CALENDAR
Thursday, June 20 Election Day Registration Hearing, 1 pm, Massachusetts State House Room A-1
Monday, June 24 LWVMA/LESF Board Meeting, 10:30 am, Acton Memorial Library
Sunday, June 30 FCC Comment Deadline
Friday, July 26 LWVMA/LESF Board Meeting, 12pm, Concord Library Fowler Branch
Friday, September 20 Global Climate Strike Begins
Tuesday, September 24 National Voter Registration Day
HAPPENING NOW
"Looking Back, Moving Forward:" An Overview of the 2019 Convention
 
The New Officers and Board:
Delegates to convention approved a change in our bylaws to create staggered terms for board members. Going forward, half the board will be elected at Convention and half at Council, in alternate years. To get this system going, several board members were elected to one-year terms instead of two-year terms; those positions will be up for election as two-year terms at our Council meeting in 2020.
  • Co-president, 1-year: Mary Ann Ashton, Acton Area
  • Co-president, 2-year: Judy Zaunbrecher, Concord-Carlisle
  • Secretary, 2-year: Cindy Ku, Sudbury
  • Treasurer, 1-year: Andrea Kozinetz, Newton
  • 1st VP, 2-year: Kathy Leonardson, Marblehead
  • 2nd VP, 1-year: Lee Bona, Worcester Area
  • Director, 1-year: Kate Boland, Hingham
  • Director, 1-year: Nancy Brumback, Sudbury
  • Director, 2-year: Elizabeth Foster-Nolan, member-at-large
  • Director, 2-year: Hartell Johnson, Greater Haverhill
  • Director, 2-year: Jennifer Muroff, Needham
  • Director, 2-year: Tanya Roy, Wellesley
  • Director, 2-year: Amy Smith, Topsfield/Boxford/Middleton
New Positions:
The delegates approved the position on the initiative and referendum process in Massachusetts that resulted from the ballot question study. LWVMA can now take action in this area and the study committee has suggested some possible next steps.
 
Delegates also approved a position on immigration in the state, adopting by concurrence a position of the League of Women Voters of Illinois.

Climate Emergency Resolution:
A Climate Emergency Resolution citing many specific indicators of climate change won strong support at convention. The resolution states: "We as delegates of Massachusetts local Leagues assembled at the 2019 LWVMA Convention call upon the LWVMA Board and local Leagues to advocate for declarations of 'Climate Emergency' and urgent relevant action by state and local governments." In keeping with this resolution, please see our letter to The Boston Globe, drafted by Launa Zimmaro, which ran Sunday, June 16.

Speakers:
Noted environmental activist Bill McKibben issued a call to take action now to slow the damage and prevent more impact from fossil fuel pollution, including joining young people around the world in climate strikes September 20. McKibben described the League as having a special role to play because of its stature as a trusted voice.
 
Virginia Kase, CEO of LWVUS, emphasized the power of women to make significant social change and the efforts the League at the national level is taking.
 
Dr. Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, a Harvard historian, discussed the role of black women in the suffrage movement.
 
A panel on Election Technology: Promise and Perils reviewed the status of election security in Massachusetts, the ways we might vote in the future, and the impact ballot design can have on election results. More information here.
 
A panel of new state legislators-Sen. Becca Rausch, Rep. Mindy Domb, Rep. Nika Elugardo, and Rep. Tram Nguyen-reviewed why they ran for office, their legislative priorities, and the outlook for League priority legislation on Beacon Hill.
Give Once, Count Twice
 
Time is running out to take advantage of the offer by a generous member to match every donation to LWVMA made by June 30, the end of the fiscal year, up to $30,000. Please help support our work at the state level.
 
Between now and June 30, every gift you give to LWVMA will be matched dollar for dollar.  So your vote may count once, but today your gift counts twice. Please donate today.
100th Anniversary Committee Needs You
 
As part of the 100th Anniversary celebration of the League's founding and women's right to vote, the 100th Anniversary Committee's has set up five subcommittees to make plans and needs volunteers:
  • Fund Development - Create a fund development program and establish a major donor program to sustain LWVMA into the next century.
  • Major Events - Organize two major events: 1) a Fall 2019 event focused on expanding the electorate and reducing barriers to participation in civic life and; 2) a Spring 2020 celebration and fundraising event.
  • Civics Education - Develop a "Voting Rights: Then and Now" toolkit for local Leagues to share with educators and their community. Please join us, especially if you are an educator or retired educator.
  • Local League Engagement - Encourage local Leagues to celebrate the 100th anniversary in their communities. Develop a framework to share ideas and resources. Consider a single event for participation by all local Leagues.
  • Collaborations - Explore and develop collaboration opportunities with other organizations in lieu of creating specific exhibits or displays by LWVMA.
Contact 100thanniversary@lwvma.org to volunteer. Meetings are by video conference so you do not have to travel.  We need you.
ELECTIONS & VOTING
National Voter Registration Day

National Voter Registration Day is Tuesday, Sept. 24. LWVUS hopes at least 400 local Leagues will participate nationwide and the League will continue to be the single largest on-the-ground partner.  Sign up your League and plan to hold a registration event or publicize the importance of registration and voting.
ADVOCACY
Support Your Local Cable Access Station

The Federal Communications Commission is considering a rule change proposed by cable TV companies to reduce the amount of funding they provide to public TV access stations, which provide PEG (public,
education, and government) local TV services. That means a potentially serious cut in funding for your local cable stations. If your League works with the cable access stations in your towns to, for example, broadcast candidate forums, please consider filing a comment opposing this change with the FCC.
 
The filing should be done by the June 30 deadline. For the FCC to consider your comment, it must be sent directly to the FCC, not to your Congressperson or Senator. Your statement, two or three paragraphs, can point out that public cable access is a valued resource for your community that must be adequately funded and that your League uses PEG access to inform the community, then list the kinds of programing that you provide and those channels carry, such as candidate forums, public information forums, Civics Bees, and other events.  
 
Here's how you do that:
Go to the FCC comment site here.  You are commenting on docket MB 05-311, which goes in the Proceedings box. Information in the other boxes that need to be filled out: Name of Filer-your League; Author-person submitting comment; Type of Filing-Notice of ex parte; Address-person filing or a League PO box. Then upload the document with your comment.
 
Karlen Reed, a member of the Concord-Carlisle League and retired telecom attorney, is working on this effort. If you have any questions about the issue or about filing public comment, or if you would like for her to file your comment for you, please contact her at kreedtelecom@gmail.com .
THE TO-DO LIST
Learn How Facebook Can Help Your League

Due to the ROE Act Hearing, we rescheduled our webinar on how local Leagues can start a Facebook page or improve the one they have.  The webinar, "Engage Your Community and Grow Your Membership Through Facebook: Join the Conversation!" will be held on Tuesday, July 16, at 4 p.m. You can register for the webinar  here  and will then receive instructions for signing in.

After the event, this webinar will be available along with all other LWVMA webinars in our  webinar library.
Send LWVMA Your New Board Information

As your local League elects new Board leadership, please fill out this form with the names, positions, and contact information of your Board members and send it to the LWVMA office so that your local League leaders receive League management information, reminders, and have access to leader tools.
LWVUS DEI Webinars

LWVUS is hosting a series of webinars on diversity, equity, and inclusion.  A new cycle of webinars scheduled for June through September: June 27, July 25, August 29, and September 26.
Social Media Avatars

LWVUS has published a package of social media avatars ("profile photos") for Leagues to use online. This file includes five variations of the LWV logo, created to fit both the square and circle dimensions of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram profiles. It can now be downloaded with our   Brand Standards on the League Management Site .
Caution on Posting Photos

A report from LWVUS: Several Leagues have received written notices from law firms about copyrighted photo violations on League websites. Some of these letters have threatened legal actions or demanded thousands of dollars in fines. While there is a lot of grey area related to internet laws, photo copyright laws are very serious. If your League is pulling images from the internet without knowing the source, your League could be in violation and subject to serious and hefty fines. LWVUS will soon be providing a webinar from our general counsel about best practices and how to deal with such threats. In the meantime, please refer to our April 2019 Technology and Communications Webinar: Image Use & Copyright Recommendations . We also have recommendations on the League Management Site on Image Use and strongly encourage Leagues to use photos they have taken themselves or utilize the LWVUS Flickr site for images created and owned by LWVUS.
The  League Leader Update is  distributed to local  League  board members and LWVMA  leaders . Anyone can request the  Update  by  clicking here . Please review this  Update  for articles of interest to your  League  and include them in your local Bulletin.
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