Dear ~~first_name~~,
Greetings from LWV-Wake.
While the NCGA session officially started January 11th, it was mostly ceremonial, with swearing-in sessions and celebrations with legislators and their families. Legislative rules stipulate that legislators take a two-week break after the swearing-in ceremony, making this Wednesday, January 25th the first day that legislators actually begin to work. Of course, if you keep up with WRAL Capitol reporting, you know much has been going on behind the scenes.
With abortion access, education policy, voter ID, and redistricting (again) among the topics floating around, things are about to get very busy.
LWV-Wake will be kicking our advocacy efforts into high gear during the long NCGA session, and we encourage everyone to keep their legislators' contact information handy!
Find your representatives here.
Find 2023-2024 NC House Leaders here.
Find 2023-2024 NC Senate Leaders here.
Even though many of our Wake County delegates support the right for women to make their own reproductive health choices, as well as other League-supported positions, they still need to hear from us! We must also communicate with NCGA leadership and remind them that polls show the majority of North Carolinians do not want further restrictions on abortions (Carolina Forward) and seek fairness and true transparency in redistricting (Public Policy Polling).
Of course, we must also advocate to our family, friends and neighbors, social groups, etc. and encourage them to contact their representatives as well. Sharing messages will allow our voice to extend beyond our county and across the state to those whose representatives do not support our positions and need to listen to the wishes of their constituents. To quote Tom Cruise in the film Jerry Macguire, "Help me, help you".
LWV-Wake Advocacy- We Need You
As we see legislation being debated during the next several months, it is important that LWV-Wake members show up and be present during committee meetings and legislative sessions, as well as continue to observe Wake County Board of Elections meetings and local government meetings.
In addition, we need volunteers to manage advocacy projects, such as post card and email campaigns, visits to the NCGA, creating fact sheets and talking points, creating and sharing social media messaging on issues, etc. Please consider attending upcoming League committee meetings or reaching out to the co-chairs to let them know how you're willing to help.
Please also bookmark our website. You can check the homepage for specific Action Alerts and updates, as well as our events calendar. You can also access previous bi-weekly League Updates by clicking the tab on our homepage. We will be configuring our volunteer tab at the bottom of our homepage for specific tasks as they relate to government meetings observation and advocacy efforts as the long session gets underway.
Lastly, we need people who can report observations, even if you just listen in and don't attend in person. We will be linking an observation form on our homepage for members to complete. These forms can be submitted for ANY local, county or state-level government meeting. Remember, you will need to sign in to access some of this information, so please always sign in to our homepage.
Can't commit to advocacy work right now but want to help? Please consider a donation to LWV-Wake! Advocacy efforts take supplies, postage, technology and other human resources for volunteers to carry out this work. This all costs money. You can donate by clicking below.
Attention New and New-ish Members - League 101 is for you!
We recognize those joining LWV-Wake during the onset of COVID or after, have had limited in-person opportunities to meet other Leaguers. Now is YOUR opportunity!
Come learn about League structure, our history, and how you can get the most from your membership. League Leaders Karen Ferguson, Judee Lonee and Dale Cousins, are anxious to meet you and will guide you through a short interactive presentation with time for mingling.
This event is being held at Highland United Methodist Church on Friday, Feb. 2nd from 6pm-8pm. Registration link can be found below in the Events section. We'd love to see a lot of new faces there!
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