You can still register for Saturday's Legislative Breakfast!
March 17, 2021 News Update | Upcoming League Events...
the who, what, where, when, and how to attend LWVLA events
| 2021 Virtual Legislative Breakfast
Saturday, March 20
8:30 AM - 11 AM
The following legislators will be speaking at our Legislative breakfast. If any have last minute conflicts, they will send a staff member in their place:
Senator Tammy Baldwin
Representative Ron Kind, 3rd Congressional District
Representative Jill Billings, Assembly District 95
Representative Steve Doyle, Assembly District 94
Senator Brad Pfaff, Senate District 32
Members of the LWV of the La Crosse Area and their guests are invited to attend the Legislative Breakfast, this year via Zoom. Attendees will have the opportunity to submit written questions for our representatives during the Zoom meeting.
The program will begin at 8:45 with brief announcements. State legislators Jill Billings, Steve Doyle, and Brad Pfaff will speak and answer questions from 9 to 10 AM. Representative Ron Kind and Senator Tammy Baldwin, or their spokesperson, will speak and answer questions from 10 to 11 AM.
This event is free and open to LWVLA members and their guests. Registration is required.
Please note: Members will need to login to the website in order to be able to register since this event is not open to the public.
Password assistance is available (top right of the homepage) if you have lost or forgotten the password
you received in the new website welcome letter.
| | Speaking of Democracy
Join the Conversation
LWVLA Book Club
Monday, March 29
6:30 - 8:00 pm
ALL ARE WELCOME!
The Politics Industry:
How Political Innovation Can Break Partisan Gridlock and Save Our Democracy
by Katherine M. Gehl and Michael Porter | | | In "The Politics Industry," Katherine Gehl and Michael Porter take a radical new approach. They ingeniously apply the tools of business analysis-and Porter's distinctive Five Forces framework-to show how the political system functions just as every other competitive industry does, and how the duopoly has led to the devastating outcomes we see today. Using this competition lens, Gehl and Porter identify the most powerful lever for change-a strategy comprised of a clear set of choices in two key areas: how our elections work and how we make our laws.
| Book Club is meeting virtually. Click below to register on website. Check on the website calendar for information about the April Book Club.
| April Lunch & Learn
Tuesday, April 13
11:30 AM - 1 PM
Earth Day Recognition: Air, Land, and Water
WI Green Fire leaders Nancy Turyk, Tom Bernthal, and John Robinson will present emerging issues as they relate to climate change, threats to wetlands and other lands and waters of southwestern WI, and more in-depth information on PFAS, a current hot topic in the La Crosse area.
Wisconsin Green Fire is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization whose mission is to support the conservation legacy of Wisconsin by promoting science-based management of Wisconsin's natural resources.
Members of the public are invited to this free virtual event.
The registration link is pending; check the calendar entry on our website soon.
| Candidate Forums
...links to and recordings of local and state candidate forums
|
School Board Candidate Forum
School District of La Crosse
sponsored by the LWVLA
March 18
6:30 - 8:00
Candidates
Rob Abraham Annie Baumann
Kraig Brownell Martha Linville
Gretchen Paquette Brad Quarberg
You are invited
to submit possible questions.
Please send them by noon on March 17
| | Mayoral Candidate Forum
City of La Crosse
sponsored by LWVLA, WXOW, and WLSU
March 22
6:35 PM
Candidates
Vicki Markussen
Mitch Reynolds
You are invited
to submit possible questions.
Please send them by March 20
| | | The March 18 School Board Forum
will be live-streamed on the LWVLA YouTube channel.
Links for the live-streamed mayoral forum
will be available in the calendar entry on our website.
Recordings of both forums will also be available on the website after they have aired. | School Board Candidate Forum
School District of West Salem
sponsored by the LWVLA
March 24
6:30 - 7:30
Candidates
Kyle Boland Robin Fitzgerald Thomas Helgeson Chris Peterson
You are invited to submit possible questions.
Please send them by noon on March 22
to lwvlawi@gmail.com. | 2021 Spring Election
Vote for Your City. Vote for Your Schools.
| |
Today (3/17) is the deadline for online and mail-in voter registration.
| | | Absentee Ballots began to be mailed out on March 16. Vote Early!
In-Person Absentee (Early) Voting will begin on March 23.
|  | | Vote411.org Now Published for the April 6 Spring Election
Thanks to our LWVLA Vote411 team for their work on local candidate information for the 2021 Primary and Spring Election. They contacted well over 100 citizens who are seeking election to our local government offices.
If citizens ask how to get information about local government candidates, refer them to the Vote411.org website.
Reminder, candidate responses are linked to the voter's address. Voters only see the candidates on their ballot, listed by race. If the candidate did not respond to our online candidate survey, their entry will indicate "no response."
The lack of knowledge about candidates is a contributing factor to non-participation. We hope that with each election, the Vote411.org platform will grow in its use and be a go-to tool to promote citizen participation in our elections. Please help us spread the word.
Again, thank you to the following members for their help in making this information available for La Crosse County voters:
Monta Clark, Jan Gallagher, Jade Johnson, Fred Kusch, Janet Kusch, Martha Linville, Deb Lutjen, Mary Nugent, Jane Powell, and Pam Thiel.
| A One-Stop Source for Candidate Forums
Information Updated from Last Week
Although many of us are feeling Zoom fatigue, we have gained at least one benefit this election season from living in a virtual world. As our activities moved online, we became more skilled with technology and gained confidence to host forums, debates, conversations, and town halls. As a result, voters have no shortage of opportunities to see and hear from candidates in the April 6 election.
Most of these events are easy to livestream online or view as a recording if you're not able to watch the live broadcast. Our League has been gathering local and state candidate events on our website, making it a convenient one-stop location.
Check our calendar for details and links to upcoming events with local and state candidates. And click on the "Candidate Forum" button toward the top of our homepage to access recorded events.
Currently we have links on our website calendar to the following candidate events:
- 3/17: Criminal Justice Management Council Mayoral Forum
- 3/18: WKBT La Crosse Mayoral Debate
- 3/18: LWVLA La Crosse School Board Candidate Forum
- 3/22: LWVLA Mayoral Candidate Forum for the City of La Crosse
- 3/24: LWVLA West Salem School Board Forum
---and recordings of the following events (Candidate Forums button)
- The La Crosse Independent & La Crosse Local La Crosse School Board Candidate Forum
- The La Crosse Independent & La Crosse Local City of La Crosse Virtual Mayoral Debate
- Virtual LGBTQ Mayoral Town Hall Live
- Closing the Gaps: A Conversation with State Superintendent Candidates
- WLSU Newsmakers Interview with La Crosse Mayoral Candidates
- UU Mayoral Debate
| The WI Retired Education Association surveyed both of the candidates for State Superintendent of Education. Their answers can be read using the links below.
| What Do You Think?
...seeking your suggestions, questions, and opinions for the good of the League
| Seeking Your Input for the
2021-22 La Crosse League Program Schedule
"In League, Program means the issues that we choose for concerted study, education and action at local, state and national levels. Program can include both education and action.
The Program Planning process is part of what makes the League a grassroots organization; each League member has the opportunity to influence the selection of issues where the local, state, and national League will focus time, talent and money."
Following are the LWVUS National Program Priorities. Please look them over and let us know if you have suggestions for related programs or presenters that we can sponsor at our local level. Also, please inform us of local issues you would like us to consider as we plan next year's programs.
LWVUS National Program: 2020-2022
The National Program for the League of Women Voters of the United States
The work is managed by the League of Women Voters of the US Board of Directors and national staff.
CURRENT NATIONAL PRIORITIES
CAMPAIGN FOR MAKING DEMOCRACY WORK®
- Voting Rights (protecting the right to vote, opposing voter suppression and voter mobilization)
- Improving Elections (election reform, increase voters’ access to the polls, expansion of early voting, online/automatic voter registration, advocacy for the National Popular Vote Compact)
- Campaign Finance Reform/Money in Politics (limit SuperPACs and secret donors to protect representative democracy, voters’ right to know)
- Redistricting (oppose partisan and racial gerrymandering that strips rights away from voters, promote fair districting)
- National Popular Vote Compact (advocate for)
CONTINUED WORK ON URGENT ISSUES
- Climate Change
- Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
- Health Care
- Gun Safety
- Immigration
- Abolition of the Electoral College
Send your suggestions to President Mary Nugent through our website.
| Take Action...
let your voice heard by elected officials and policy makers |  | | LWVWI and ASCE-WI are collaborating on this project to educate Wisconsin residents about ASCE's 2020 Infrastructure report card. Across Wisconsin, infrastructure grades range from D- to a B+, demonstrating a clear need to infrastructure improvements.
The four webinars will all include the 30-minute presentations by Carl Sutter and William Holahan. Carl Sutter, P.E., is the society director for the ASCE-WI and will provide an overview of the Infrastructure Report Card. William Holahan, professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, will make a compelling case for why “now” is the right time to invest in sustainable infrastructure in Wisconsin.
Following the presentations will be a live Q&A session between the presenters and local stakeholders to allow for quadrant specific discussions.
After this series of introductory sessions across the state, LWVWI will host webinars on select infrastructure categories to serve as springboards for local advocacy for increased investment in sustainable infrastructure.
La Crosse is in the Northwest Quadrant. Our meeting will be on April 1, from 3 - 5 PM.
| For Your Consideration...
local events, virtual events, viewing and reading suggestions that reflect the League's mission and priorities. Please send us your recommendations. | Local Elections Matter: Education, Voter Laws & Maximizing Turnout
Thursday, March 18th @ 6:00pm - 7:30pm
Virtual via Zoom ~ Free Public Event
Discuss:
-
Who & What is on the April 6th Ballot?
-
Function & Impact of each Office on Parents, Students, Caregivers and the Community
-
Explore Budgetary Challenges
-
How to Effectively Advocate for Change on State and Local Levels
-
Proposed & Updates on Existing Voter Laws
-
Strategies to Galvanize lndividuals to Exercise their Right to Vote on Tuesday, April 6th
Moderator:
Anita Johnson of Vote Riders, Souls to the Polls, LWV
| Help us defend democracy and empower voters.
| Contact Us:
website: lwvlacrosse.org
email: lwvlawi@gmail.com
PO Box 363
La Crosse, WI 54602
| |