Money in Politics
On January 26, 2016, the League of Women Voters of Muscatine County participated in the national consensus on Money in Politics. Thanks to those who attended the meeting and shared their ideas and opinions. Our consensus results were sent to national and we will wait to see the outcome when the national board votes on an updated position.
I want to thank Jean Clark and Professor Todd Pettys, University of Iowa Law School, for their part in the December 1 meeting at MCC. We talked
campaign finance history as we discussed the book, about Professor Todd Pettys Buying the Vote by Robert Mutch.
Legislative Forum
The legislative forums will be held at MCC student center, 9:00-10:30, on February 6, March 5, and April 2. Plan to attend and share your views with your elected legislators.
Here are questions important to the League of Women Voters:
1. Will you support legislation to finish this process and make sure all Iowans can register to vote online by 2017? Are there other policies you would propose to make voting more accessible?
2. Will you support making the Nutrient Reduction Strategy mandatory? Why or why not? How would you build upon Iowa’s Nutrient Reduction www.iconsdb.com Strategy if not by making it mandatory? What do you think is the next step in cleaning up Iowa’s waterways? Will you pledge to support at least $20 million for REAP?
3. Will you support efforts to eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenses, including the funding of alternatives?
4. Will you support efforts to eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenses, including the funding of alternatives?
5. What do you see as the biggest challenge in making health care accessible to all? Would you oppose efforts to limit access to reproductive health services? What more can be done to address barriers like social determinants of health?
LWV Muscatine County http://lwvmcss.squarespace.com/
6. Will you push for funding for regional mental health and disability services system, which pays for things like mobile crisis and crisis intervention services? What will you do to make funding more predictable and reliable? Without providers, there is no system, regardless of budget. What will you do to immediately increase the capacity of Iowa ‘s mental health workforce?
www.iconsdb.com
7. Will you oppose legislation to liberalize Iowa’s gun laws? Are there safety initiatives you would support to make sure guns stay off the streets and out of the hands of criminals and children?
8. Will you help find funding for a census of fire and EMS coverage in the state? What will you do legislatively to make sure EMS is an essential service, and funding is sufficient to protect Iowans throughout the state
LWV Muscatine County http://lwvmcss.squarespace.com/
Emergency Medical Services
Our next meeting is February 23 at 7:00 in the Duncan Room, 315 Iowa Ave. Linda Meloy and those “in the know” will provide us with up to the minute information about Emergency Medical Services in our area and across Iowa. You won’t want to miss it.
www.123rf.com
Caucus Information
Sue Johannsen and Ann Mayes went to MCC on January 25 to offer caucus basics to students. There were good questions asked by those in attendance. Thanks, Ann Mayes, for your support!
Events
February 6 Legislative Forum MCC Student Center 9:00-10:30
February 14th League’s 90th birthday
February 23 Monthly Meeting: EMS meeting, 315 Iowa, Duncan Room 7:00
March 5 Legislative Forum MCC Student Center 9:00-10:30
March 10 Legislative Day at the Iowa Capitol
March 29 Monthly Meeting: Workforce and Economic Development
League of Women Voters—Upper Mississippi River Region Inter League Organization: A Summary from Inter League Coordinator Bonnie Cox of LWV Jo Daviess County, Illinois
We have identified “nutrient pollution” as our action focus for the next two years. We hope that we will be able to help our members and our fellow citizens understand the relationship between land use and the excess nitrogen and phosphorus contributing to the degradation of our water bodies. Helping our citizens understand the processes that improve water retention on our farms and in our communities thereby reducing rapid storm water flows and the phosphorus and nitrogen that flow with them is part of that.
On a local level in Jo Daviess County Illinois we are 18 months into a two-year process of developing a water resource management plan. It’s been interesting to see how it has developed in ways we couldn’t have envisioned when we began. For example, as a result of engaging UW-Platteville environmental engineering students in doing the input of our survey data (the survey gathered data on our citizens’ opinions and knowledge on water issues in our county) to meet quality assurance standards of IL EPA, we connected senior design students with our local county government to begin discussing the design of a series of retention basins versus a cement culvert along a county road. Other students have worked with our City of Galena staff to design a couple of green infrastructure projects.
We have also been able to coordinate an abandoned well sealing project among our public health department, our county SWCD, a private donor, and the League so that we are both educating on the importance of sealing those wells and the relationship between unsealed wells and the possible contamination of our ground water and getting those wells sealed at an accelerated pace. In Jo Daviess County, many of those wells are out in fields with thin soils over fractured carbonate bedrock in which artificial fertilizers and manure are regularly applied.
The recent report card on the Mississippi River stresses 3 important functions if we are to raise the grade of the Mississippi River:
1. Spread the word about the condition of the river and its challenges
2. Grow collaboration among us to face those challenges and 9
3. Focus on action to get the job done.
LWV Muscatine County http://lwvmcss.squarespace.com/