Archive for the Advocacy Category

THANKS TO PBC LEGISLATIVE DELEGATION By Rich Bartholomew, Advocacy Chair The Advocacy Committee is working to facilitate a “Thank You” press conference for our bipartisan Tallahassee Legislative Delegation, to be held Sept. 13 at the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach. In spite of all the partisan divisions facing Florida, they worked together to produce an extraordinary number of grants and other benefits during the 2023 session. Their successes are recorded in their Annual Report. Participants will include the Southeast Florida Behavioral Health Network, the Alpert Center, the Els Center and Boca Raton.

EXPRESS YOURSELF! You can help decision-makers solve infrastructure needs. By Rich Bartholomew, Advocacy Chair Palm Beach County citizens are growing in their awareness of the significant new resources pouring into local housing, transportation and infrastructure projects. Federal, state and local money has been provided at unprecedented levels for these purposes. Much of the funding involves federal dollars “washed through” the state budget. The decisions that local officials are making now will have notable impacts on the places where we live and move. League members have immediate opportunities to participate in these deliberations. We can observe, in person but especially electronically, what is going on. Most area jurisdictions televise and record their official sessions. Go to the websites of your municipality, the county and the Legislature. You will find current and recent information about what is happening. Then you can call, visit, email and use the Internet to connect with the decision-makers.

LOBBYING TEAMWORK AT PALM BEACH COUNTY DAYS By Rich Bartholomew, Advocacy Chair The Palm Beach County League of Women Voters participated in the annual Palm Beach County Days in Tallahassee. Rich Bartholomew represented the Local Advocacy Committee during multiple legislator visits, county interest group meetings, state administrator briefings and networking events. We identified local items worthy of support on infrastructure, environmental resiliency/conservation, antisemitism, mental health, nutrition, housing and education. Text Rich at (561) 889-2020 if you want to support good local bills. The county orchestrated an impressive joint lobbying agenda with the Economic Council, the PBC League of Cities and the School District. It prioritized topics that had been discussed during the weeks of delegation hearings throughout the county from last November to this January. Presenting a “unified front” of our local governments, businesses, educators and first responders, clear messages got communicated to state lawmakers about our needs for specific

LOBBY DAYS: BACK FROM THE ‘CULTURE WARS’
By Kelly Williams
We are back from Tallahassee and the trenches of the culture wars. It was an incredible two days. I feel more privileged than ever to be part of this wonderful group of women, with such an important mission and one of the nation’s great institutions to support us.  

ACTION ALERTS! Your Action is Needed Now: Legislators have filed a six-week abortion ban in Florida.   Your Action is Needed Now: Universal Voucher Bill Is Near Passage!   League of Women Voters of Florida & League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County Co-Host FREE Community Conversation Highlighting VOTING RIGHTS RESTORATION – Wednesday, March 29, 6:30 pm / Gaines Park in WPB Consider contacting all of Florida’s state representatives about your concerns about legislation. Click here for a list of all House members’ contact information. Florida Senate Appropriations Committee Members and Contact Information Chair Broxson (R) Vice Chair Rouson (D) Sen. Avila (R) Sen. Baxley (R) Sen. Book (D) Sen. Bradley (R) Sen. Brodeur (R) Sen. Burgess (R) Sen. Davis (D) Sen. Grall (R) Sen. Gruters (R) Sen. Harrell (R) Sen. Hooper (R) Sen. Ingoglia (R) Sen. Martin (R) Sen. Perry (R) Sen. Pizzo (D) Sen. Polsky (D) Sen. Powell (D) broxson.doug.web@flsenate.gov rouson.darryl.web@flsenate.gov

FROM THE STATE LEAGUE: OUR ACTION ON LEGISLATION Senate Bill 202: K-12 Education/HB 1: School Choice Senate Bill 202 by Sen. Simon was in the Appropriations Committee on Education on March 8. This bill establishes and modifies K-12 education programs to provide additional financial support for families and flexibility for school districts. The bill also requires the State Board of Education to provide recommendations to Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature by Nov. 2, regarding any repeals and/or revisions of the Florida Early Learning-20 Education Code, which will be considered in the 2024 legislative session. The House companion bill (HB 1 – School Choice) passed through its last stop, the Education Quality subcommittee. The League testified in opposition to HB 1.   The bill passed by a party-line vote of 9-4. It now moves to the Appropriations committee. Senate Bill 320: Land Acquisition Trust Fund Senate Bill 320 by Sen. Harrell was heard

WILKERSON TO LEAD ADVOCACY TRAINING By Rich Bartholomew Advocacy Chair The local Advocacy Committee of the LWVPBC has scheduled the first of three training sessions in effective techniques for working with elected and appointed officials. Karen Wilkerson will lead a one-hour Zoom session at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16. The training is based on decades of successful lobbying experience. It will be valuable not just to persons newly engaged in advocacy activities but also for those who are experienced in this task. It involves a thorough and sophisticated approach developed over time. The Zoom meeting link is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81029173619 Meeting ID: 810 2917 3619 One tap mobile +13052241968,,81029173619# US +13092053325,,81029173619# US An in-person training session will follow in mid-March. The final Zoom training session will occur in mid-April on Zoom. Watch our website for future scheduling. The Advocacy Committee is off to a swift start in 2023. We have had direct

The reorganized LWVPBC Advocacy Committee is beginning its efforts to identify and support “good government” initiatives involving all local jurisdictions and community organizations. The Chair, Rich Bartholomew, offered a statement of our plans to the County Delegation to the State Legislature on January 12. Karen Wilkerson has begun to training sessions for any LWVPBC members who want to improve their effectiveness in dealing with elected and appointed officials. The January meeting of the Committee will be on ZOOM at 7 PM on Thursday, January 19th. We are looking for more Committee members to expand our local government monitoring. For more information email: advocacy@lwvpbc.org