2024 Program
The following materials have been prepared in advance of LWV Chicago’s Annual Meeting on June 8, 2024.
Program Suggestions
Continue to advocate and educate on the following issues:
Voting rights
Ranked Choice Voting
Transparency in City government
Environmental action
Police reform and public safety
Redistricting
2024/2025 Program Plans from LWV Chicago’s Advocacy Committees
City Government
The City Government Committee (CGC) will continue to follow the City Council and its committees. The CGC continues to follow efforts to ensure transparency so that Chicago residents have adequate knowledge of proposed Council actions and sufficient notice of proposed actions to allow residents to advocate. In following Council committees, the CGC will refer items of possible interest to other LWV Chicago committees and the Board. The CGC will continue to maintain and update, as appropriate, the Chicago government webpages on the Chicago League's site.
Community Oversight of Public Safety
In 2024-2025, the Community Oversight of Public Safety Committee (COPS) will focus on educating local units about the new Illinois League on policing and how we can act on it in Chicago. We will also become involved in the oversight and support of the newly-passed Empowering Communities for Public Safety Ordinance by attending the meetings of the City Commission on Public Safety and Accountability and attending meetings in our local District Councils. We will provide training and materials for League members on how to provide reports from such meetings that are designed to enhance their accountability and effectiveness.
Education
The Education Committee has been following the Elected School Board elections, which will take place in November. After the election, we will follow the new hybrid school board.
We have met with Becky Vivie from Chalkbeat about what is happening in the elections. We are considering asking her to speak to the League about the elections in either September or October.
We have also discussed changing our name from the Education Committee to the Chicago Schools Committee as we really only cover Chicago schools, and the League’s “education” work often refers to voter education.
Environmental Action
The Environmental Action Committee (EAC) will continue to advocate for responsible environmental policy and advance LWV Chicago’s priority issues.
Advocate for effective funding and implementation for the Department of Environment
Advocate for the Clean and Affordable Buildings Ordinance to decarbonize new construction (O2024-0007305)
Advance Cumulative Impact Assessment to policy
Advocate for reduction of single-use plastic
Advocate for a statewide reduction in polystyrene foam and plastic bags (Factsheet)
Advocate for packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)
Advocate for Bottle Deposit/Return legislation (SB85/HB4205)
Ranked Choice Voting
The Ranked Choice Voting Committee has encountered some delays in advancing Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) for municipal elections. These delays are due to two primary factors: the ongoing work of the Statewide Task Force, which includes two League members (one from our Chicago League), and significant implementation delays in Evanston, which will influence our approach in Chicago.
On a brighter note, we are pleased to announce our official partnership with FairVote Illinois. You can find us listed on their website, fairvoteillinois.org/chicago. Starting in July, we will be featuring FairVote's grassroots RCV events on our website, providing you with easy access to participate. Although legislative progress is currently stalled, our grassroots efforts remain strong and active.
In the meantime, we will continue to attend bi-monthly meetings with the FairVote Illinois Coalition. As mentioned, we will be offering our members opportunities to engage in FairVote's grassroots organizing efforts, helping to build momentum for RCV in our city.
Voter Service
In the coming year, the Voter Service Committee will continue registering voters, including the our efforts to register new citizens at their naturalization ceremonies, and if possible will hold candidate forums. We also provide election information to the public through multiple avenues.