We are looking forward to working with local Leagues and members on the two specific updates approved at Convention in June (Constitutional Convention Position and Financing Healthcare) and the first two of our planned updates of different sections of
Impact on Issues
(Election Law and Government.) A thorough and complete of
Impact
has been a major theme of program planning for the last couple years and was made more feasible by the recent changes made by the board to the update and study processes.
Update on Constitutional Convention Position
The Constitutional Convention update is the most straightforward since the substance of the update was specifically described in the
Pre-Convention Kit (page 37). We expect to have this material ready for local Leagues and members after the September board meeting with a deadline
for responding by February 1. Both local Leagues and members will be able to respond and the process to do so will be further described in the September update materials. Discussion is still important and local Leagues may decide to have in-person meetings.
Update on Financing Healthcare
The committee to do the update on Financing Healthcare is in the process of formation. Please let me know at
[email protected] if you are interested. A few of you have already expressed an interest and we will be reaching out to everyone by the end of August with committee work beginning in September.
Review and Updates on Current Election Law and Gov't Positions
The committee to do the review and update on current Election Law and Government positions is also in the process of formation. Please let me know at
[email protected]
if you are interested. A few of you have already expressed an interest and we will be reaching out to everyone by the end of August with committee work beginning in September.
We expect to have some if not all of the Election Law and Government updates done by March 2020 so please
schedule any local League meetings after that with a response deadline of July 1. At this point it is very hard to predict the timing of the Financing Healthcare update. We should have more information available on timing this fall after the committee begins work.
New Process for Consensus, Updates and Concurrence
In March, 2019 the state Board adopted a new process to be used in developing new positions, updating existing positions, and concurring with a position of another League. The goal of this revision of the LWVNYS process for reaching member "Consensus" or "Agreement" on a new or updated Position, or "Concurrence" with another League's position, ("change in League positions") is to be more responsive, swifter and to include more members in the conversation. Based on input from members, the policy was slightly revised in June 2019. See the
new policy here.
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FROM LWVUS
Additional guidance regarding program planning will come out this fall, following our usual timeline, but the LWVUS Board is excited to share that they voted to recommend the concurrence on the electoral process that was shared with state leaders earlier this year by a group of dedicated volunteers. This concurrence will be considered for adoption at the LWVUS Convention in June 2020. See the full concurrence and background materials here. All local Leagues should review and consider this concurrence with their members prior to the LWVUS Convention in June 2020.
