LWVMN Program for Action 2008-2010 - Introduction

To the League of Women Voters, Program means those issues chosen by the members for study and action.  At each level of the League--national, state or local--Program includes items adopted for current study, and carefully worded, study-based consensus positions that lead to action.

State Program is selected by League of Women Voters of Minnesota (LWVMN) members in individual units through proposals to their local boards of directors, who send the proposals to the state Board.  The state Board then formulates a recommended Program of old, new and/or amended items consisting of those most frequently mentioned.  All items, whether recommended or not, may be discussed, amended and adopted or rejected at the biennial state Convention.

Following adoption of the Program, research committees are formed to prepare study information on new items.  In small units and at large meetings, members weigh the pros and cons of issues to reach consensus on each study item.  The state Board receives the consensus reports from the local Leagues, determines areas of agreement, and formulates position statements.  Only after consensus is reached and a position is formed can the League take action.  The state Board also evaluates specific legislation and decides what action should be taken.  There are two kinds of action:

1. developing public support for League positions;
2. supporting specific measures and policies which promote a League position or opposing those which threaten it.

The process works similarly for the Council of Metropolitan Area Leagues (CMAL), except that the Program items have regional significance and are chosen and studied by members in the metropolitan area.

Leagues at all levels may "concur" with a position of another League either within Minnesota or in another state.  A possible concurrence study is considered at state Convention in the same manner as any other Program item.  Study materials developed for the original study may be used and are supplemented by the committee overseeing the concurrence study.  The LWVMN position on Prevention of Violence, for example, was originally adopted by the LWV Minneapolis and concurred with by Leagues throughout the state.

Included in this booklet are summaries of the 2008-2010 Programs of the LWVMN, of the League of Women Voters of the United States (LWVUS), and of the CMAL, which consists of the local Leagues in the seven-county Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area.  For each LWVMN Program item on which a position has been reached, you will find:

• a summary of the position, along with a brief statement of the relevant LWVUS position, if there is one (all in boldface);
• details of the LWVMN position, including the date when consensus was reached on each section; and
• a history of League and governmental action on the topic since 1990.  Prior history will be found in Program for Action 1999-2001.

LWVMN positions have been grouped according to LWVUS classifications:  Social Policy, Natural Resources and Government.  Exceptions to these groups are Education and Criminal Justice, which LWVMN retains as separate categories.  To emphasize the fact that the state League often acts on national positions, summary statements of LWVUS positions have been included where appropriate.

League members throughout the state promote public support for positions by talking with legislators and community leaders; attending precinct caucuses and participating in the political process; and using the media, public meetings and personal contacts to tell their story.  Local Leagues may take action themselves if the action is consistent with national, state and/or CMAL positions; their membership is informed and in general agreement; and, when the action affects other Leagues, they confer prior to taking action.

The state Board takes official action in the name of the League of Women Voters of Minnesota.  This action may consist of writing letters, personal lobbying of members of the Legislature or executive agencies, testimony at legislative hearings, holding press conferences, or any other measure deemed useful by the Board.  Individual Leaguers speak for themselves only and not as League members unless directed to do so by state, national or local League boards.

The League of Women Voters strongly endorses citizen involvement in the political process.  It encourages League members to participate in the political party of their choice.  The League itself is nonpartisan; LWV, as an organization, does not support candidates or political parties.  State Board members are restricted to low-level partisan political activities and may not run for party-designated public office.

For more complete information on the Program of the League of Women Voters of the United States, the reader should see Impact on Issues, 2006-2008 (Publication No. 386, LWVUS, 1730 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036, $7.00 plus postage and handling).