The LWV State Council went off on June 9, 2018, without a hitch. Harford County Executive Barry Glassman opened to program with a brief talk about LWV and Harford County. Amy Hjerstedt gave a presentation on the Transformation Road Map which focused on who LWV is and what our main concerns should be. The council then broke into small “work groups” to discuss the presentation and the reactions of the individual members and local LWVs. When discussing the things we either approved of or found concerning, notes were made to the 2018-2019 State Board which will be discussed out the Board Retreat in July.

The LWVMD teamed up with the League of Women Voters of Prince George’s County to host a Spring Fundraiser over to the Eastern Shore, the highlight of which was a stop at the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center where we were greeted personally by one of the park rangers. Exhibits at the Center feature information about Tubman’s childhood and young adulthood, living and laboring under slavery in Dorchester and Caroline Counties. The center immerses visitors in the secret networks of the Underground Railroad and Tubman’s own daring rescue missions. Exhibits also feature Tubman’s actions during the Civil War, and her later years as a suffragist, civil rights worker, and humanitarian.

It is so worthwhile for our elected officials to see and hear from their constituents and that is something we Maryland Leaguers do at least once a year when we make our annual "LWVMD Day on Capitol Hill." We talk with our US Senators and/or their staff members in their offices in the Hart Senate Office Building in the morning then walk across from the Senate side to the House of Representatives side of Capitol Hill. Passing the Capitol on our right and the US Supreme Court and Library of Congress on the left, we settle in for a fun lunch at the House staff food court in the basement of Longworth House Office Building.

One of the most gratifying volunteer experiences for League members is registering new citizens to vote. People are excited to become United States citizens and part of that excitement is registering to vote. The new citizens often express their appreciation to the League for helping with voter registration at these ceremonies and our volunteers enjoy the festive nature of the occasion – children dressed in their finest as smiling parents take the oath, new citizens proudly displaying their naturalization certificates for family photos, and, on one occasion, the choir from a new citizen’s church singing “America the Beautiful” as part of the ceremony.

In the fall of 2016, the Board of the League of Women Voters of the National Capital Area voted to actively engage in the pursuit of a dedicated funding source for Metro. This interleague organization was founded in the 1960’s and one of their initial priorities was to advocate for a regional public rapid rail system. Its member Leagues include the state Leagues of Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia and eight local Leagues that surround DC. The original name of LWVNCA was “the Metro League Council”. A 1965 transportation study by this League documents that in 1963, members of the Metro League Council testified before Congress in favor of a $793 million rapid rail system with a total length of 83 miles, 19 of them underground. This ambitious plan was rejected, but negotiations continued over the next decade.