The month of July was extremely active for the league. We attended a “field trip” to Constitution Hall, which recently opened. While there, we learned about the history and significance of the history in relation to Bleeding Kansas and the role that Topekans played in authoring the Topeka Constitution. The hall offered tours and opportunities for you to engage our community or corporate business in hosting your seminars and training.
Our August Tuesday Topics event will be back at the Library. We will host Sara Tucker of Washburn University who will present on Kansas Women in Politics. The session promises to be quite exciting and educational.
The LWVTSC members and partners hosted a Candidate Meet and Greet forum on July 13. Over 100 were in attendance. We thank the candidates and our partners for their efforts and attendance.
New bills passed during the 2026 legislative session became effective on July 1, 2026. Here is a link provided by KSNT on the bills passed:
https://www.ksnt.com/capitol-bureau/what-new-laws-take-effect-in-kansas-on-july-1-2026/amp/
We continue to educate across the state on the constitutional amendment vote in August on whether the merit system for the Supreme Court should be changed. Palm cards are now available educating the public on this issue. We have posted our position statement on the constitutional amendment on our website so that the public knows our stance.
We stand united with the Kansas and other local leagues in posting our league position of voting NO on the constitutional amendment to change the judicial selection from a merit based process to an elected process during the primary election in August. Don’t forget to remind your family, friends, and community to vote on August 4. Advance voting is underway by going to the Election office.
Also, please note there is a proposed constitutional amendment for the general election in November to vote on the Kansas Citizenship Voting Requirement. The board will be taking up a position on this amendment soon and will share with the membership.
Day of Civic Action
On August 8, 2026, the National League and our partners will host a nationwide day of civic action in honor of the anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. To coincide with our August 4 voting day, the LWK and local chapters received permission to host our Day of civic action on August 1. Look for our community event on our website at LWVTSC.org
National Convention Updates 2026
Many thanks to our members who were able to attend our National convention. There were two consensus positions adopted by the national convention:
The Rights of Immigrants
The League of Women Voters believes that all residents of the United States, regardless of immigration status or citizenship, should be treated with dignity and respect. This means that all residents, regardless of immigration status or citizenship, should have access to essential federal, state, and local funded services, have the opportunity to avail themselves of legal representation in court and immigration proceedings, and have the opportunity to live and work in safety. The League encourages all elected officials and government leaders in the United States to take action to ensure these fundamental rights. It also means that political leaders have an obligation to condemn xenophobia, discrimination, and anti-immigrant rhetoric.
Religious Freedom
The League of Women Voters stands for the separation of church and state and religious freedom founded upon individual conscience, free of social or political influence by any state or religious body; these fundamental civil rights are threatened by religious nationalism.
The First Amendment of the US Constitution reads; “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”.
Remember… you are needed! Below are areas we can use your support. Please consider your time and let us know if you can help us help make this organization grow. All persons considered must be members of the league.
Young Adults Advocacy Initiative, now known as our Civic Engagement Academy
We were successful in receiving a $3,000 grant from the LWVK to help with the start up of this Academy. If you have skills or hobbies that include mentoring, teaching, debate, public speaking, research, legislative advocacy, social media and/ or tech marketing, this committee is for you! This role is very important in including our young adults in civic engagement while promoting the work of our organization.
Financial Mentee
A Financial mentee position is available for someone interested in shadowing the treasurer and learning about managing, overseeing and safeguarding the organization’s financial operations as part of a succession planning strategy.
Voter Services Team co- chairs
This is an awesome opportunity for you and a friend to work together to get the community engaged in voter experiences. We already have established members that work with naturalization services, school networking, and we need more connections with community tabling events and coordination with our volunteer system, POINT. New members: This is a great opportunity to get involved in community fun while helping to inform voters. It’s a win-win!!
Our lifeblood – you!
Our calls continue to reach out to you – our members. If you know anyone who would be a great fit for our organization, please forward them our contact information. In addition, we continue to send invitation letters to non-partisan organizations and individuals encouraging them to join us in defending and strengthening democracy, definitely a task where we continue to need all hands on deck.
We are up to 174 in our membership ! We are continuing to support our student members who are interested in renewing by paying ½ of their membership as scholarships. It is vital to our organization to keep our students engaged in democracy through our organization!
Welcome to our New members! Brooke, Charlotte, Kathy, Patricia, and Vivianne We are glad you have joined us and we look forward to working with you!
Thank you to our renewing members: We appreciate all you do! Let’s get busy!!
Legislative Action
Here is a link to the Election Committee site. This is how you can help:
- Access this site weekly to determine progress
- Watch for our Legislative Action Alerts
- Sign up to be a testimonial writer
- Sign up to be an observer
- Sign up to be a member speaker
- If interested in signing up, please contact me at President@lwvtsc.org
- Watch or participate in committee meetings on kslegislature.org
Consider joining our LWVUS Unite & Rise 8.5 effort which aims to build a movement of 8.5 million individuals to unite and rise against the anti- democratic actions of this administration. Go to LWV.org to sign up!
Let’s get to the POINT!
Feel free to continue to connect with our voter services team! Things are gearing up and this is a great time to get on board and express your interest in participating. Join them on the POINT application and get in on the experience! They are outreaching to the community providing education on registration and voting. Below is the link to volunteer for our events.
💜💜Your board members are always available to answer questions and help you move the League’s mission forward. Feel free to reach out!
Remember as we work to protect democracy, Teamwork makes the dream work!
Best regards,
Dr. Glenda Overstreet Vaughn, President
Community Connections
Remember: If you have a community group interested in learning about the recent proposed amendment to the Kansas Constitution, which eliminates the merit selection of Supreme Court Justices, please reach out to the League and we will connect you with a resource to come make presentations to your group(s).
Legislative Session Resource. I encourage you to contact members of the Shawnee County legislative delegation, by phone or email, regarding proposed or passed legislation. Included below is their Statehouse contact information.
- Sen. Brenda Dietrich Room #223-E 785.296.7648Brenda.Dietrich@senate.ks.gov
- Sen. Rick Kloos Room # 418-E 785.296.7645Rick.Kloos@senate.ks.gov
- Sen. Patrick Schmidt Room #135-E 785.296-7372 Patrick.Schmidt@senate.ks.gov
- Sen. Kenny Titus Room #124-E 785.296.7656Kenny.Titus@senate.ks.gov
- Rep. John Alcala Room #173-W 785.296-7371 John.Alcala@house.ks.gov
- Rep. Jesse Borjon Room #512-N 785.296.7374Jesse.borjon@house.ks.gov
- Rep. Ken Corbett Room #187-N 785.296-7679 ken.corbet@house.ks.gov
- Rep. Kirk Haskins Room #43-S 785.296.7673Kirk.Haskins@house.ks.gov
- Rep. Kyle McNorton Room #561-W 785.296.7460Kyle.McNorton@house.ks.gov
- Rep. Tobias Schlingensiepen 785.296.7669 Room #174-W Tobias.Schlingensiepen@house.ks.gov
- Rep. Alexis Simmons Room #43-S 785.296.7632Alexis.Simmons@house.ks.gov
- Rep. Virgil Weigel Room #451-S 785.296.7104virgil.weigel@house.ks.gov
Furthermore, you may access the Kansas Legislative website at http://kslegislature.gov to review bill status and content, house and senate calendars and committee schedules. Through this website you may listen to or via video streaming follow committee hearings and General Session proceedings.
An additional resource is the State Library. You may access their services in the following ways:
- Phone:800-432-3919 or 785-296-2149
- Legislative Hotline: 800-432-3924
- Email: infodesk@ks.gov
- Download the Ask a Librarian app to your mobile device.
