 | | | | April is Second Chance Month
The League of Women Voters of Florida remains committed to returning citizen outreach and restoration of voting rights. While Florida legislators may have created a huge barrier to restoration of voting rights when they passed SB7066 in 2019, we continue to recruit persons who work in the legal profession to become trained to help with research and restoration of rights and we continue to use the people power of our members and local area organizations to help us address postcards to returning citizens so they can become informed of our pro bono services and access them.
If you have professional legal experience or a bar certified lawyer, please reach out to us so we can connect you with trainers at LWVFL. If you are interested in supporting our funding raising for postage to mail postcards to returning citizens, please send a check to us with (Returning Citizens in the memo line) at LWVJFC P.O.Box 330353 Atlantic Beach, FL 32233 |  | If you know of organizations that would like to partner with us to address the cards, contact Lanelle at lwvjaxfc@gmail.com. This work is nonpartisan. So far this year, we have collaborated with Indivisible Riverside Jacksonville and Northside Coalition of Jacksonville to send out 2600 postcards to returning citizens to connect them with our pro bono legal services to pursue the restoration of their voting rights!
Lanelle Phillmon, President
LWV/JFC | | |
Join us for lunch at Seasons 52 on April 3rd, for our First Wednesday Lunch with the League.
Our guest speaker will be Rhianna Scyster, Community Equity and Policy Manager at 904WARD. Rhianna will talk about 904Ward's work including their Little Free Diverse Libraries.
Doors open at 11:20 and lunch will begin at 11:45, followed by the program.
The menu includes a small Field Greens Salad, choice of entree (Chicken Caprese Sandwich, Avocado Toast, or Crab Cake Sandwich), a Mini Indulgence Dessert and beverage (Coffee, Iced Tea, or Soft Drink), at a cost per person of $35.00 for members and their guests. Non-members who purchase tickets will pay an additional $2.00 Technology Convenience fee, for a total of $37.00.
Registration will close on March 31st, and tickets will not be available at the door. Seating is limited so register early! | New Education Committee Chair Seeking Volunteers
Susan Aertker is the new chair of the Education Committee. If you'd like to join the Education Committee log onto our website lwvjaxfc.org, click on Members to get the drop down menu then click on Committees. You'll note that there is an Education Action team and an Education Committee in the list of committees, choose Education Committee.
There will be a monthly meeting at Susan’s condo for Education Committee members. Meetings will be the first Tuesday of the month starting in May. Susan will email committee members by the end of April for the time of the monthly meeting, so please join the committee soon if you're interested. If you have any other questions about the committee, you can contact Susan at lwv.jax.education@gmail.com.
The committee is seeking volunteers to monitor Duval, Nassau, St. Johns and Clay County School Board meetings and send their summaries of those meetings to the Google group:https://groups.google.com/g/lwv-duval-education/. Please join the Google group if you’d like to send or receive those summaries.
The Education Committee’s advocacy will be guided by two principles stated on pages 67 and 132 in the Impact on Issues A Guide to the Public Policy Positions of the League of Women Voters: (1) A quality public education is essential for a strong, viable, and sustainable democratic society and is a civil right. (2) Transparency, accountability, and preservation of the common good must be ensured; privatization is not appropriate when the provision of services by the government is necessary to preserve the common good and to meet the needs of the most vulnerable members of society. Services fundamental to the governance of a democratic society include education. | Congratulations to Our Sara Werder Leadership Program Participants
Last September, League of Women Voters of Florida asked members throughout the state to nominate themselves or others to participate in their very first League Leadership program. Four of our members applied to and were accepted by the program committee: Isabelle Hansen, Michelle Charrone-Hollie, Lanelle Phillmon, and Wendy Snee. The program involved participating in virtual events with each other, state committee members, and LWVUS representatives, and in person events to include Lobby Days and an LWVFL board meeting.
During this program, the participants crafted pilot programs for other Leagues to implement and we are excited that our local League will be considering a local League Leadership Program. The program is designed to learn more about local Leagues as well as state and national League functions, how we arrive on positions, and local government structure and representation. Keep an eye on your email later this year to hear more about it and possibly participate
Congratulations to Isabelle, Michelle, Lanelle, and Wendy! | Reproductive Health and Justice Committee News
As we await the decision for the Florida Supreme Court on the Amendment 4 language there are a few things to celebrate with the conclusion of the last Florida Legislature. The “Abuser Empowerment Act” was defeated. This bill would have opened the door for harassment from women’s partners or ex-partners via lawsuits seeking damages – a very scary proposition for survivors of domestic violence. The full abortion ban sponsored by David Borrero never went to hearing and the discriminatory trans erasure bill was defeated.
Looking forward there are several events taking place in the reproductive rights movement:
- Saturday, April 13 @ 12pm, Lake Eola Park, Orlando - "Yes on 4" Launch/Statewide Rally: A massive statewide rally to launch the “Yes on 4” campaign to limit government interference with abortion. If anyone is interested in attending this rally, please contact Wendy Snee at wesnee2010@gmail.com and so you can arrange to drive together. The link leads to the registration page.
- Saturday, April 20 – Yes on 4 Super Saturday: Stay tuned for events being organized in key cities around the state and online. Great training and planning opportunities for regional voter engagement activities.
The next Reproductive Health and Justice committee meeting is scheduled for April 4th at 5:00PM. Invites to the link have already been sent. | Voter Registration Committee Update
The Voter Registration Team was very busy last year. 30 volunteers helped register almost 600 people with online voter registration assistance and paper applications between July and December 2023. In addition we provided information about our returning citizen efforts to over 65 people. Finally we answered a lot of questions about voting by mail and answered other voting issues. Thank you to all of our volunteers. We couldn't have done it without you. We continue to host voter registration events at the University of North Florida during Market Days on Wednesdays. We also participated in an International Women's Day event at the Mt. Olive Primitive Baptist Church. The photo below shows me and Kiki Karpen at our very windy table! As always, if you are interested in joining our work on voter registration - please reach out to Rhona at lwvjaxfcvote@gmail.com. |  | UnHappy Hour
We were excited to collaborate with the Jacksonville area chapter of National Organization for Women (NOW) and The American Association of University Women (AAUW) St Augustine Chapter for UnHappy Hour at Odd Birds Thursday, March 21st. We enjoyed some themed beverages, wonderful food and heard form our guest speakers Dr. Mary Gatta (AAUW St Augustine), Ashley Catman (Flagler College's President of the Black Student Union, Adam Morely (Small Business Owner), and Trish Becker (Anastasia Mosquito Control District County Commissioner). North Florida continues to have the largest gender wage gap in Florida.
We encourage members to phone their elected representative with the following messages:
- Pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would modernize and strengthen the Equal Pay Act of 1963, and the Salary Transparency Act, which would require employers to provide the salary range for jobs. All Women deserve Equal & Transparent Pay!
- The Gender Pay Gap is persistent in Florida and exists at all levels of work in almost every occupation. Urge Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act today – Equal Pay can’t wait!
- Florida women earn 84% of what men earn. Pass the Paycheck Fairness Act
Local Office Numbers are provided: Senator Marco Rubio (904) 354-4300, Senator Rick Scott (904) 479-7227, Congressman John Rutherford (904) 831-5205, Congressman Michael Waltz (386) 302-0442, Congressman Aaron Bean (904) 319-9433 |  | JOIN US for Orientation
Sunday, May 19, 2024
2:00-3:00pm
Highly recommended for New Members, and for all members who have not previously attended.
- Learn about the history of the League, how we operate, and the process of Study and Action.
- Meet local League Leadership, committee chairs, and other new members.
- New Members are encouraged to attend.
- Current members as well as non-members are also invited.
The Zoom link will be emailed to you following Registration.
Questions? Contact:
Karen Parish
Membership Director, LWVJFC
904-477-9538 | New Members - Welcome aboard!
Margo Conant
Melissa Haussman
Shirley Kravitz
Jane Upton
Sylvia Perry
Interested in being part of the League? Click JOIN TODAY | Donations are always appreciated!
We wish to acknowledge and thank those who made donations this month:
Mimi Tipton
Our website lwvjaxfc.org offers an easy way to make donations to LWVJFC, even if you prefer to pay by check. Click on the red "Donate" button at the top of the Homepage. | Volunteers are needed!
Quite often, our League needs volunteers to help with small tasks that are not time consuming but vital to our leadership and membership.
If you are willing to help make phone calls, be trained to send text messages, or assist in other ways, please contact us and let us help you figure out how to invest your time in our League and our democracy.
Contact Lanelle at lwvjaxfc@gmail.com to discuss topics and abilities.
For more specific volunteer tasks, click HERE.
| | | | Local
Stay up-to-date on all local upcoming events on the LWV of Jacksonville / First Coast:
• Website
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
Regional
The Regional Facebook Group, LWV Florida North Region Leagues, includes Alachua, Bay, Jacksonville/First Coast, Okaloosa & Walton, Pensacola Bay Area, and Tallahassee.
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Contact Us!
Phone: 904-355-8683
Email: LWVJAXFC@gmail.com
Postal Address:
League of Women Voters of Jacksonville First Coast
PO Box 330353
Atlantic Beach, FL 32233 | | | | The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization encouraging informed and active participation in government. We influence public policy through education and advocacy. | | |
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