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Date: 2/21/2022
Subject: LWV-Wake Update February 21st 2022
From: League of Women Voters of Wake County



LWV-Wake Update 2/21/2022

 
Dear ~~first_name~~,
 
Greetings from LWV-Wake.
 
Today is President's Day! Originally established to celebrate George Washington's birthday, the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, passed in 1971, expanded to celebrate both Washington and Lincoln. In recent years, however, the holiday has evolved to celebrate ALL U.S. Presidents. Learn 46 surprising facts about 46 Presidents here. 
 
Black History month continues and there are plenty of activities around Wake county honoring the achievements, history and heritage of African American leaders and innovators. Chavis park is hosting several events for remainder of this month and the Cary Theater has an impressive array of films and documentaries being shown in honor of Black History month. LVWNC, along with LWV Dare, are hosting a viewing of the film The Nine O'clock Whistle, that documents the racial indignities, segregation practices, and labor exploitation from 1963 to 1965 in Enfield, NC. Details including a registration link can be found below.

❤️ the League's 102nd Birthday
A big THANK YOU to members that attended last week's ❤️ the League 102nd Birthday Happy Hour. We had a great time hearing from each committee about what issues they will be working on this year. We also played the League Challenge game and held prize drawings for LWV branded soft-sided cooler bags. Winners of the bags were: Laurel Voelker, Bobbi Mullins, Dale Cousins and Suzanne Botts. A special thank you to Laurel's daughter, Autumn, for her assistance in drawing the winner's names. Prizes have been mailed to the winners. 

Redistricting News
There has been a whirlwind of activity in redistricting with candidate filing scheduled to resume on February 24th. Scroll down to the Redistricting section below to see updates for the state as well as for the City of Raleigh and Wake County School Board.
 
Environmental Co-Chair Jackie Giordano appointed to Wake County Advisory Board
LWV-Wake is proud to announce member, Jackie Giordano, has been appointed to the Wake County Open Space and Parks Advisory Committee (OSAPAC). This committee advises the Board of Commissioners on parks and open space preservation issues.
 
Jackie possesses a knowledge of and passion for environmental issues and environmental justice. As the League's Environment Committee co-chair, she advocates for policies to protect natural resources and to mitigate the effects of climate change, at times in partnership with other local non-partisan environmental groups. During her 25 year post-secondary education career, Jackie directed academic programs and trained instructors at University of California San Diego as well as developed a course for The Princeton Review. Congratulations Jackie!
 
Attention Cary Members: Affordable Housing Committee Needs You! 
The Town of Cary has been working on a variety of strategies to make homes more affordable for residents who want to make Cary their home. LWV-Wake's Affordable Housing Committee would love to engage more Cary residents in advocating for the Cary Housing Plan as well as other initiatives. You can read more about these programs here.  If you are a Cary resident and can assist in advocacy efforts, please reach out to co-chairs Robin Hammond or Jeanne Ford

HAVE YOU COMPLETED YOUR SURVEY???
Deadline is March 15th
As part of our 5 year strategic planning process, we recently sent all members and partner organizations a survey to provide us with helpful information as we prepare our strategic plan. To learn more about this survey and why it is important, please read Jenny Kotora-Lynch's recent blog post. 
 
 

Upcoming LWV-Wake Events
  • March 8th 5:00pm-6:30pm - DEI Roundtable: Invisible No More: Missing & Murdered Native American Women - Missing and murdered Native American women is a human rights crisis. During National Women's History Month, we hope that our Roundtable Discussion will increase awareness of the disproportionate violence experienced by our Native American sisters and give us tools to become allies. Register here.
  • March 17th 2:00pm-3:00pm - League Lit Raleigh - Will discuss Proud Shoes: The Story of an American Family (Black Women Writers Series) by Pauli Murray. From Amazon: "First published in 1956, Proud Shoes is the remarkable true story of slavery, survival, and miscegenation in the South from the pre-Civil War era through the Reconstruction. Written by Pauli Murray the legendary civil rights activist and one of the founders of NOW, Proud Shoes chronicles the lives of Murray's maternal grandparents." Register here.
  • March 24th-5:30pm - Timely Topics: State of the State - Join North Carolina State Treasurer Dale R. Folwell for a State of the State overview. Treasurer Folwell will discuss the challenges of managing the $122 billion state pension fund, which provides retirement benefits for teachers, law enforcement, and public workers; and the State Health Plan, which provides medical and pharmaceutical benefits to over 750,000 current and retired workers. Register here.
  • April 19th - 3:00pm-4:30pm - League Lit Western Wake - Will discuss Our Time Is Now by Stacy Abrams. From New York Times bestselling author of Lead From The Outside and political leader Stacey Abrams, a blueprint to end voter suppression, empower our citizens, and take back our country. Register here. 

LWVNC Events & Council
LWVNC and LWV of Dare County Host Viewing Party

On Saturday nights at 9 o’clock in a small, segregated, Southern town, officials blew a siren-like whistle directing all the Black citizens of Enfield, North Carolina, to clear the downtown streets.    
In the voices of those who lived it, “The Nine O’clock Whistle” documents how a movement from 1963 to 1965 changed the town forever. Producers Willa Cofield and Karen Riley will join the event. For more info and to register, click here.

To see all upcoming LWVNC sponsored events, please view their Events Calendar
 
 

LWVNC Council - All Members Invited
This year LWVNC is heading to the beach! Well, kind of. Morehead City is the location of this year's 2-day retreat. It is an opportunity to meet other Leaguers and have fun while discussing League activities. The program kicks off with dinner on April 1 near the hotel and continues with sessions on April 2 at the Carteret Community College. LWVNC has secured a discounted rate of $109/night at Hampton Inn. We would LOVE to see a good turnout from LWV-Wake members! Please remember to book your hotel early and pay the $30 registration fee, which is a separate link from the registration form. Registration ends March 10th. After registering, please send me an email as I am tracking attendance for LWV-Wake members. It is sure to be a fun event, esp. since we are being asked to perform! We would love to have your participation. LWVNC is handling all registrations through their website here.

State & Local Government
NCGA building for newsletter
State Redistricting Litigation Update
NCGA Submits Remedial Plans for Review
 
All remedial maps have been submitted and we now wait for the court to decide whether to accept the maps or to provide maps drawn by their Special Masters. The court decision is due by 5pm on February 23rd, 2022. 
 
Update:
February 17th: The NCGA passed new maps one day ahead of the deadline. While the NC House map was passed with broad bipartisan support, both the NC Senate and congressional maps were passed along party lines. Highlights of the maps and process: 
  • Republican Sen. Warren Daniel told the News & Observer that the new congressional map would yield 6 safe Rep seats, 4 safe Dem seats and 4 toss-up seats. Other experts dispute the competitiveness of these four districts. See WRAL article here.
  • The four competitive seats described in the article, based on legislative analysis of the voting patterns across 12 statewide races in 2016 and 2020, are Districts, 6, 7, 13, and 14.
  • While the new NC House map was broadly accepted as competitive, the NC Senate map and process was described by WRAL as divisive. Catawba College professor and redistricting expert Michael Bitzer described the new map as likely electing 22 Republicans and 18 Democrats, with 10 seats competitive, six of those more favorable to Democrats.
February 16th: The 3 judge trial court, in their order, declared they would "appoint three highly-qualified candidates of its own selection" to serve as Special Masters to assist the court. The three Special Masters selected by the court are former NC Supreme Court justices Robert F. Orr and Robert H. Edmunds, Jr. and former superior court judge Thomas W. Ross. In an earlier order, the court had asked state lawmakers and plaintiff groups to submit their own list of suggested Special Masters. 
  
February 15th: A coalition of 39 statewide advocacy organizations, including LWVNC, sent a letter to NCGA leadership and redistricting committee members, urging members to engage in an open and transparent process. Among their demands: Draw maps in public view, disclose all parties, systems, and documents involved in the map drawing process and to release all draft maps to the public as soon as possible. The Coalition also held a press conference, where LWVNC president, Jo Nicholas, was one of nine speakers. 
 
February 13th: NC Supreme Court released the full opinion of its February 4th ruling and provided examples of mathematical evidence that the NCGA could use to determine if new maps infringe upon voters' rights.  For an analysis of the opinion, click here.
 
February 10th: NCGA begins the map re-drawing process.
 
Recap: 
February 4th: In a 4-3 decision, the court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. The ruling required lawmakers to first determine whether “racially polarized voting is legally sufficient in any area of the state such that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act requires the drawing of a district to avoid diluting the voting strength of African American voters.” The ruling ordered the General Assembly to redraw and submit new plans to the Wake County Superior Court by 5 p.m. on February 18, 2022. Comments on the submitted maps must be filed with the court by 5 p.m. on February 21, 2022. The trial court will then decide on approval of the submitted plans by 5 p.m. on February 23, 2022. 
    

This Week at the NCGA
House Select Committee on an Education System for North Carolina's Future
Monday, February 21st 1pm 544 LOB. Audio available here.
ICYMI:
February 7th: Superintendent Truitt presented An Education System for North Carolina's Future, which outlined goals for attaining a better alignment between NC education and workforce readiness. Materials from the meeting can be found here.
January 24th: The NC Institute for Constitutional Law presented Constitutional and Statutory Provisions for Public Education in North Carolina. This presentation argues that the equal opportunities clause of  Article IX, Section 2(1) of the NC State constitution does not require "substantially equal funding or educational advantages in all school districts"  and runs contrary to the Leandro decision. It can be viewed here.
 
Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Access to Healthcare and Medicaid Expansion
Wednesday, March 1st 10am 643 LOB. Audio available here.
ICYMI: 
February 18th: Mark Hall, Wake Forest University Brookings Institution presented Surprise Medical Billing. This presentation outlines a case for the No Surprises Act that provides consumer protections against surprise billings and helps resolve insurance insurance payments to providers. Materials from the meeting can be found here. 

Local Redistricting Update
 
City of Raleigh - Public Hearing Scheduled for March 1, 2022

Update:
The Raleigh City Council announced they will return to in-person meetings. Meetings are held at Raleigh Municipal Building, 2nd Floor, 222 W. Hargett St. Raleigh.
 
March 1st 7pm: Final public hearing for Proposed Redistricting of City Council Districts Map Option 2 following 2020 Decennial Census.
Note: According the their website, there is no longer a requirement for advance sign up to participate at public hearings. However, you can sign up to present public comments in advance here. Livestream the meeting here.  
 
Recap:
February 1, 2022: During the February 1st City Council Meeting (afternoon session), council members listened to Attorney Catherine Lawson of the Study Group on Council Terms/Compensation/Redistricting, present the group's Final Report on Redistricting. The Council then voted to approve the Option 2 Redistricting Map and hold a post-redistricting public hearing scheduled for March 1st ahead of the March 31, 2022 deadline.
  • Watch the February1st Raleigh City Council meeting here.
  • Read the Study Group's Final Report here.
  • Access the Study Group's Final Presentation here. 
 
Wake County Board of Education- Maps released 
Public Hearings Scheduled
Update: 
Public hearings for the three map proposals have been scheduled as follows:
Feb. 16 - Crossroads III, 111 Corning Road, Cary (enter building at main entrance)
Feb. 22 - Southeast Raleigh Magnet High School, 2600 Rock Quarry Road, Raleigh
Feb. 23 - Virtual Session
Mitchell and Esselstyn will present the mapping proposals for public comment. All meetings will be at 6:30 p.m. See the meeting details to view video presentations of each of the 3 proposed maps.
 
Recap:
February 1, 2022: Mitchell and Esselstyn gave an updated presentation, including mapping criteria and three map proposals.
December 7, 2021: Attorney Adam Mitchell from Tharrington Smith, LLP, and Blake Esselstyn from Mapfigure Consulting, presented Redistricting Principles, which can be viewed here. In this presentation, updated census numbers for the districts are provided. Of the 9 districts, only districts 2 and 7 remain in compliance with a +-5% population range. Possible criteria, labeled as "discretionary principles", are also presented.
Sept. 21, 2021: The Wake County Board of Education began discussing redistricting at their work session on September 21. Attorney Adam Mitchell from Tharrington Smith, LLP, presented The Basics of Redistricting, providing information on current district sizes, legal requirements, and potential redistricting criteria. Read Mr. Mitchell’s presentation here.

Support the LWV-Wake with Amazon Smile donations
LWV-Wake is now listed as a 501(c)3 charitable organization on Amazon Smile! This means you can now select our League as your charity of choice and support LWV-Wake at no cost to you. A portion of all your Amazon purchases will be donated to LWV-Wake by Amazon. To learn more about Amazon Smile and how to sign up, click here. Once you have signed up and chosen League of Women Voters of Wake County as your charity, you can bookmark the Amazon Smile page. This is an easy way to support the League!

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,
Cheryl Tung
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.
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