Welcome, Young Leaguers!  LWVUS and LWVMD Waive Student PMP

This April, LWVUS announced an exciting new initiative to engage the next generation in active participation in the League. As a key first step, the national board voted to waive Student Per Member Payments (PMP) at the national level through January 2021.  The LWVMD board followed suit in May, voting not to charge PMP for any local League’s student members as long as the LWVUS program is in effect.

Recognizing the changing external environment -both in the nature of volunteerism and the growing number of competing organizations in the democracy space- the League of Women Voters of the United States, with input from state and local Leagues around the country, has been working over the past several years to ensure that the League enters its second century strong, visible, and relevant. We’ve been referring to this as our “transformation journey.”

League members find ourselves in an interesting position. We are witnessing many of the social and environmental laws that LWV and other organizations fought so hard for being eroded. The League is experiencing some growth in membership from people who are interested in correcting this trend, but in many cases, the "old League" is not meeting their needs. Instead we see numerous organizations popping up that seem to be usurping “our” agenda. What is the answer? 

Anne Arundel County League: Mobilizing To Inform Voters

LWVAAC is determined to maximize the impact of its Annapolis-centric membership in reaching and informing voters throughout Anne Arundel County this election year. League volunteers who are both certified registrars and trained VOTE411.org instructors will offer their services to libraries and community centers in all parts of the county. In May, LWVAAC will host a panel discussion to address the public’s concerns about election security. A videotape of the program will be posted online, and offered for viewing by other organizations and communities. Prior to the general election, our League will sponsor public forums for the General Assembly candidates in legislative districts 30, 31, 32 and 33, once again videotaping and posting each session online.

On March 6th League members filled West One in the Miller Senate Office Building to attend LWVMD’s 2018 Legislative Day. Some members and friends visited their legislators to tell them about the League’s legislative priorities, while others toured the Senate and the State House, learning about how our state government operates. We shared the feedback we received from our legislative visits and discussed key bills affecting our legislative priorities. For our speaker on the budget, we had “two for the price of one.” Ryan Bishop, Director of the Office of Policy Analysis of Legislative Services, began the presentation about the FY2019 budget and the structural budget outlook, revenue and spending, potential impacts of federal tax reform and potential legislative issues. After a delay due to action in the House of Delegates, Victoria Gruber, the new Executive Director of the Department of Legislative Services, joined Mr. Bishop for an extensive question period.