League of Women Voters®
of Arapahoe and Douglas Counties
Making Democracy Work
The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy. League membership is open to women and men.
Voter Registration
MEMBER VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
League of Women Voters of Arapahoe and Douglas Counties members are asked to volunteer for our upcoming Voter Registration Session on December 26. Please sign up in advance by contacting Gladys Hodges. More Info.
January Unit Meetings
The League of Women Voters of Arapahoe and Douglas Counties January Unit Meetings will be on Thursday morning, January 10; Thursday afternoon, January 10; and Monday evening, January 14. Members are encouraged to attend and share their ideas for State and Local Program Planning as we choose upcoming meeting topics. Do you have an idea for an issue you'd like to see covered? Bring it! Details.
LWVCO Legislative Conference
The annual League of Women Voters of Colorado Legislative Conference on Monday, January 14, will bring you up-to-date on the 2019 Colorado General Assembly Session. Register by January 7. Complete information is here. The LWVCO registration form is here
Water and Climate Change Committee Meeting
The League of Women Voters of Arapahoe and Douglas Counties Water and Climate Change Committee will meet on Wednesday, January 16. Info.
Movie Night
The League of Women Voters of Arapahoe and Douglas Counties Movie Night will feature "Years of Living Dangerously" on Wednesday evening, January 16 at Koelbel Public Library. Free and open to League members and their friends. Details.
Management Team Meeting
The League of Women Voters of Arapahoe and Douglas Counties Management Team will meet on Monday evening, January 28 at Castlewood Public Library. More.
February Unit Meetings
The League of Women Voters of Arapahoe and Douglas Counties February Unit Meetings will be on Monday evening, February 11; Thursday morning, February 14; and Thursday afternoon, February 14. Don't miss this month's topic: Aging out of Foster Care. Details.
March Unit Meetings
The League of Women Voters of Arapahoe and Douglas Counties The March Unit Meetings will be on Monday evening, March 11; Thursday morning, March 14; and Thursday afternoon, March 14. You won't want to miss this month's topic: Immigration. Details.
"Undesign the Redline" Exhibit
The "Undesign the Redline" exhibit, created by the Denver Foundation and the Enterprise Community Partners, is open now until December 15 at the Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library and also December 18 until January 2 at the Wellington E. Webb Municipal Office Building.
The exhibit demonstrates how government redlining has maintained segregation and prevented minorities from accumulating wealth in the City of Denver since 1934, when the Federal Housing Administration was created. Maps of neighborhoods were color coded and zoned and this information was used by banks and mortgage lenders to deny loans and mortgages to those considered undesirable. White families moved out to suburbs like Aurora and Littleton. Minorities were kept in the city in areas like Park Hill, Montbello, Five Points, Globeville and other areas, all of which were redlined. The lack of good, reasonably priced housing Is contributing to homelessness today along with discriminatory land use practices based on those past actions.
The Foundation hopes to change that pattern through grants, education in basic human needs, economic opportunity, leadership, and equity. You'll find more information on the exhibit
website.
Colorado General Assembly Session Begins
The first day of the 2019 Colorado Legislative session is January 4.
Visit their web site for information about committee meetings, bills, and votes. Live video and audio streams are available for some proceedings. You'll find these type of information available:
• House and Senate bills, including current status, votes, amendments
• Contact information for Senators and Representatives
• Calendars for House and Senate floorwork and committees
• Video of House and Senate in session and audio of committee hearings
• The Bill Room is located in the basement of the Legislative Services Building, 200 E 14th Ave, or phone 303-866-3055. Bills, daily journals showing votes, status sheets, contact information and calendars are available in hardcopy at the Bill Room during the session.
• If a bill is not calendared (scheduled), you may contact the sponsor(s) of the legislation for information.
• The Legislative Council staff is another souce of information, 303-866-3521.
Legislative web site.
Tracking bills in the U.S. Congress
Visit the GovTrack website to track federal bills and contact your Congressional representatives:
• Search for federal bills
• Review news about most-watched legislation
• Find contact information for your Congressional representatives
GovTrack Congressional web site
LWVCO Legislative Letter
The Colorado League of Women Voters Legislative Action Committee offers a subscriptions to their 2019 Legislative Newsletter during the General Assembly session. Receive up-to-date information by email on bills our State League supports or opposes and their progress through the Colorado General Assembly. The cost is $30. To subscribe, visit the LWVCO Legislative Action web page.
Those wishing to not pay for a subscription may find this information without charge on this same Legislative Action web page once it's posted several days later.
Communicating Effectively With Your Representative
On the subject of action alerts, here are some helpful tips on how to contact your representatives effectively from the Jefferson County League's newsletter:
A quick telephone call to your representative is easiest. Most legislators count calls supporting or opposing bills and those from their own constituents count the most.
Email is another good way to communicate with your legislator. Here are some tips to communicate your position to your representative:
• State the bill number in the subject line
• Keep the email short and to the point
• If you have a personal story relevant to the issue, include it
• Use bullet points when possible to make it more readable
Check out our Vote411 web page for personalized local voter information
Visit our Facebook page to
catch up on these topics
that our members are
discussing now:
Recent Topics:
• The CO Health Exchange Is Open.
Enroll Through December 15
• Town Criers, Buggies, Hatchets:
We All Could Use a "Return Day" To Bring Us Together
• Littwin: Now We Know
Just How Divided We Really Are
• Trump Admininstration Takes Step
to LImit Migrants' Asylum Claims
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