Greetings and Happy Valentine’s Month,
You each are loved for what you do to make our world a better place. Who would think that such efforts would become challenging but we continue to face negative energy every day. We must stay resilient in strengthening our democracy or it shall fade; we must stay purposeful in protecting and promoting voting rights or they will be diminished, and we must be mindful of educating those unaware of how important democracy is and why it is necessary or they will become forgotten forms of our imagination.
Tuesday Topics
We brought in the new year with relevant information presented on how to avoid scams by Detective Joe Kinnett from the Financial Crimes Unit of the Topeka Police Department. He shared some realistic tips and scenarios to keep us safe against or at least mindful of unsavory acts of online scams. Many thanks to Detective Kinnett!
In February, we will host Carol A. Beier, a former Kansas Supreme Court justice. Before Justice Beier’s time on the bench, she practiced at Foulston & Siefkin in Wichita and Arent Fox in Washington, D.C., and worked as a Georgetown Law fellow at the National Women’s Law Center and as a law clerk for Judge James K. Logan of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. She will be sharing information on the proposed amendment to the Kansas Constitution, which seeks to eliminate the merit selection of Supreme Court Justices.
We are restructuring our new initiative – Young adult legislative advocacy. If this is a passion for you, we need you. 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.
Our renewal campaign is actively underway! If you haven’t renewed yet, please consider doing so. You are important to our organization!! 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.
Legislative Action!!
The legislative session began on January 12 and it is certainly time for us to put our boots and heels on the ground, in the committee meetings and the chambers. Strengthening democracy is our mission and we illustrate it through improving voting rights and increasing voting access. You would think these would be fairly easy tasks to accomplish and maintain. Yet, with each legislative session, it becomes a tug of war. It is a struggle with those who want to impose restrictions on our rights and access.
Below are bills recently introduced in the House Election Committee where we need your voice, action, and commitment.
HB 2438 – seeks to impose restrictions on websites that can be used for registering voters (but exempts government entities ending with .gov). Such restrictions set up a monopoly and cannot be guaranteed full system security or secured data. Other websites such as KsVotes.org has been vetted as reliable and safe.
HB 2437– This bill seeks to address Voter Roll Management by using various resources (governmental and non-governmental entities) to cross verify citizenship. This is concerning because the person has no knowledge of the shared information, it also increases opportunities to accidentally remove individuals. There is no estimation as to how much level of effort will be put into this process or if such effort is even required.
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 www.kslegislature.org
The 2026 LWV National Convention will be held in Columbus, Ohio at the Hilton Columbus Downtown. It starts on Thursday, June 25, 2026 and ends Sunday June 28, 2026. Registration for the Convention is now open. Check the LWVUS website for details. The convention is open to all members.
Please plan to join us at the Capitol on January 29 for LWVK Legislative Day at the Capitol. Check in begins at 8:30am with the program starting at 9am. League members from across the state will be engaging with our legislators.
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!
Our recent membership is at 224 and growing! It is all because of you. You are our lifeblood. Thank you and for all you do!!
Welcome to our New members! 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!!
Let’s get to the POINT!
Feel free to continue to connect with our voter services team! Although many of the events are wrapping up for the year, our planning never ends. 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.
💜💜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
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.
