As an organization with national recognition and 100+ years of success in engaging and activating, we have built the power to make change.
The League of Women Voters of Illinois’ voice is STRONG—especially when all 3,619 raise our voices at once.
Is that the limit of our power in Illinois?
Or, as a grassroots organization, is our power limited only by the number of people we know in the state.
Grassroots, what does that mean?
It means that across Illinois, we as League members are engaged in our own communities. We are at the level where everyone knows each other and is available. This is our space to communicate and share information.
Do we wait for people to come across our message, or do we take it places?
Lobby Day, this coming Monday, is an opportunity for every person each of us knows to have a voice, to take meaningful action about one thing they care about. Share this opportunity!
Take Lobby Day out into your community. You have the reach to connect with neighbors, acquaintances, co-workers, family members, and friends. Use your power!
Let’s multiply our voices, expand our reach, go beyond our 3,619 members.
Let’s make sure that the League makes a BIG impact this coming Monday, LWVIL Lobby Day 2023!
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President
League of Women Voters of Illinois
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In this issue:
LWVIL Lobby Day April 24
Earth Month
LWVIL Convention
Illinois Voter Guide
Education Opportunity April 25
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Are you ready for Monday?
Make your plan to take action on Monday. Let’s show Illinois the Power of the League!
The Lobby Day Center on the LWVIL website has everything you need to take action on bills that are moving through the Illinois General Assembly right now. It's important that we let our legislators hear the voices that support these bills.
Together, we are LOUD
When each of us finds five minutes to use our voice and contact our legislator on Monday, we raise the Lobby Day volume by 3,619 voices. And when those of us who have more than five minutes use our time to learn more, say more, do more, and activate others, we raise the volume again.
The LWVIL Lobby Day Center makes it easy for everyone to take action, no matter how much time they have. After you contact your legislator, take a minute to send an email to a friend, to post on social media, or to like and share an LWVIL Lobby Day post. Everything you need is in the Lobby Day Center.
More voices, more volume, more impact!
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April is Earth Month!
Celebrate the earth by using the environment button on Lobby Day April 24 and taking action around these bills:
Plastics
SB100/HB2376 Polystyrene Reduction creates a path for eliminating polystyrene (foam) containers from the restaurant industry with reasonable expectations set for low-income businesses. HB2376 passed in the House and has crossed over to the Senate.
Carbon Capture
HB3119/SB2421 Carbon Capture and Storage offers protections for residents and landowners and eliminates eminent domain for CO2 pipelines and forced amalgamation of pore space in sequestration areas. This bill also includes funding for emergency response (and equipment) and public participation.
Environmental Justice
HB3595 Power Plant Demolition, Transparency, and Protection provides
expanded public notice and participation requirements for power plant implosions, requires an Illinois EPA-approved Air Quality Plan, and establishes new fees for power plant demolitions in violation of these rules.
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LWVIL Convention 2023 is in seven weeks!
Convention is when League members make the decisions that take our organization into the next biennium. There are two ways members can take part:
Delegates attend Convention as voting representatives of their local League. If this interests you, talk to your local League president. The number of delegates each local League may send to Convention is prescribed by our Bylaws and can be found in the Delegate Counts document at the Convention Center on the LWVIL website. Delegates receive their registration link from their local League president. Delegate registration is $25 and closes May 19 at 11:59 pm.
Observers attend Convention as viewers only. Observers will receive links to view live stream programming of pre-convention information sessions and Convention proceedings. Observer registration will soon be available at the Convention Center. Observer registration is $5 and closes June 1 at 11:59 pm.
All League members can access convention materials as they become available at the Convention Center.
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Nonpartisan election information for all of Illinois
The LWVIL voter service team works with a vendor and local Leagues to bring this voting tool to life, expanding the League’s reach to every voter in the state. Together, we make it possible for people in every Illinois zipcode to access nonpartisan voting and candidate information and make a plan to vote.
Our vendor sets up the races according to mapped district boundaries, providing voting locations, ballot examples, and candidate and ballot referendum information. Local Leagues help locate candidate emails, provide their candidate forum videos and the questions for the candidates, which our LWVIL voter service team works to upload to the Illinois Voter Guide.
Our efforts pay off—the Illinois Voter Guide's statewide reach extends even to communities where there is no local League, furthering our mission to empower voters and protect democracy.
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Illinois Voter Guide
by the
numbers
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The Illinois Voter Guide provides expansive, nonpartisan coverage for elections statewide.
April 2023 Election
- Covered 3,894 municipal and school board races
- Provided information on 6,686 candidates
- Local League questions emailed to 484 candidates, 317 responded
- Included 114 local League forum videos covering 550 candidates
November 2022 Election
- Covered all 1,320 federal, state, county and judicial races
- Provided information on 2,386 candidates
- Local League questions emailed to 816 candidates, 399 responded
- Included 66 local League forum videos covering 143 candidates.
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Thousands of people turn to the Illinois Voter Guide.
- 139,000 visits in 2022
- 31,000 in 2023 (through April 17)
There were more than 1.3 million views of candidate pages in 2022. (2023 numbers pending.)
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Virtual Forum
What you need to know about "Invest in Kids," the Illinois tax credit voucher program
Tuesday, April 25, 7:00-8:30 pm
The Illinois Invest in Kids Act represents the transfer of up to $75 million public funds to private and religious schools every year, with weak oversight for schools receiving public funds. This program, intended to last for five years, is supposed to end at the end of the 2022-2023 school year. Hear from experts about the impact of voucher programs on student achievement and schools:
Sponsored by LWVIL, Illinois Families for Public Schools, Illinois Educators Association and Illinois Federation of Teachers.
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Members power the League! Thank you for your time and donations! |
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