 | Dear ~~first_name~~,
Greetings from LWV-Wake. August is a busy month, both for the League and the NCGA. This month we will host our major fundraiser of the year and state budget and redistricting conversations are both in full swing at the NCGA. The first Senate and House Redistricting Committee meeting took place last Thursday, August 5th. Members of LWV-Wake were there in force! Scroll down for more info including our REDISTRICTING ACTION ALERT.
While redistricting is a huge focus as it has lasting impact over the next decade, other issues will be important as work on North Carolina's budget continues. The Senate passed its version of the budget bill on July 9th with a 32-17 final vote, enough to override a veto from Governor Cooper. The House announced its first round of budget proposals this past Thursday with more expected this week. Once the House passes its plan, both houses will work on a compromise bill to send to Governor Cooper. Scroll down for more details, including how to advocate for much needed education funding.
This past week LWVNC with Southern Coalition of Social Justice held its virtual CROWD Academy Redistricting webinar. I was happy to see so many LWV-Wake members in attendance! Thank you for participating in this webinar to learn more about how to effectively advocate for fair maps during the upcoming round of redistricting.
Don't miss our next League Lit and DEI Roundtable later this month. For our DEI Roundtable, we are fortunate to have Carolyn Jefferson Jenkins PhD speak with us. Jefferson Jenkins served two terms as the President of LWVUS, and she was the first women of color to serve in this position. She continues to advocate for civil rights, social justice and education excellence. She will lead an informal discussion for the DEI Roundtable in August and in September, will present Working for the Future - A Fight for Voting Rights during our first Timely Topics of the new season.
PLEASE RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP. Help us fulfill our mission of Defending Democracy and Educating Voters. While your support for League provides the financial resources to keep the League operational, we also need your VOICE for issues important to North Carolina. Our volunteers work hard to provide our community with much needed information and opportunities for engagement. Renew your membership and complete your membership profile take full advantage of membership benefits.
|
- WED Committee - Is busy planning our Women's Equality Day event on August 26th. This year's event will be held at the newly remodeled All Faith's Chapel at Dix Park and feature performing artist and cultural arts leader Carly Jones. Carly has worked to make the arts more inclusive and accessible across socio-economic boundaries in NC. In addition, she has been cast as "Camila Rosario" in NC Theater's upcoming musical In the Heights. During this event, we will also recognize the incredible work of all women elected officials in Wake County. This event is our major fundraising event of the year and we hope all members will support us by attending and/or purchasing a sponsorship. We rely on these funds to offset the increasing costs of our programs and for operational support. Please note: WED sponsorships can be purchased online or you can click a link to download a sponsorship form and mail a check. Register/support us here:
|  |
- Redistricting committee- Has created a Fair Maps Art Contest for LWV-Wake in an effort to increase public awareness of the power of redistricting and the need for fair maps. From July 15th-August 15th, artists are invited to submit 2D work related to the themes of fair voting maps in North Carolina. We will be holding an online exhibition and offering a cash prize to contest winners. We hope this contest will engage citizens to advocate for more public input opportunities and more transparency by the NCGA during the upcoming redistricting round. Learn more here:
|
- August 17th 3pm League Lit Western Wake (Members Only) - Will discuss The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein. For more about the book and to register, click here.
- August 24th 4:45pm DEI Series (Members Only) - Join our August DEI discussion to review the past, reflect on the present, and determine personal actions that address a renewed voter suppression movement. Register here.
- September 16th 2pm League Lit (Members Only) - Will discuss The Daughters of Kobani: A Story of Rebellion, Courage, and Justice by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon. More details can be found here.
- September 30th Timely Topics (Public Event) - Save the date for our first Timely Topics of our new series. Guest speaker will be Carolyn Jefferson Jenkins, PhD. The event will be held at the NCSU University Club at 5:00pm. Registration link will be provided soon.
| Rally for Equality on Women's (In)Equality Day
On Women's (In)Equality Day, join Leaguers from all over NC for a Rally for Equality August 26th from 10 a.m. to noon. Meet at the NC General Assembly Building (16 W. Jones St.). Come by the carload. Wear your pin. Bring your signs. Look for fans, banners, and beach balls. Details here.
|  | On August 2nd, A coalition of voting rights organizations, including LWVNC, sent a letter to state legislators demanding a transparent redistricting process. The letter can be viewed here. On August 5th, several members of LWV-Wake and LWVNC observed the first NCGA Redistricting Committee meeting (pictured below).
The NC House and Senate Redistricting Committees will be meeting several times this week, accepting input via an online portal and listening to public comment on redistricting criteria. It is crucial that we all provide input to the portal, have a strong presence at the General Assembly, and spread the word to as many citizens as possible.
- Monday, August 9th 3pm LOB 544- Senate Committee on Redistricting will meet to propose redistricting criteria.
- Tuesday, August 10th 8:30am LOB 544 - Senate and House Committee on Redistricting will hear public comment on redistricting criteria.
- Wednesday, August 11th - Not yet scheduled - Redistricting discussion.
- Thursday, August 12th - Not yet scheduled - Senate and House Committee will VOTE on redistricting criteria.
LWV-Wake has put together an Action Alert for this week. It includes everything you need to act- links to the portal, meeting information, legislator contacts, social media contacts, and talking points. Whether you have a few minutes or a whole day, there is something you can do to help. |  |  | Public Education Advocacy
Communities for the Education of Every Child NC is hosting an Advocacy Day at NCGA this Wednesday, August 11th from 9 am - 12 pm to communicate the need for lawmakers to include the full Leandro Plan in this year's state budget. They have invited interested League members to attend and are requesting you register here. PLEASE NOTE: Participants are asked to wear masks and observe social distancing. In addition, they are hosting a training session tonight, Monday, August 9th from 7 - 8 pm to prep advocates with what they need to know about lobbying at the GA. A Zoom link registration for the training session can be found here. |  | North Carolina Budget
Some facts and figures as the budget process continues:
- NCGA leaders have agreed on the total biennial budget – $25.7 billion for fiscal year 2021-22 and $26.7 billion for fiscal year 2022-23, $2.1 billion short of what Governor Cooper proposed.
- The Senate tax cut proposal calls for completely eliminating state corporate income taxes and reducing the personal income tax rate from 5.25% to 3.99%. The House will reveal their suggested tax cuts this week.
- There are a number of educational changes included in the House budget proposal. WRAL lists them here.
- The Senate and House health budgets have several differences. NC Policy Watch describes them here.
- The House plans to post the full budget online Monday and will begin debating and making changes on Tuesday. A vote is expected later this week.
- To listen to budget discussions and view documents, visit the NCGA website.
|  | Please Renew Your Membership & Create Your Member Profile
Memberships, unless renewed, will expire at the end of July. In an effort to decrease the amount of volunteer work, we have transitioned to an easy online renewal process. Once you log in with the credentials that were emailed to you last month, you will be prompted to update your password and renew your membership. Please note: You CAN pay your membership dues by credit card and you DO NOT need to have a PayPal account to do so. PayPal is the processing company we use to process credit cards and debits. Once you click PayPal, you can enter your credit card information or your bank account info. You can also choose to download the renewal form and mail it with a check. We hope you will continue to support us with your membership in order to receive information about important issues and our educational programs!
| Thank you for continuing to support the League of Women Voters of Wake County. I look forward to seeing you at one of our upcoming events.
Sincerely,
Cheryl Tung
President | |