Co-Presidents’ message:
At our November 14th LWVKY board meeting, it was decided that we will break with tradition and have a one-day Council Meeting in 2010 instead of a two-day one. This will not only save money for the Kentucky League, but more delegates throughout the state may be able to participate if they know they will need to commit only one day to League business. Therefore, the 2010 State Council Meeting will be held in Elizabethtown on Saturday, April 10, at 11:00 a.m. (More information about State Council later in the year).
The coalition that is supporting restoring former felon’s voting rights has been very active recently. A well-attended “Singing for Democracy” Concert was held at the Imani Baptist Church in Lexington on December 2nd, which featured a night of worship and praise around voting rights. You can also be pro-active about supporting voting rights for former non-violent felons by urging your representative to vote for Representative Jesse Crenshaw’s prefiled bill, BR 2, (formerly known as House Bill 70). Call the toll free legislative message line at the Capitol (800-372-7181) and leave a message for your representative, urging the automatic restoration of voting rights to former non-violent felons. If you do not know who your current representative is, the person on the phone will look it up for you. If you prefer using email, you can find contact information about your representatives online at http://www.lrc.ky.gov/legislators.htm. We plan to follow this bill very closely and will report to you about its progress in the upcoming legislative session.
We wish all of our members and their families and friends a most happy holiday season!
Nita Smith & Terry Naydan
Energy Study Update
Several local Leagues have had meetings centering around our State Study subjects: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Since these are complex subjects, they need to be fully examined before we can come to consensus. If you have not been able to attend any of our Energy Study meetings, to keep yourself informed, we recommend that you peruse some of the following websites, which have been provided to us by the Energy Study Committee:
1. American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy – http://www.aceee.org/
2.. Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency – http://www.dsireusa.org
3. ICLEI- Local Governments for Sustainability – http://icleiusa.org
4. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Star Program – http://www.energystar.gov/
5. Kentucky Environmental Foundation, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, Kentucky Sierra Club
http://kyenvironmentalfoundation.org/cleanair.html
6. Mountain Association on Community Economic Development – http://www.maced.org
7. U.S. Dept. of Energy – Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy – www.eere.energy.gov/
Legislative Session
The 2010 Legislative Session will commence on Tuesday, January 5th and end on Tuesday, April 13th. We invite all League members and their friends to join us for a day at the Capital in` February (day and time TBA). We plan to meet midmorning in a Capitol meeting room, where we will have invited a few legislators to discuss the bills they plan to support. While in Frankfort, some of you may wish to visit your own representative at his/her office. We plan to meet for lunch and then will view a legislative session in the afternoon. We hope you can join us in February to observe the legislature “up close and personal.”
