The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization encouraging the informed and active participation of citizens in government. It influences

public policy through education and advocacy. LWV is an organization fully committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion in principle and in practice.

Hello Friends –

Our California legislative session has concluded. The rest of the calendar year our elected officials will spend more time in their districts getting to know their constituents better in their sometimes newly redrawn districts. We hope you took advantage of LWVSMV events to meet 37th District Assemblyperson Gregg Hart in July and 19th District State Senator Monique Limón last month. Your LWVSMV membership has demonstrated its potential to connect you more closely with those elected to our state government.

The LWVUS recently sent us a very interesting map showing that 12 states now have women Governors! The most EVER! “Women Power Democracy!” was a LWVUS slogan shared at our annual convention in 2022. Women even won governorships in 2 southern states where the majority of registered and voting women is LESS than 50%. Can you guess which states? (Answer below).

Swifties are not the only young voters ready to make a big difference in future elections as they have become disillusioned and even angry with politics as usual. A recent editorial by Charles Blow in The New York Times stated that according to the Brookings Institution, a frustrated army of young voters could have a major impact in the 2024 election if engaged. “According to our projections, based on U.S. Census Bureau estimates, if Americans under 45 {plurals and millennials} vote at the same rate as they did in the 2020 presidential election, they will represent over one third {37%} of the 2024 electorate.”

The Brookings Institution further stated that “If that generational cohort’s contribution to the electorate in next year’s presidential general election is the same as its contribution to the U.S. voting age population, it will comprise nearly half {49%} of the vote on Nov. 5, 2024.”

The LWVSMV Voter Service Committee has been active on both AHC campuses and at North Santa Barbara County public events, talking to youth and registering voters. This activity is called “tabling” and all our members are cordially invited to participate. The time commitment is small and interacting can be very inspiring. Click here if you’re interested in learning more about “tabling.”

Hope to see you soon at one of the calendar events listed below. In the meantime, stay alert and keep positive. Democracy is worth preserving!

Vote Local -- Your Vote Counts More!

Sincerely,



Virginia

Answer: The 2 states with women governors and a minority of women voters are: Arkansas and Alabama. Other states with women governors are Maine, New York, Massachusetts, Michigan, Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota, New Mexico, Arizona and Oregon.

Reported by Lawanda Lyons-Pruitt, LWVSMV Board Member and Chair, Diversity/Equity/Inclusion (DEI) Committee; President, Santa Maria-Lompoc NAACP.

Senate Appointment: On October 2nd, Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Laphonza Butler to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy resulting from the recent passing of longtime California Senator Diane Feinstein. Butler was sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris at the U.S. Capitol the next day. A longtime labor leader and advocate for women and working people, Butler will be the first openly LGBTQ person to represent California in the Senate and the second Black woman to represent California in the Senate, following Vice President Harris. The NAACP, among other groups, commended Governor Newsom for taking steps to fill the gaps in representation that currently exist within our Senate.

Homeowner Insurance: Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara unveiled a plan to shore up California’s insurance market for homeowners, calling for insurers to return to wildfire zones but giving them an easier path to rate increases. The Department of Insurance will require insurance companies to cover a to-be-determined number of homeowners in wildfire-prone areas while allowing the companies to charge more for insurance coverage.

Minimum Wage Increase: Governor Newsom signed AB 1228, authorizing the Fast-Food Council to set fast-food restaurant standards for minimum wage and to develop proposals. Effective April 2024, the minimum wage for the state’s 500,000 fast-food workers will increase to $20 per hour. Through the Fast-Food Council, workers will have a stronger say in setting minimum wages and working conditions, including health and safety standards.

Educational Freedom: Building on his Family Agenda to promote educational freedom and success, Governor Newsom signed AB 1078 which bans “book bans” in schools, prohibits censorship of instructional materials, and strengthens California law requiring schools to provide all students access to textbooks that teach about California’s diverse communities.

Stop Human Trafficking: SB 14, which steepens penalties for human trafficking of minors in California, was signed into law by Governor Newsom. The law designates human trafficking of a minor for purposes of a commercial sex act as a serious felony under the state’s “Three Strikes” law and imposes harsher penalties and sentencing enhancements for individuals convicted of the crime.

Celebrating Fiestas Patrias in Guadalupe

On September 16th and 17th, Guadalupe marked the 100th-year celebration of Fiestas Patrias -- Mexican Independence Day -- with a parade down Hwy. 1 and community celebration, sponsored by the Club Comite Civico Mexicano de Guadalupe. The event continued with food, music, and community resource booths at LeRoy Park.

The celebration is part of National Hispanic Heritage Month, a 30-day period from September 15th to October 15th, which honors the contributions, achievements and diversity of Hispanic Americans. The dates are significant because they coincide with the independence anniversaries of Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Chile.

Approximately 2,000 bills are presented each year during the legislative session which lasts from January to mid-September. Once in the appropriate committee, bills go through independent policy and fiscal analysis; amendments are common. (Hint: Citizen lobbying is best while the bills are in committee.) The final version is voted on, and if it passes, the Governor can either sign or veto. If the Governor does neither, the bill will becomes law.

OCTOBER

8: Open Streets Santa Maria is back this year – a mile of care-free space for people of all ages and abilities to play and be active. Join the fun on Main Street, from Broadway to Blosser, by signing up for a shift at the LWVSMV table here. Plans for the celebration are in the works and you can learn the latest here.

9: Indigenous Peoples' Day is day to honor the cultures, histories and resilience of Native Americans and other indigenous peoples around the world. Today, 10 states and 100 cities in the U.S. recognize this day. Indigenous Peoples' Day is a day to educate the public about the challenges and struggles that indigenous peoples face, such as discrimination, poverty, land rights, environment justice and cultural preservation.

10: LWV – Bay Area is presenting six-part public health forum series on “Death vs. Dollars – Is Our Health an Individual or a Collective Responsibility?” on Zoom from 12-1pm. For information or the Zoom link, click here.

12: Do you have an interest in promoting government transparency and accountability? Then you might be interested in joining the LWV Observer Corp. Members provide a valuable service by attending governmental meetings, noting what happens at the meeting, and reporting back through the League to the community. Learn more at our

Observer Corp training. 3pm via Zoom. Email us here with questions or for Zoom link.

12: LWVSB Overbooked Book Group will discuss "After the Apocalypse: American's Role in the World" by Andrew Bacevich. 1:30pm. This book is free on Hoopla audio. To join on Zoom, click here.

24: UCSB Arts and Lectures presents two-time Pulitzer Award finalist and award-winning historian and journalist Jill Lepore for a talk titled “Amend: Rewriting the Constitution,” focusing on why the U.S. Constitution, which was meant to be amendable, is so difficult to change. 7:30pm; UCSB Campbell Hall. Group ticketing and carpooling from Santa Maria may be available. Click here to email name and contact information if interested.

NOVEMBER

4th: Savie Health is hosting “Thanks for Giving – Honoring Heroes in Healthcare” at Pico Restaurant in Los Alamos from 11:30-2:30pm. Tickets for the gourmet multi-course lunch with wine pairing are $95 per person or $175 for two. All proceeds support their mission to provide quality healthcare to low income and uninsured people in Santa Barbara County. Reserve your spot here.

 6: The LWV Santa Barbara’s Overlooked Book Club will discuss the National Book Award-winning, “All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack A Black Family Keepsake,” by Tiya Miles. This non-fiction book on the realities of American slavery by a renowned historian, traces the life of a single object handed down through three generations of Black women. The sack is on display at The Smithsonian Institute. 1:30pm. Join on Zoom here.

Our new fiscal year began July 1 and our Committees are busy with plans for the upcoming election cycle -- from voter registration tabling events to 7 issue and/or candidate forums to inform and educate voters through the upcoming election cycle.

We'd love to have you join us. We have much work to do across all of North Santa Barbara County and we need you. And if you're a current member, it's time to renew our membership. You can join or renew online by clicking here and pay online or by mailing your check to LWVSMV, P.O. Box 1388, Santa Maria, CA 93456. Scholarship funds are available and dues are waived for students of any age.