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Submitted by Northampton Area LWV, February 2021

Program Plans will be voted on for adoption at the LWVMA Annual Meeting in June.

ACTION PRIORITIES:

Action Priorities are the broad, general subject areas the state League should focus on. LWVMA will concentrate, though not exclusively, on legislation in these areas and take action as issues come up.  

Action Priority: Improving Elections 

Action Goals 

• PRIORITY 1 Advocate for election reforms including same-day voter registration and making permanent vote-by- mail and other early voting measures with the improvements which have been identified 
  • Encourage corrections officials to facilitate voting for eligible incarcerated people 
  • Follow up on results from LWVMA ballot question process study 

Action Priority: Informed, Engaged, and Authentic Voters and Civic Education 

            Action Goals 

• Continue to encourage informed and active participation in government and understanding major public policy issues. On-going actions include: Online voters’ guide; Lotte E. Scharfman citizen education grants to local Leagues; candidate forums; student video contest; civic trivia events.
  • PRIORITY 2, NEW GOAL Focus public attention on the legislative history of League-supported bills, such as the climate bill, as well as the content of the bills. Use the progress of bills to promote understanding of the need to improve the legislative process in Massachusetts. The Legislature and Executive Branch are not passing the amount of legislation, with sufficient speed, required to address the multiple crises facing the state. Advocate for policy changes and rules reforms that will control lobbying by high-spending special interest groups, improve transparency at all levels, hold government officials accountable, govern on truth and evidence-based science, and address disinformation. Encourage LWVUS to adopt similar policies and advocate for reforms in the U.S. Congress and federal agencies.
  • Support civic education in schools, promoting the LWVMA Civic Education Curriculum: funding for civic education still needs to be secured; some features of implementation don’t begin until 2022 

NEW TEXT Support civic education in schools and advocate for increased funding, especially for teacher’s professional development. Create a pool of League volunteers to develop classroom resources and lessons for teachers to integrate into all subject areas. Expand the LWVMA Civic Education Curriculum.

Action Priority: Climate Emergency and Sustainable Environment 

Action Goals 

• PRIORITY3 Advocate for passage of comprehensive climate legislation that addresses the scope, scale, and urgency of the climate crisis 
  • Track implementation of major, comprehensive climate legislation 
  • Support regional collaborations, such as the Transportation and Climate Initiative 
  • Work for improved public transportation as a way to decrease greenhouse gas emissions 

Action Priority: Government for the People 

Action Goals: Healthcare 

• Educate public about healthcare coverage 
  • PRIORITY 4 Advocate for single-payer universal healthcare coverage legislation for all residents of Massachusetts 
  • Advocate for legislation to strengthen and extend reproductive rights as needed 

            Action Goal: Gender Rights 

• Advocate for strengthened and extended rights for all LBGTQ residents of Massachusetts 
  • PRIORITY 5 Ensure that the goals of diversity, equity, and inclusion are applied to all marginalized groups 

           Action Goals: Education 

• PRIORITY 6, NEW TEXT Develop and advocate for strategies to improve educational access and learning experiences for marginalized communities, including rural communities. 
  • NEW GOAL: Provide universal pre-K education: affordable for all; free for low- and moderate- income families.
  • Reaffirm our commitment to affordable and accessible post-secondary education 
  • Maintain “Education funding reform” because pandemic has disrupted the funding 

          Action Goals: Meeting Basic Human Needs 

• PRIORITY 7 NEW TEXT Establish partnerships with local organizations to reduce economic inequality across the Commonwealth, with greater focus on rural areas, by improving access to healthy food and sustainable nutrition, eliminating food deserts, increasing affordable housing, preventing short-term cuts in public transportation, and increasing public transportation, particularly in rural and marginalized communities.
• NEW GOAL Advocate for passage of a law to create a Rural Task Force to secure funding and resources for improved access to jobs, food, medical services, environmental protection, and universal internet connectivity.
• REMOVE Improve access to healthy food and sustainable nutrition by focusing on resources that counteract food desert.
• REMOVE Advocate for affordable housing 
• REMOVE Work to prevent cuts in spending on public transportation, needed to enable all residents to reach jobs, grocery stores and medical appointments 

          Action Goals: Pandemic Recovery 

• Advocate for coordination of resources to mitigate the societal and economic impact of the pandemic 
  • PRIORITY 8, NEW TEXT View the amplified and exacerbated inequities as an opportunity to examine and change laws, institutions, and conventions involved in the creation and perpetuation of these inequities. Work to provide family friendly social-economic policies for working mothers of all income levels, supporting their role as primary caregivers, while providing equitable access in the workforce.  Start with universal childcare and universal pre-K. These are the women’s rights issues of the 21^st century.
  • Prioritize aid and support to those in disadvantaged positions 

Action Priority: Justice 

         Action Goals: Racial Justice 

• Take action to identify, educate, and advocate to eradicate systemic racism in the state of Massachusetts as it exists in education, housing, employment, healthcare, and every aspect of American life, since such racism and socio-economic inequalities have marginalized, discriminated against, and harmed Black people, Indigenous people, and all people of color (BIPOC) 
  • PRIORITY 9 Make applying a racial justice lens to examine both explicit and implicit racial justice implications a required step before League approval of any proposed legislation, project, or report 
  • Review and study the Massachusetts state seal and motto in order to ensure Indigenous Americans are treated with respect; support legislation and actions to ban public schools from using Native American mascots 

Action Goals: Criminal Justice 

• Support legislation to reform sentencing, probation and parole policies 
  • Invest in rehabilitative and re-entry services 
  • Promote alternatives to incarceration 
  • PRIORITY 10 Consider in all criminal justice legislative efforts how laws will address racism within the criminal justice and police systems 

Civic Engagement Does Not End With Our Vote

Letter to the editor, Hampshire Gazette, printed Nov. 24, 2020

We celebrate the amazing success of the November 3^rd elections. In spite of extreme challenges, Americans voted in record numbers! We voted safely and early during the pandemic!  We voted in one of our most partisan and contentious elections, guided by nonpartisan election officials, who oversaw the most secure election in our history!  Young and minority voters surged to the polls.

Dr. Deborah Turner, president of the national League of Women Voters (LWV) and CEO Virginia Kase issued this election statement, “We applaud the will and determination of the American public to participate in elections amid an ongoing pandemic. This unprecedented turnout is a testament to the determination of the American voters and the strength of our democratic system. It is also a testament to the tenacity and power of Black, Indigenous, Latino, Asian, Muslim, LGBTQ+, and young voters who turned out in record numbers demanding their voices be heard. We are truly inspired.  Democracy defines America, and democracy has prevailed in the 2020 elections.”

The smooth-running election on November 3rd was not the inevitable outcome.  In fact, the chances were far higher for a very different election.  We are deeply grateful for those who made it work.  Grateful for the dedication and hard work of tens of thousands of Americans who made this election such a great achievement.  A huge thank you to state and local election officials, town clerks, hard-working poll workers, ballot counters, and new, young volunteers, who worked countless hours during early voting, on Election day, and beyond under extremely difficult conditions.

The election revealed the fragility of the system. Reforms can begin by making procedures that worked well this year permanent, wrote LWV leaders, Turner and Kase. “There will be many lessons learned from the 2020 elections, and we should celebrate our successes, including the expansion of voter access, record-breaking early voting, and the wide-scale use of absentee and mail-in voting options. This is what creating a more perfect union looks like, and we hope to see these expansions become a more permanent part of our voting system.” Here in Massachusetts early voting and expanded mail-in voting options were set up just for the 2020 elections. Now is the time to make these reforms permanent. 

Civic engagement does not end with our vote. Let’s turn our excitement and energy generated by the election toward making government work. The Massachusetts legislature has just one month left to pass bills on the climate, economy, immigration, housing, racial justice, health care (ROE Act), and much more.  If our legislators don’t hear us, we are invisible. Speak out. Demand action now.  

Nancy Polan

Legislative Director, Northampton Area League of Women Voters