Julie

421 4th Street North, St. Petersburg

Parking: on street, in the Hollander Hotel parking lot (west of the building), or at the dentist's office across the street on 4th Avenue.

Here's your chance to refine your message about the importance of Closing the Healthcare Gap in Florida. 

The League is sponsoring a healthcare advocacy, communication, and messaging training on June 18th in downtown St. Pete. The training will be led by Darden Rice, longtime activist and organizer, media expert, and sitting City Council Vice-Chair. 

The purpose of the training is to help people to be more comfortable in their messaging, communicating, and speaking skills in order to drive people to action. The training is open to Closing the Gap in Healthcare Committee members, as well as those League members who distribute or collect Closing the Gap material during other events, such as Voter Registration.  

Space is limited. Please RSVP to  [email protected] or  [email protected].  About 30 minutes of (easy) pre-work will be required.

by Julie Kessel, Tampa Bay Area Regional Lead for LWVF Healthcare Expansion Advocacy

The mission for the Closing the Healtcare Gap Program in 2016 is to educate, motivate, and activate people directly impacted by the Florida Healthcare Gap. The Gap is created due to Florida's decision NOT to expand Medicaid and take $$ already paid by Florida taxpayers and earmarked by the federal government for this sole purpose. 

Closing the Gap activities are intended to give Florida citizens the tools they need to ask important questions of legislators, make an informed vote in the 2016 primaries and general elections, and to cultivate the land for advocacy later, perhaps in 2017, when newly elected legislators go back into session.   

The LWVF's position is that all citizens should have quality, affordable healthcare. It has educated and advocated on this topic for nearly four years now. A few years ago, LWVF joined with CHAIN--a group whose exclusive purpose is to expand healthcare coverage--and received funds for the project through CHAIN. CHAIN and LWVF set shared goals. 

This 2016 calendar year, the LWVF divided the state into three regions, each with a regional lead, recognizing it was too big for just one leader (formerly Dena Leavengood of Hillsborough). Each interested League can receive funds if they agree to certain deliverables in the grant period. A single grant is offered to each League for $1000 (Tier 1), $500 (Tier 2), or up to $150 for small expenses. Choosing not to ask for a grant does NOT preclude any league from participating, and we encourage each League to work on the topic in any way they choose. Any activity that falls into our shared goals category may be used for our collective region deliverables. 

The LWVSPA has already applied for, and received $600 of its $1000 grant. We are working on the development of a comprehensive program through the end of the year for our local area and the region.  We will partner with the North Pinellas League to focus on Pinellas. Stay posted!

by Raechel Garafalo, LWVSPA Voter Service Chair

In preparation for the August 30th primary election, the Leagues of Women Voters of the St. Petersburg Area and North Pinellas County are working to produce the League's 2016 Pinellas County Voter Guide (the Guide). The target for publication of the Guide is the first week of August to coordinate with the distribution of Vote by Mail ballots. 

The Guide will be totally web based (no downloading PDF's), optimized for viewing on mobile devices, and will cover all contested federal, state, county and special fire district races. The LWVF will also be publishing a paper voter guide as in years past, that will cover US Congressional races, Florida Senate races, and the ballot amendments. This paper guide will be available for distribution in advance of the general election in November. 

This year, as a result of the redrawn, renumbered Florida Senate districts, many voters' precincts and polling places will change. So, be on the lookout for new Voter Registration cards. The League recommends that you confirm your voting status and update your signature as well as party affiliation before the August 1st Registration deadline. 

There are several nonpartisan races in the August 30th election. However, if you want to vote in the partisan races on the ballot, and are currently registered as an NPA (no party affiliation), you will need to choose a party with which to affiliate (Republican or Democrat) and update your registration. Click here to check your status and update your registration. 

On the subject of voter registration, our League is participating in a coordinated state effort called Project R.O.A.R. (Reach Out And Register) for which we're planning a series of spring/summer voter registration activities. The goal of ROAR is to register, engage, and educate as many new voters as possible, especially in underserved communities and groups. We're looking to plug into community events or organizational activities where we can make a difference. 

Conducting a successful voter registration drive takes the work of a dedicated team of volunteers. Please contact me if you're able to facilitate our participation in an event/activity or to learn about some of the other opportunities to get involved. 

On a final note: I was one of six members of our local League to attend LWVF's biennial Council of Leaders conference, What a Difference a Map Makes, in Orlando last week. At the end of Plenary Session II (part of a packed two-day agenda of workshops, caucuses, speaker sessions, and celebratory dinners), I put forth a Direction to the Board. I proposed that LWVF draft and send a letter to county supervisors of elections (SOEs) requesting that they send a signature update card in the mail to recurrent vote by mail voters who have not renewed their signatures in the last three years and that this become a regular practice. Some county SOE's, like in Miami-Dade, already do this. I happily received notice this week that the state board has agreed to my proposal. If the practice of prompting signature updates is adopted statewide, we may see a decrease in challenged and invalidated ballots. Because, EVERY VOTE COUNTS!

Click the image to go to our online Voter Guide.

Recycling: Expanding to Apartment Complexes and Condos--But Not Yet

by Karen Coale, LWVSPA Recycling Co-Chair & People's Trash Coalition Chair

On March 31st, the St Petersburg Sanitation Department provided City Council with an update on the first phase of residential recycling in St Petersburg. Take a look at the current scorecard posted on the LWVSPA website for the details:  https://www.lwvspa.org/st-pete-releases-recycling-scorecard/

At the same meeting, Neighborhood Affairs Director Mike Dove reported on the research that was conducted to expand recycling service to apartment complexes and condos, and the development of a pilot program to begin that rollout. However, due to the significant drop in the price of oil and thus the value of oil-based products such as plastic, the City's recycle processor, Progressive, is not able to take on significant additional materials at this time. It is an economic issue triggered by both the plummeting price of oil and the troubled economies of India and China, who are the primary buyers of recycled materials. Bottom line: There is a plan to expand recycling in St. Pete when prices go back up, and they will. 

After receiving the disappointing news, Council Members discussed other ways to take care of the environment, like looking at city contracts and stopping the purchase of styrofoam and plastic products, pushing for reuse of materials, etc. For a summary of the meeting read the following Tampa Bay Times article: saintpetersburgtimes.fl.newsmemory.com/publink.php?shareid=2d816f108 

Meanwhile, please fill your blue bins with uncontaminated recyclable aluminum, cardboard, paper, and plastics. Encourage your neighbors to do so as well. If you have any questions, please contact me at [email protected].

Working to Counter Misinformation About Immigration 

by Karen Coale, LWVSPA Immigration Co-Chair & 

LWVF Immigration Co-Chair

Immigration remains an issue in the presidential race, but unfortunately is accompanied by considerable misinformation and scary rhetoric. 

Building on our discussion at the Annual Program Planning Meeting, your Immigration Committee is developing an educational communications plan to counter these myths with researched facts, e.g., the actual cost of deporting 11 million undocumented immigrants in two years: $300 Billion. 

We have a framework for organizing the facts that we want to cover in simple understandable bites. Social media is a natural vehicle for sharing these facts. The committee is pleased that immigration is one the LWVSPA priorities agreed to at our recent Annual Meeting, which is critical as we prepare for the 2017 Florida Legislative session. 

In the 2016 session, seven immigrant impacting bills were introduced, six of which were punitive. Fortunately, the punitive bills were blocked by Judiciary Committee Chair, Sen. Diaz de la Portilla. However, with the continued anti-immigrant rhetoric emanating from some presidential candidates, we expect a spillover into the state legislature again this year. 

Having immigration as a priority positions us to advocate heavily against them. Our committee meets monthly on the fourth Monday. Join us and stay current on this complex issue. For more information email me at [email protected].

Visit our website for more information about upcoming events.  We update this information about League and community events on a regular basis, so check it out frequently.