Dr. Regena Nelson

Membership Changes Take Effect!

By Jennifer Snyder

Beginning this month, you will renew your membership through LWVUS. This transition from local to national oversight was voted in by delegates to the national convention and is mandatory for all units.

LWVUS believes the change will facilitate engagement of more—and more diverse—members. An auto-renewal option is expected to improve member retention and increase membership overall.

National Member Portal

In the next couple of weeks, you’ll receive an email from LWVUS inviting you to log into the national online member portal. Good news: Logging in requires only your email—no password to remember! 

This first time you log on, you’ll be invited to provide a bit of demographic information and record your League interests and preferences. From this point forward, you may renew your membership and instantly update your contact information through this portal.

Renewing your Membership

You will receive a series of emails from LWVUS before and after your annual renewal date with a link to renew online. After a 60-day grace period, your membership will be automatically made inactive.

We hope you’ll renew your membership promptly and online! It will be possible to pay by mailing a check made out to LWVUS to our local address. However, our Treasurer must then mail it on to LWVUS, delaying your renewal and introducing costs and opportunities for lost mail, data-entry errors, etc.

Dues Amounts and Membership Categories

Individual dues are now pay-as-you-can, with a recommended standard rate of $75 and a minimum of $20. Note: Household and student memberships are no longer available. Life members continue without cost. 

We hope members renew with a payment of at least $60—our dues rate for several years—and that dues from two members in the same household will total at least $90—our longtime household rate. Support at these levels will allow us to continue robust local outreach.

Please Keep Dues and Donations Separate!

In the past, you could tack a donation onto your dues in a single payment and know that 100% of the extra money would support LWVKA. Now, as you renew through LWVUS, any dues amount that you select is split three ways: LWVMI will get 47%, LWVUS will get 33%, and LWVKA gets 20%. 

We hope you will continue to support the local work of LWVKA separately and directly by mailing a check make out to LWVKA to our local address or giving online through the Donate button on our LWVKA website. That way, 100% of your donation will stay in our community.



Thank you for your patience as we work through this transition together. Feel free to email questions or concerns to LWVKA Membership Chair Jennifer Snyder, jsyndergaardsnyder@gmail.com. 

You're Invited!

By Barb Dircks

We love meeting new League members, and we love gathering with others who share history! You’re Invited is our way of letting members know there’s a monthly gathering and opportunity to do just that — network and make new friends. This is a notice to let you know to put it on your calendar. We hope to see some of you for this informal happy hour gathering on February 18th at the Craftsman Chop Company in Portage - time 5:30 p.m

Climate Change and

Environmental Justice: 

EPA Environmental & Climate Justice Community Change Grant of

$18.9 Million Awarded

By Deb Freiman

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded Kalamazoo County $18,898,518 in grants to repair homes and improve energy efficiency in four Kalamazoo neighborhoods. This EPA community change grant “Holistic Healthy Homes for Kalamazoo County” was accepted by the Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners at their December 17, 2024 meeting and will advance environmental justice in our county.

There are four components of the grant that began January 2 and ends

December 31, 2027:

• $12.1 million for delivering critical home repairs and energy efficiency measures for 300 single family detached, owner-occupied homes with a focus on four disadvantaged communities as defined in the EPA grant as the Northside, Eastside, West Douglas and Edison neighborhoods
• $2.2 million for funding workforce development programming to increase green industry sector skills for 150 local residents
• $1.6 million to create a network of energy independent climate resiliency hubs as heating and cooling centers in the four focus neighborhoods, NACD, the Douglass Center, The Eastside Neighborhood Association, and the Edison Neighborhood Association) so they are can function during power outages as anchors in the community
• Connecting participants to sources of funding outside the grant funding for energy efficiency

The County’s Planning Department partnered with the Kalamazoo Climate Crisis Coalition for the grant project. The League of Women Voters as members of the Kalamazoo Climate Crisis Coalition, celebrates the efforts of Taylor Van Winkle, Kalamazoo County Sustainability Coordinator and her work with these organizations to bring this Federal grant to our County. Learn more about the EPA’s Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grants Program here. 

Metric Tons. That’s a lot!

By Rick Freiman

When you hear an organization say they have reduced their Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions by hundreds of metric tons, what does that mean? To put that into perspective, you can look at your own gas bill and make a simple calculation to find out how much CO2 your own home puts into the air. Over a year’s time it’s probably in the neighborhood of three metric tons. Not much by itself, but multiply that by millions of homes and that’s a lot!

To see how many metric tons of heat trapping carbon dioxide your own home puts directly into the air, look at your gas bill and see how many “Mcf” (thousand cubic feet) of Natural Gas show on the bill. Multiply by 0.055.

Example: 11.4 Mcf x 0.055 = .627 metric tons. (over half a ton)

Make a long-term plan to replace your gas burning machines with “electric” when they are worn out. Over time, you can get your gas bill to “zero” and use electricity for everything. Add solar panels, and you can generate your own clean electricity and lock in the rate for twenty-five years. Add a battery, and protect yourself from power outages.

Conversion Widget: Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator Widget | US EPA

Rewiring America: https://www.rewiringamerica.org 

The League of Women Voters supports legislation to expand renewable energy to protect future generations. - Rick Freiman, LWVKA Climate Committee (richard.Freiman@gmail.com)

Take Action on Issues in 2025

By Denise Hartsough

LWVKA members on January 25 crafted a plan of issue education and advocacy for 2025. Pending the board’s approval, LWVKA will engage with these issue areas:

• Climate Change, Environmental Justice & Biodiversity

• Immigration

• Gun Safety

• Housing

• Campaign Finance/Money in Politics

• Mis- and Disinformation

Members propose:

• learning and sharing information on all issues listed
• monitoring actions of local government regarding climate change, environmental justice, biodiversity, immigration and housing
• as the LWVKA Board deems appropriate, advocating for or against actions of local government in those same areas

If you are interested in working on any of the issues, please contact a member of the Advocacy Committee: Deb Freiman, Rick Freiman, Judy Sivak or Denise Hartsough.

Thanks to those who conducted Program Planning: Mary Baggerman, Aimee Bedard, Aedin Clements, Barb Dircks, Deb Freiman, Rick Freiman, Lisa Fuller, Karen Gustafson, Denise Hartsough, Terry Hluchyj, Terri McDonald, Regena Nelson, Kay Perry, Lindy Rose, Judy Sivak, Vicki Vanas, Ann Wright-Parsons.

No studies or revisions to LWVKA or LWVMI positions were recommended.

New Members 

By Jennifer Snyder



Since our last newsletter, we’ve been pleased to welcome Tatiana and Eric Curtiss of Portage and Megan Lynn, Deborah Noble, and Vicki Vanas, all of Kalamazoo.

League Advocacy

By Denise Hartsough

The League takes stands for or against specific measures based on League positions. League advocacy focuses on issues, not parties or personalities. Advocating on issues is not partisan. As LWVUS President Dianna Wynn reminds us:

Advocating for gender and racial equity is not partisan. Calling out attacks on democracy is not partisan. After all, our mission is to “defend democracy.” We cannot live up to our mission if we are unwilling to speak up and speak out. 

If you wonder about the national League of Women Voters’ advocacy on current federal issues or about your State League’s advocacy on Michigan issues, here is how to keep informed.

LWVUS Advocacy

Zoom webinars on LWVUS advocacy, policy and litigation are offered regularly and open to any League member. Recent topics include Policy Positions and How to Use Them, and 2024 Election Outcomes and the 119^th Congress. To sign up for upcoming webinars and to view recordings, visit this page.

For LWVUS positions, see Impact on Issues, 2024-26.

LWVMI Advocacy

For a list of state legislation that LWVMI’s Advocacy Committee is monitoring, check here. You can see 2025 as well as lists for 2024 and 2023. On that page you will also find a link to LWVMI’s positions.

Watch LWVMI’s League Links for dates and times of Advocacy Committee briefings for League members in Michigan. They are offered several times each year.

Action Alerts

LWVUS and LWVMI send action alerts to members when constituent messages about a specific measure may make a difference. When you receive an alert, please act!

LWVUS Update

By Paula Manley

National Study of the Federal Judiciary

By Judy Sivak

The LWVUS is taking steps to craft a national position on the federal judiciary, including the Supreme Court and is preparing study materials and consensus questions for local League study groups.

Kathy Purnell and Judy Sivak are co-chairs of the LWVKA study group that will begin meeting later in February and conclude by April. Three meetings will be scheduled from 5:30-7:15pm at a place to be determined.



If league members are interested in participating in the study group or have questions, contact Judy Sivak, judysivak@gmail.com. 

LWVKA Book Group

Aedín Clements

Our Book Discussion Group met online in January on account of the weather conditions. The Vietnam War and women’s service in the military were topics of a lively conversation.

 

Our next meeting will be held in Kazoo Books on Tuesday, March 18 at 6:30 The book, Solito: A Memoir, by Javier Zamora is a memoir of migration. It is the Kalamazoo READING TOGETHER selection, and we have an opportunity to hear the author present at Chenery Auditorium on the 15th, before our meeting. Our book discussion will be led by Lindy Rose.

LWVKA Officers and Board Members

Aedín Clements

Co-President

Christine Kuthe

Co-President

Maria Gagnon-Markucki

VP Organization

Denise Hartsough

VP Program

Tanya Potter

Treasurer

Deb Freiman

Secretary

LWVKA Directors—Elected

Jennifer Snyder

Director – Membership

Jules Isenberg-Wedel

Director – Vote411/Voter Guides

Lisa Fuller

Director at Large

Aimée Bedard

Voter Service Chair

Rick Freiman

Director

Shardae Jones-Chambers

Director at Large

Teresa Johnson

Director at Large

LWVKA Directors—Appointed

Barbara Dircks

Past President

Kitty Knoll

Chair – Calhoun County Geographical Unit

Paula Manley

Geographical Unit Mentor

Terry Hluchyj

Vote411 – Voter Guides

MerriKay Oleen-Burkey

Website Liaison/ LWVMI Board Member

Education Fund Board Members

Paula Aldridge

Chair

Jessica Reiser

Secretary

Tanya Potter

Treasurer

Dennis Elmer

Director

Richard Freiman

Director