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League dues are:
Single: $60.00
Family: $90.00
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Government Accountability Board
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11/12/13
Voter ID and Voter Rights
WI Senator Jennifer Shilling &
Andrea Kaminski, Executive
Director Of WI LWV,
12/10/13
Water, Water Everywhere
Gretchen Benjamin, The Nature Conservancy
1/14/14
Education Funding
Janet Rosseter, Finance/
Business Manager of
La Crosse School District
2/11/14
Comprehensive Overview of TIF's
Wayne Delagrave, City of La Crosse Finance Director & Larry Kirch, City of La Crosse Planning Director
3/?/14
Legislative Breakfast
4/8/13
Meetings at the Radisson Hotel
Lunch Available 11:30 a.m.
Program 12:00-1:00
*Change in time and location
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 League of Women Voters�
of the La Crosse Area |
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The President's Podium
Jane Klekamp, President, LWV of La Crosse Area
I thought this fall would be less busy without an election but for some reason it feels just as busy as always!
The Affordable Care Act has been front and center with a number of forums and volunteer opportunities. Not only has it been a focus of League, but it has also been a priority at La Crosse County Human Services (my employer). Many hours have been spent ensuring there is a plan for all current and future Human Service clients to get accurate information and the assistance to apply for healthcare at the Marketplace. I know the same has been occurring at a number of community-based organizations and institutions.
Going along with this, special thanks to Mary and Peter Nelson - they have been instrumental in getting information to the community and taking on the important task of recruiting, training, and organizing volunteers. The La Crosse area is way ahead of others due to their hard work.
If you know of anyone in this area who is need of healthcare, please advise or assist them in accessing the Marketplace at http://www.lacrossecounty.org/humanservices/aca/ and click on "Information for the Western Region Enrollment Network or www.healthcare.gov. If you would like to talk with someone, the numbers are 1-800-318-2596 (Federal) or 2-1-1 for local assistance.
I hope you have a great fall!
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| A Light Note About the ACA |
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Peter Nelson LWV of the La Crosse Area Western Region Enrollment Network(WREN) Volunteer Coordinator
The die is cast. We've crossed the Rubicon. They came, they saw, they conquered a mass of confusion. Yes, Obamacare is a reality now, just as we indicated at the ACA forum held Sept. 25th at UW-L. Organized by League of Women Voters of the La Crosse Area and co-sponsored by AAUW and AMOS, the forum educated the general public about the complexities of the law, how it affects various individuals, how to get help if needed for those struggling with Marketplace health insurance. Now that they are well informed many of them are joining an army of volunteers behind a fearless leader - Mary Nelson (of our League) - to help others quell the chaos and help the uninsured/underinsured get better coverage through the Marketplace. This army will battle to decimate the nearly10,000 uninsured in la Crosse area, leaving less than half in their ranks. As Marc Antony famously said in his funeral oration "My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." It's not to late for you to join the variety of volunteers by calling 608-781-1401 or emailing [email protected]. But beware the ides of March, for by then it will be too late.
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November Program: Voter ID and Voter Rights
Andrea Kaminski, Executive Director of the Wisconsin LWV along with State Senator Jennifer Shilling and Assemblywoman Jill Billings
November 12, 2013
Lunch at 11:30 - presentation at noon
Radisson Hotel
RSVP: Nancy Hill at [email protected] or 782-1753 for the $12.00 luncheon at 11:30; the program at noon is free. |
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National and State Program Planning
Ellen Rosborough, State Board Member & LWV La Crosse Area Member
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The La Crosse Area League has not participated in program planning at the State and National level for the past few years, but we are going to tackle it this year. What exactly is program planning?
The local process used to be called "Lively Issues". Basically, our January meeting was a lengthy meeting, where the members reviewed and discussed and sometimes argued about our national, state and local positions. The goal was to come to a consensus on what plan of action we recommended regarding all of our positions. Does each position reflect our current beliefs in such a way that we can act on it? Should any be dropped? Should we do a restudy to update a position? Or is the position good enough, so that no action is needed? Or, the most discussed, are we missing a position which would allow us to act? (We do not take action on any legislation unless we have an official position. Members may, on their own, but the League, as an organization, does not.)
This process began in the early days of League. It was an all day event, food and babysitting provided. We did not have that many positions, but did annually look at them . Obviously, times have changed and so our process is changing too. The State Board, noting that few leagues have been participating, has taken onthe task of redoing the planning materials and process, with the goal of getting more local folks to look at our positions and suggest improvements.
The process this year will be more comprehensive because we have not done this for so long, and we have quite a few new members who would like to understand what we do support. Maybe even get involved in changing things! So, this year we are reviewing the state and most of the national positions. To start us off, we have 3 teams who will be meeting in the next few weeks. Each will be reviewing one of the topic areas - Natural Resources, Social Policy or Government. We will tackle International Relations at the LWVUS level and local positions next year. This January, we have 2 meetings scheduled, for all members who are interested, to review the results of the 3 teams and vote on what LWV-La Crosse Area is proposing as the LWVWI and the LWVUS program for the next one or two years.
If interested in joining any of the discussions, here is the schedule:
Natural Resources: Maureen Kinney, Pam Thiel and Gretchen Benjamin are meeting next Tuesday, November 12, at 5pm (till ?) in the 'meeting room' at Java Vino, 2311 State Road, La Crosse.
Government: Nancy Hill, Ellen Frantz, and Carla Townsend are meeting on Monday, November 18 at 6pm at Java Vino (table, not a room).
Social Policy:Sheila Hilke, Peter Nelson and Betty Kruck are meeting on Tuesday, November 19, 6:30pm, in the meeting room at Java Vino.
Anyone interested is welcome to join any of these discussions. This is a good way to learn what we are all about as an organization.
Tuesday, January 21 there will be 2 meetings held for the whole membership. Both will be in the meeting room at the South Branch of the La Crosse Public Library, 1307 South 16th Street, La Crosse. The first meeting will be at 1:30pm, for about 2 hours. The second meeting will be at 5pm, for about 2 hours. In addition, the recommendations of the 3 teams will be sent to all members, so that each can vote electronically. You will have to watch for the email in early January on how you can participate, if you can't attend in person on January 21. You will be able to comment too.
All materials can be found on the lwvwi.org website, in the Members section. Look for a link on the right side bar, to take you to the Program Planning page. There are links to the positions, plus documents and forms relating to program planning.
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The national LWV Agricultural Study Committee began their work January 2013. The national website, http://www.lwv.org, has information regarding the study and background information as suggested reading. The study focuses on two areas; 1) technology issues in agriculture including genetically modified organisms, herbicides, pesticides, agriculture water pollution, aquifer depletion, antibiotics in livestock, and accurate food labeling; and 2) current agriculture finance issues including consolidation in agriculture industries, crop subsidies and the federal agricultural regulatory process. The suggested reading includes three background documents that are considered relatively neutral and three websites that reflect the view of the website's sponsors. The three documents include a 28 page report taken from chapter 8 of the Economic Report of the President 2013, an eight page policy brief of the Union of Concerned Scientists, and a two page summary analysis of 66 studies published in Scientific America. The committee also lists multimedia resources for additional background information.
The national committee is meeting this month, November 2013, to formulate the Consensus Questions that will be proposed for the national study. Local leagues are asked to form study committees to discuss the information and answer the consensus questions between February and April 1, 2014. The deadline for local consensus reports is April 4, 2014.
If you are interested in participating on the local Agriculture Study Committee, please contact Jane Klekamp.
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