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A Voice for Citizens, a Force for Change
e-bulletin
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Message from the Steering Committee |
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A Message From This Month's Chair,
Janice Ratner
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The Annual League Birthday luncheon has been the most popular and well attended event since it began in 2003. Usually we gather at a local restaurant, most recently Ginger Garden, for an amazing lunch followed by a very interesting speaker. This year we had to forego the gathering and meal due to COVID, but we were still able to have a very interesting speaker, virtually, Rep. Jim McGovern.
Rep. McGovern spoke about his experience on January 6, the day of the insurrection at the Capitol when Congress was scheduled to certify the Electoral College votes. He was actually presiding at the time the room was evacuated because Speaker Pelosi was called out of the chamber just before. He discussed many topics in response to questions including: affordable housing, food insecurity, health care, COVID relief legislation, biomass, sanctions on complicit house members, rebuilding trust, money in politics, protecting voting rights, truth and accountability.
We want to thank Rep. McGovern for his most informative program. Also, we want to thank Adrienne Terrizzi for organizing this program and Kathy Campbell for being the Zoom host. We all hope that next year we will back at Ginger Garden.
—Janice Ratner
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USHERING IN A NEW CONGRESS & NEW ADMINISTRATION
For the People Act
It’s a new year, there are a lot of new faces in Washington, and the 117th Congress has made the For the People Act their top priority. The League supports this comprehensive democracy reform bill (known as H.R.1 in the House, and S.1 in the Senate) with important provisions, including the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, fair redistricting, D.C. statehood, and more!
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CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TODAY IN SUPPORT OF ACT! |
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OTHER RESOURCES
Click links below to learn about why we need this act, a summary of what the act entails, and how to talk about the For the People Act
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MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATORS CONTACT INFORMATION |
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SUSTAINABILITY AND CLIMATE ACTION COMMITTEE |
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The Committee (SACAC for short) has been continuing to focus its energy on biomass issues. Member Martha Hanner with the assistance of others has been shepherding a proposed resolution against the planned Palmer/Springfield biomass powerplant through various channels in Town government. Receiving unanimous support from the Town’s Energy and Climate Action Committee (ECAC), she brought it to the Town Council on February 8: SACAC is pleased to report that Council passed it! Many thanks to Martha for her hard work. She persisted! The resolution also opposes the use of state subsidies for such large-scale power plants, and points out the environmental injustice this plant represents. |
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For the text of the proposed resolution, click the blue box link. |
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Also at the above website: links to more information about the dual environmental problems posed by large-scale woody biomass power plants both to human health and to the forests which are needed as continued carbon sinks.
SACAC members also continue to work to support the Climate Bill which the Legislature reintroduced which the Governor, as expected, sent back with amendments. Please urge your legislators (links above) to continue their support of S9. It’s helpful for them to be able to refer to the number of constituents favoring it.
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CONNECTICUT RIVER COMMITTEE |
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CONNECTICUT RIVER & SEWAGE NEWS
As a result of Governor Baker signing H.4921 last month, the law now requires Massachusetts residents to be notified any time there is a sewage spill into the state’s rivers. While such spills due to lightning strikes or maintenance errors are rare, they can happen almost every time it rains in cities with combined sewer overflows (CSOs) where stormwater and sewage flow into the same pipes. There is an obvious need for old infrastructure to be repaired or replaced. There are nineteen cities in Massachusetts that have CSO systems; the only two in western MA are Holyoke and Springfield.
[Information from Connecticut River Conservancy newsletter]
~ Elizabeth Davis
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RACIAL JUSTICE TASK FORCE |
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Greetings! We are happy to announce an upcoming event “How Our Community Works for Racial Equity” on March 23, 6:30-8:30 p.m.. Save the date! We will hear from community groups working on Racial Justice in Amherst in a dynamic round table Zoom format. Please join us and share the news widely.
THIS MONTH'S RESOURCES
Click the blue box below for the excellent video series, “Difficult Dialogues” by Drs. Amilcar and Dee Shabazz. This episode is with Reparations 4 Amherst folks, Michelle Miller and Matthew Andrews. They will all be attending our upcoming forum.
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And, a book that keeps surfacing in many recommendation lists:
Emergent Strategy, by Adrienne Maree Brown.
I have just started it. It is unusual, somewhat stream of consciousness, and full of resources and ideas that give me hope. I’d love to hear what you think!
~ Marcie Sclove
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HEALTH COMMITTEE UNDERCOVER
Elections, holidays, virtualness, pandemic concerns led to a hiatus of committee meetings. But, under the direction of the chair Barbara Pearson, members decided it was time to move forward again. (Of course our League has never ceased advocating for health care issues, including Single Payer, in Massachusetts for over 15 years!!!! )
In order to decide how to move on, the committee would like some guidance from the League membership as to what form our actions should take. To that end Barbara, Anita Page, and Ann Kieser created a short survey to get information about members' knowledge, concerns, and ideas for future advocacy. You haven't seen it yet because it went first to the Steering Committee for editing and feedback.
So below is a link to the survey to contribute your ideas. Things are changing: new perspectives on inequality, new leadership in Washington, new acknowledgement that our healthcare system needs to change. This is the time for us to help make it happen. Thank you.
~Trish Farrington
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NEW COMMITTEE SEEKING MEMBERS AND LIAISONS
With the sunsetting of the Centennial Commemoration Committee, the Steering Committee is looking for members to create an Events Subcommittee. All committees will coordinate with the Events Subcommittee to bring programming and events to our members and the public.
We must remain a visible and relevant force in our community. Help us to to bring timely, exciting, educational, interesting, and important events to the fore. Please step up to work with your fellow members.
Standing committees should select a liaison for the Events Subcommittee.
Interested members can contact the editor, Jessica Ryan to be put in contact with other interested members.
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IT'S BEEN A YEAR
The League of Women Voters of Massachusetts celebrates several major legislative victories during the 2019-2020 formal legislative session
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What has LWVMA accomplished this year? Click link to read. |
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TRANSPARENCY IN THE NEW LEGISLATIVE SESSION
“We’ve had several inquiries about efforts to revise the legislature’s rules to improve transparency. The legislature will adopt its rules for the 2021-22 session as the new session gets started…. The Speaker has also ordered the House Rules Committee to study the chamber’s rules “to ensure efficiency and transparency in the legislative process and in the administration of the House of Representatives.” The committee is to report back with suggested changes by July 1."
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INTRODUCING DRAWING DEMOCRACY
On January 13, the Drawing Democracy Coalition, whose goal is fair redistricting, wrote a letter to Senate President Spilka and House Speaker Mariano encouraging the appointment of a Joint Committee on Redistricting that reflects the diversity of the Commonwealth. Read the full letter and see the impressive list of coalition members, including LWVMA.
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MODERATOR TRAINING SESSION
The Voter Engagement Committee of LWVMA plans to hold a moderator training session via Zoom on Tuesday, February 16, 2021 at 4:30 pm. Karen Price, Jo-Ann Berry and Sue Flicop have kindly offered to host. The agenda will consist of reviewing the basics of moderating on Zoom; best preparations; special considerations; and Q&A. The Zoom meeting format should allow for plenty of interaction between hosts and participants.
Pre-registration is required.
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CELEBRATE GALENTINE'S DAY
February 13th, Say "Thanks"
~ from February Mass League Action, submitted by Susan Millinger
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This month, the House and Senate introduced legislation to remove the time limit on the Equal Rights Amendment and finally include it in our Constitution! The League has supported ratification of the ERA since it was first passed by Congress in 1972, and we have worked for decades to see ratification by the states. Last year, Virginia ratified the ERA, bringing the total state count to the required 38. Now it is time for the legislative branch to pass it and finally include women in the U.S. Constitution.
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FORWARD THIS MESSAGE!
This monthly message is for anyone interested in the League, not just members. If you know someone who might be interested, forward this message and invite them to subscribe themselves, using the link below.
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e-BULLETIN STAFF AND CONTRIBUTORS IN FEBRUARY
The Editor of the LWVAmherst e-bulletin, Jessica Ryan can be contacted here. The Associate Editors are Trish Farrington and Susan Millinger; Assistant Editors are Janice Ratner, Phyllis Lehrer, and Kay Fite who checks the links. Contributors to the February 2021 e-bulletin include LWVA members Elizabeth Davis, Trish Farrington, Susan Millinger, and Marcie Sclove. Material on LWVMA and LWVUS comes from the website lwvma.org and the newsletter League Update, respectively, selected by Susan Millinger.
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Click the icons to go to our Facebook and Twitter accounts! |
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