Dear League Members,
At our first Board Meeting of the 2019-2020 Season, we discussed several new initiatives, in addition to the projects we began work on over the summer.
Five Local League members attended the State Annual Luncheon on August 6. The topic, "Rhetoric vs. Reality: Why the Time is Now for Equal Pay," focused on the wage disparity between men and women. The featured speaker was business lawyer, Laurel Bellows. Her presentation emphasized the persistent pay gap between men and women in the U.S.
Mary Haley has been meeting with the planning committee of the upcoming Cannabis Town Hall which will take place on October 2, at Julian Middle School at 7:00 p.m. The committee is working on a list of questions to ask the panelists in order to educate the public about the new law, which will be effective on January 1, 2020. Peggy Kell will moderate.
The Chairs of Second Tuesday and Drinks and Dialogue have been busy planning the details of the Criminal Justice Reform Fall Kickoff on September 18. Michelle Mbkeani, Policy Advisor for the States Attorneys office; Sharlyn Grace, Executive Director of the Chicago Bond Fund; Ben Ruddell, Director of Criminal Justice Policy of the ACLU; and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson will be the panelists. As we have distributed our flyer to several organizations and posted it in numerous locations throughout the Village, we anticipate a large turnout. Check out the event flyer here. We hope to see you there!
Lois Love gave a presentation on the "Illinois Firearms Restraining Order" at our August Board Meeting. You can read the legislation here. We will be contacting mental health professionals, school counselors, police departments and others in order to familiarize them with the new law, which became effective last January. In summary, it makes it possible for people to take steps to have guns removed from the possession of those individuals who may be a danger to themselves or others.
Some of the issues our League will be discussing in the next few months are the Fair Tax Amendment,
Ranked Choice Voting, and
Complete Count (2020 Census issues).
We hope everyone has enjoyed our "short but sweet" summer. We look forward to a delightful and productive autumn.
Beverly Graham
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