committee.
Join us in celebrating this major healthcare victory!
| Start 2025 With an Analysis of the 2024 General Election
Join us Tuesday, January 14 at 5:00 p.m. for a free and informative Timely Topics Zoom conversation with Karen Brinson Bell.
Ms. Bell, the Executive Director of the NC State Board of Elections (NCSBE), will be our guest speaker. She has served in the NCSBE position since June, 2019. Ms. Bell has worked in elections administration since 2006 in county, state and national roles.
As North Carolina's chief elections official, Ms. Bell leads about 65 full-time employees at the state agency, which is charged with administering elections and campaign finance compliance. The agency also oversees 100 county boards of elections, ensuring that voting goes smoothly for more than 7.8 million voters in the state.
| Looking for information from a past newsletter? Previous League Updates can now be viewed on our website's home page. Look for the "League Updates" blue tab on the top menu.
Thank you for continuing to support the League of Women Voters of Wake County.
Sincerely,
Helen Zimmerman
President | | The League of Women Voters of Wake County is a designated 501(c)3 nonprofit charitable organization by the IRS. Donations and membership dues are fully tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. | |