INDEX

Come to Tuskegee for Convention 2005

Alabama Leaguers will gather at the Kellogg Conference Center on the beautiful and historic Tuskegee campus the weekend of April 30-May 1 to participate in the 2005 biennial state convention which begins at 10 a.m., Saturday April 30.

Convention attendees will participate in workshops on Saturday afternoon on issues important to many citizens of the state. One workshop will focus on the recurring dilemma of Medicaid funding and will be conducted by Commissioner Carol Herrmann. Other workshop topics include the status of Alabama compliance with the Help America Vote Act, efforts to reform the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and A Training the Trainers session that will feature the Legislative Study consensus and other issues of interest to local Leagues.

The registration deadline is April 22. Call your local League president, a local board member or see the LWVAL web site (www.lwval.org) for a registration form, information on hotel reservations and driving directions. Delegate or not, you can attend the full convention or any one or all of the Saturday events which include a morning plenary session, Saturday lunch, Saturday afternoon workshops and evening banquet.

This Voter includes more convention details. Hope to see you in Tuskegee.

Becky & Jean

Convention begins Saturday morning, April 30 at 10:am. Registration forms, Hotel reservation information, and Driving directions are provided here for your convenience or are available from your local league president. All convention attendees should complete and mail in a Convention Registration Form.

How to determine how many delegates a local League may send to convention:
LWVAL Bylaw, Article VIII, Sec. 4 Representation: "Each local League in the state of Alabama shall be entitled to one delegate for the first fifteen voting members; one delegate for every twenty-five additional voting members, or major fraction thereof . . . Provisional Leagues and MAL units shall have representation according to the same ratio. The Annual Report establishing voting members as of January I of said year shall determine the official membership count for this purpose." Then, add your local League president to the total number of delegates for which your League is eligible.

All local league and MAL members are invited to Convention. We have great speakers and workshops we think will provide valuable information.

Inside This Convention Issue

Program recommendations, Proposed Bylaw Amendments, Workshop details, Nominating Committee Slate, Profile of Banquet Speaker, Rep. Artur Davis. Click here for a Progress Report on the League's legislative priorities for the 2005 Session.

Advocacy Report - as of April 7, 2005
For more information, visit "Issues to Watch" online.*

Open Meetings Law: The Alabama Open Meetings Act was signed into law March 15. Broad bi-partisan support, enthusiastic sponsors (Rep. Galliher and Sen. Z. Little), and the hard work and commitment of the Alabama Press Association made it happen. Between the '04 and '05 sessions, APA rewrote the '04 bill and vetted it with municipal, county, school board and hospital state associations as well as the Attorney General; all signed off on the '05 bill. En route to passage, APA's Executive Director Felicia Mason and Attorney Dennis Bailey were ever present at the legislature to answer questions of elected officials.

The Alabama Open Meetings Act requires meetings held by a governmental body to be open to the public with certain exceptions, defines a governmental body and many other terms, specifies subjects on which certain agencies and other governmental bodies may meet in executive sessions, and provides for civil penalties for violations of the law.

Ban on PAC-to PAC Transfers: HB60 (Rep. McLaughlin) passed the House early and by a wide margin.  In the Senate, thanks to action by the League and others, the Economic Expansion and Trade Committee, to which it was assigned, could not ignore the bill as it has the past two years.  Senator Lindsey's committee introduced and passed out to the Senate calendar a substitute bill that removes all the exemptions for transfers to legislative caucuses, or to an umbrella group like the Business Council of Alabama.  A PAC can contribute only to a principal campaign committee. Senator Lindsey issued a challenge: They say they want reform.  Now we will see.

Next steps:  The Senate Rules Committee must put the substitute on the Special Order Calendar for floor debate. The House must pass the stronger Senate substitute, or the two bills must be reconciled in some way before the end of the session.   Please stand by for further calls to action.

Disclosure for Political Advertising: HB75  (Hinshaw) passed the House and, like the bill above, was assigned to the Senate Economic Expansion and Trade Committee, rather than the Committee on Constitution, Campaign Finance and Elections. That committee introduced and favorably reported a substitute. Sen. Barron offered another substitute 3/29. A Republican-led filibuster has focused on claims of First Amendment problems with the legislation the last four sessions. A Dixon amendment was offered to limit disclosure to ads that explicitly say vote for or vote against a candidate or referendum. That amendment was tabled. The Barron substitute continues after 4/7 as unfinished business. LWVAL has been told that negotiations continue to find a compromise. Meanwhile, the House substitute for SB220 (Lindsey) waits in the Committee on Constitutions and Elections.

Both bills exempt churches from disclosing their membership. The House bill allows groups who can prove harassment not to disclose their membership. The threshold for requiring disclosure of expenditures for advertising has changed several times between $5,000 and $1,000 a year.

The League supports the disclosure requirements on principle, believing disclosure is important for good government and that the bill does not target any one group. Only future contributions would require disclosure. The League would prefer no exemptions but it believes HB75 and SB220 worthy of support.

ADEM Reform: Two bills, HB505 (Rep. Mitchell) and SB336 (Sens. Ross, Penn and Singleton) call for environmental justice and health preservation by requiring ADEM to give more attention to placement of new heavy industry and landfills or renewal of permits.  It seeks to remedy previous disregard for minorities of race, national origin or people with low incomes by providing demographic data and assigning an officer armed with experts and investigators.   These bills are in the early stages of consideration in both houses.

Election Reform - Election reform bills to implement the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) are moving through the legislative process. The Uniform Voting Equipment and Procedures Act, HB 496 (Rep. Guin), calls for uniform ballots and equipment that guarantees the anonymity of the voter including ADA compliant voting equipment for each polling place; sets requirements for equipment testing and poll worker training, and is otherwise HAVA compliant. The League is following the progress of this bill and other HAVA implementation legislation. Trey Granger of the Alabama Secretary of State's office will have the latest information on election reform law at the Convention workshop "On the Road to Election Reform."

Home Rule - The League had hopes that a "Limited Self Governance Act" would pass the legislature this session. HB40 (Rep. Venable) and SB129 (Sen. Barron), did not grant land use or taxation powers to county commissions, but did grant powers to regulate public water and sewer systems and public transportation. The League testified in support of the original legislation on two occasions. However, with the concurrence of Rep. Venable, anti-home rule forces, including ALFA, the Association of County Commissions, the Forestry Association, and the Alliance for Citizen Rights, effectively stripped the legislation of all substantive home rule powers. The resulting substitute legislation leaves only supervision of weed abatement, animal control, junkyards, trash and litter, and nuisance noise as powers that can be granted to local governments. The substitute home rule bill is still under consideration, but the League is declining to further support this extremely weak legislation.

Amendment 2 Redux - HB66 (Rep. Buskey), SB173 (Sen. Mitchell) and SB 154 (Sen. Carns) are hotly debated bills that would remove the racist Jim Crow language from the Alabama constitution. The Carns bill, endorsed by the Christian Coalition, does not guarantee free and equal public educational opportunity for all young citizens of Alabama as is the League's position. In testimony, LWVAL supported the Buskey bill with the recommendation that it be amended to include language from the Mitchell bill to assure that there would be no "judicial authority to require an increase in taxation." A substitute bill will be introduced soon. The League will continue to advocate for our positions on this legislation.

Constitutional Convention of Citizens - SB198 (Sen. Ted Little) calls for a constitutional convention to reform the Alabama Constitution. The League testified in support of a citizens' convention. However, we have no position on many of the specifics of this bill. We pledged to encourage informed and effective participation of Alabama citizens in the undertaking.

Bills that have not moved: strengthening ACHE, and a ban on pass-through pork.

Jean Johnson, Ruth Wright and Becky Sylvester contributed to this Advocacy Report.

Convention to Feature Outstanding Speakers

When planning the 2005 convention program, the board decided to invite two of Alabama’s most articulate voices in Congress, one past, one present. The voice from the past was Senator Howell Heflin, best remembered by long-time leaguers as the man who, as Alabama Chief Justice, was responsible for the writing and adoption of what has been called “the one article of the Alabama constitution worth keeping,” the Judicial Article.

It was realized that Judge Heflin was not able to travel so LWVAL Presidents Jean Johnson and Becky Sylvester called on him at his home in Tuscumbia and taped his remarks to present at the convention luncheon. This may prove to be a truly historic document, for as we all know, Judge Heflin died only a few days later. We will be privileged to hear him on April 30.

The voice of the present is Representative Artur Davis of Birmingham. This freshman congressman is quickly making a name for himself in Washington and in Alabama as an articulate voice for many of the issues that the League supports. It is expected that a large number of people, not only Leaguers, will want to attend the Saturday night dinner at which he speaks, so do not delay in sending in your reservations.

Convention Business

Program Recommendation
The LWVAL Board recommends that the 2005 LWVAL Convention readopt existing program, including the legislative study, for the 2005 – 2007 biennial, Rationale: The 2001-03 Program Review Committee conducted a comprehensive review of LWVAL program and reported on the review to the 2003 Convention. The Legislative Study adopted in 2003 is ongoing and is expected to result in a new position in 2006.

Program Items from LWV Greater Birmingham Received After the Deadline:

• Restudy Alabama Election Law Relative to HAVA
• Study Effect of Mandatory Minimum Sentencing for Drug Offenses on Alabama’s Prison Overcrowding

Discussion of these items will take place at convention.

Proposed Bylaws Changes (Underlined text is the proposed new language)

Article IV. Officers. § 1. Elections, Qualifications and Terms.
Currently:
(Line 3) ... The term of office shall be two years, from July 1 of one year through June 30 of the year of the next biennial convention. In the event new officers have not been elected and qualified as of July 1, current officers shall remain in office until the election and qualification of new officers.

Proposed Change:
... The term of office shall be two years, from June 1 following the convention at which they are elected through May 31 of the year of the next biennial convention. In the event new officers have not been elected and qualified as of June 1, current officers shall remain in office until the election and qualification of new officers.

Reason for Change: To have officers’ terms begin closer to biennial convention, and for consistency with terms of state board members.

Article V, Board of Directors. § 1. Number, Manner of Selection & Term of Office.
Currently:
(Line 3) ... The elected directors shall be elected by the convention and shall serve until their successors have been elected and qualified. The terms of office of appointed directors shall expire concurrently with the terms of office of the elected directors.

Proposed Change:
... The elected directors shall be elected by the convention and their term of office shall be two years, from June 1 following the convention at which they are elected through May 31 of the year of the next biennial convention. In the event new directors have not been elected and qualified as of June 1, current directors shall remain in office until the election and qualification of new directors. The terms of office of appointed directors shall expire concurrently with the terms of office of the elected directors.

Reason for Change: Clarification of when the board of directors’ terms begin, and for consistency with terms of state board members.

Article VII, Financial Administration. § 1, Fiscal Year.
Currently:
The fiscal year of the LWVAL shall coincide with that of the LWVUS.

Proposed Change:
The LWVAL fiscal year shall run from June 1 through May 31.

Reason for Change: To have the LWVAL fiscal year coincide with the terms of office of officers and directors. (Note: LWVUS fiscal year is from July 1 to June 30).

Nominating Committee Report:
Thanks to the Nominating Committee (Chair Anne Permaloff, Sarah McDonald, Jan Widell, Charlotte Ward and Scarlett Gaddy) for its work to find board members for the 2005-07. Sarah McDonald is Acting Chair of the Committee since Anne Permaloff had to resign. Sarah sent the following report to the board:

President 1st VP 2nd VP Treasurer Secretary Director Director Director Director Director Director Director Director

Unfilled Scarlett Gaddy (Tuscaloosa) Unfilled Ginnie Bennett (Auburn) Sandy Robinson (Auburn) Barbara Caddell (Mobile) Nancy Ekberg (Birmingham) Beth Kellum (Montgomery) Barbara Nichols (Mobile) Charlotte Ward (Auburn) Ruth Wright (Auburn) Mary Lynn Bates (Birmingham) Jeanne Lacey (Baldwin County)

Proposed Budgets

Convention Workshops

The workshop subjects below came from ideas listed on Council evaluation forms and from members of the state board. There will be two rounds of workshops. Two workshops will be presented during each round. Each workshop will run 90 minutes. We encourage all local Leagues to send one or more members to each workshop. If you have issues you would like to have covered in any of the workshops, please let a state board member know ahead of time.

• Training the Trainers : This workshop is designed to help participants understand and be able to use League procedures. A panel will respond to questions about the fall consensus on the Study of the Legislature and a potpourri of issues from Council evaluation forms - choosing local program items, meetings with elected officials, ways to communicate with the public and more.
• ADEM: What's the Problem? The Alabama Department of Environmental Management gets criticism from environmental groups, the press and others about the way it does business and addresses its mission. This workshop will explore the issues and the initiatives afoot to reform ADEM.
• On the Road to Election Reform This workshop will update Leaguers on Alabama's compliance with HAVA, to date, and what still needs to be done to meet the January 06 federal deadline. The League has been following election laws in this current legislative session, with emphasis on those related to HAVA compliance.
• Medicaid: The Recurring Funding Dilemma: 860,000 people in Alabama depend on Medicaid. How do we balance compassion with fiscally responsible budget decisions? How does the Medicaid budget affect every citizen of this state? Carol Herrmann, Alabama's Medicaid Commissioner, will present information on this issue and answer your questions.

With Great Sadness

The League of Women Voters of Alabama has lost one of its longest-time members, a great lady of the League for more than half a century. Sarah Cabot Pierce of the Montgomery League died in mid-March, 2005. The LWVAL extends its sympathy to Sarah Cabot’s family, the Montgomery League, and all who remember her fondly.

Cruising with the League

What a way to enjoy a great vacation and boost the LWVAl’s bank account at the same time! The League has reserved 16 places on the Norwegian Sun for its Caribbean cruise February 5 – 12, 2006 for Leaguers and their families and friends (if there are more than 16 people interested it will probably be possible to book more space). Ten percent of the fare goes to the LWVAL. The ship sails from New Orleans on Sunday, stops at Cozumel, Mexico, Belize city, Roatan Islands (Honduras), and Playa del Carmen, Mexico, and returns to New Orleans the next Sunday. Prices are $740 +$89 for travel insurance per person for an inside cabin, $840 +$89 for an outside cabin, based on double occupancy. First payment, $125 + insurance, is due May 15. For more details, talk to Barbara Nichols at convention, or email her at nicholsrobert@bellsouth.net.

From the Community Politics Team

Many thanks from the Community Politics Team go out to the Leagues who sent representatives to the Challenge 21/Community Politics Team Community Leadership Institute on February 5th, 2005. Representatives from Auburn, Birmingham, Gadsden, and Tuscaloosa attended the workshop that provided instruction and practice in conducting community conversations. It's a great start for these Leagues who may now return to their communities and encourage citizen participation in politics with a little "p." Just a reminder to those who were in attendance at the workshop; the Community Politics Team will be happy to work on a continuing basis to aid your efforts to launch your own discussion teams. If you would like to invite the Team to visit with your community and help you conduct a conversation, please contact Scarlett Gaddy (sbgaddy@yahoo.com) or (http://us.f520.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=sbgaddy@yahoo.com) for further information. Congratulations to the Birmingham LWV for holding our first conversation since the workshop on March 31, 2005! Here's to greater citizen involvement in community decision-making!

Online Giving to the LWVAL Education Fund

The LWVAL website has been enhanced to accept tax deductible credit card donations to our Education Fund through Network For Good, a full feature online resource center for Not-for-Profit organizations. Simply click on the "Donate Now Through Network for Good" button on the LWVAL Welcome Page to be directed to NFG’s secure online donation site.

Please help spread the word about this easy way to support the League's education efforts. And don't forget that LWVAL-EF also receives a small portion of your purchase amount when you begin your online shopping experience the LWVAL web site by clicking on either the iGive.com button or the MyCause.com button at the bottom of the page.