Our June meeting on the Affordable Health Care Act drew a standing room crowd to the Delray Beach Public Library (see the article elsewhere in this Voter).  We mailed 135 postcards to our Senators asking them not to change Medicare and Medicaid.  A big thank you to Peg Ekberg for arranging the speaker, and to Barbara Eriv for the meeting arrangements.

Our June activities also included assisting at a special election mayoral candidates' debate in Lake Worth, where four of our members timed the candidates responses to questions.

You may be aware of two ads LWVUS ran for two weeks in May about the Clean Air Act.  The ads ran in Massachusetts and Missouri, mentioning the votes against the act by Senators Scott Brown and Claire McCaskill, respectively.  Leaguers across the county reacted to these ads because the Senators were mentioned and also because the League didn't reveal the funding source.  This generated many articles in newspapers across the county.  To read the Clean Air Act article that discusses this click this link from the LeaguE-Voice for May.  

Florida Leagues will not be registering voters while the new election law is in effect.  This also precludes registration by Supervisor of Elections staff at any of our functions.  The State League together with the Brennan Center is suing to void this law.  

Leagues throughout the state are now focused on the redistricting process.  Our speakers bureau has already had several engagements to remind the community that we have to be vigilant to make sure the Legislature follows the intent of Amendments 5 & 6 that were overwhelmingly passed by Florida voters in 2010.  Don't forget:  Mark your calendars for the 10 AM August 16th Redistricting Hearing at the Lifelong Learning Center at FAU in Boca Raton.

Plans are in the works for Women's Equality Day in August.  You will receive a separate notice when more information is available.

New Membership Directories will be printed and mailed soon.  Bulk mail doesn't get forwarded.  If you want your directory mailed to your summer address or held until you return to Florida, please notify me at info@lwvpbc.org.

No general meetings are planned for July, but ongoing committees and your board are working throughout the summer to plan an interesting fall and winter League season.

Have a great summer, and don't forget your sunscreen!

Joan Karp

August

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The Palm Beach County Charter is the formal document that spells out how county government will operate.  To learn more about the Charter and provide input, please plan on attending one of these upcoming meetings.

South County (West)
Wednesday, July 6, 6:00 PM
Hagen Ranch Road Branch Library
14350 Hagen Ranch Road
Delray Beach, FL

District 3 Town Hall Meeting
Monday, July 25, 6:00 PM.
Charter Review Topic
City of Atlantis Council Chambers
260 Orange Tree Drive

To learn more about what is happening with Redistricting in Florida, you might want to attend one or both of these meetings.

State Rep. Maria Sachs meeting on Redistricting (to precede Hearing on the 16th)

Wednesday, August 10, 2:00 PM

Hagen Ranch Road Branch Library

Delray Beach

Redistricting Hearing

Tuesday, August 16, 10:00 AM

FAU, Lifelong Learning Center

Boca Raton Campus 

On June 8th, at the Delray Beach Public Library, Laura Feldman of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare gave the 100 plus audience, from Palm Beach and Broward counties, a fact-filled report on the Health Care plan.  What a speaker!  To emphasize serious issues, she used fact and humor.   

Laura gave us a tutorial on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. She spoke about the health care challenges facing our country:

• We have the most expensive health care system in the world.
• One out of every six people do not have health insurance.
• Unchecked inflation in health care costs is growing faster than the economy.

Laura went on to talk about the two political parties and their approaches to tackling the problems.  As she said:  "It's not right or wrong, it's different desires and different solutions."

A key component of this event was a prepared postcard campaign to Florida Senators Nelson and Rubio, urging them to preserve Medicare and Medicaid as the Senate debates budget cuts.  We asked for and received over 100 signed postcards that we mailed to our two Senators.

Since the June 8th meeting, we have received many messages praising our great speaker and commenting on the large turnout.  But we are not stopping there!  Health Care is one of our priority issues in 2011.  The League believes that all Americans should have access to quality, affordable health care.  We will be scheduling other interesting and interactive activities on health care during the year.  If you care about the future of health care and want to hear more, be on the lookout for upcoming activities.

On June 10th, the Collins Center sponsored by the State League, presented a webinar on the status of Medicare, Medicaid and the Health Care Affordable Act in Florida.  For a recording of the webinar, well worth the listen, search healthcare webinar here : http://www.collinscenter.org/page/healthcare webinar 

Dorothy Newhouse, a long-time member of the League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County passed away last month.  Dorothy, a valued member and a part of our lineage here in Palm Beach County, contributed greatly to our organization.  The League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County expresses its sincere condolences to Dorothy's family.