Program Planning Report

Participating Leagues

The following 47 local Leagues participated in program planning.

• Beach Cities
• Butte County
• Central Orange County Area
• Cupertino-Sunnyvale
• Diablo Valley
• East San Gabriel Valley
• Fremont, Newark, Union City
• Fresno
• Humboldt County
• Long Beach Area
• Los Altos/Mountain View Area
• Marin County
• Mendocino County
• Merced County
• Monterey County
• Mt. Baldy Area
  

• Napa County
• North & Central San Mateo County
• North County San Diego
• North Orange County
• Oakland
• Orange Coast
• Palo Alto
• Pasadena Area
• Piedmont
• Placer County
• Redding Area
• Riverside
• Sacramento County
• San Bernardino Area
• San Diego
• San Francisco

• San Joaquin County
• San Jose/Santa Clara
• San Luis Obispo County
• Santa Barbara
• Santa Cruz County
• Santa Maria Valley
• Santa Monica
• Solano County
• Sonoma County
• South San Mateo County
• Southwest Santa Clara Valley
• Stanislaus County
• Tulare County
• Ventura County
• Woodland

* While the Woodland League submitted a response, due to time constraints, their responses are not reflected in the report below.

Retention of Current LWVC Positions

The Board-recommended program includes retention of all current LWVC positions.

Issues for Emphasis for 2021-2023

In the Program Planning Kit, the LWVC board noted that the League at both the state and local level will be involved in implementing the national Making Democracy Work (MDW) program first adopted at the June 2016 LWVUS convention, and re-adopted at the 2018 and 2020 LWVUS convention. We asked local Leagues to indicate up to three Issues for Emphasis—areas to focus on in 2021-2023. Because MDW is always core to our mission, we centered the assessment of proposals around those that were additional to MDW. An Issue for Emphasis could be one or any combination of:

• A study of a new issue or a new position to be adopted by concurrence
• An update study of an issue on which the LWVC already has a position
• community education on an issue
• Advocacy on an issue

Only items proposed by local Leagues in program planning are eligible for consideration as not-recommended items.

Compilation of Local League Recommendations for Issues for Emphasis

The recommendations from local Leagues were compiled using a weighted system. First choice items received three points, second choices two points, and third choices one point. Items are grouped as seemed logical.

Topic	Weighted Local League Values	Topics Included in this Area
Climate Change/Sustainability	75	Education; reduction of fossil fuels; switching to renewables equitably; carbon sequestration; water sustainability; fire prevention; community development, housing, infrastructure, and transportation; sea level rise, flooding, and drought; land use; open space; air quality; plastic pollution; air quality; fossil fuel drilling
Housing and Homelessness	58	Affordability; transportation; tenants rights and eviction protection; equity in housing and home ownership; accessible mental health services; zoning restrictions and other obstacles to construction; alternative housing; impacts on climate change; regional navigation centers; better statewide coordination
Making Democracy Work	31	Combating misinformation; restoring trust in the election process; reaching underrepresented voters; bridging the political divide; election administration reforms based off of November 2020; redistricting; money in politics; civic education (see below)
Criminal Justice Reform	24	Police oversight, including citizen participation; repeal the death penalty; racial justice and equity; prevent excessive force; bail reform; equity sentencing; redefining police responsibilities; supporting successful reentry; restorative justice; reform of qualified immunity
Water	21	Water sustainability, quality, availability, and pricing; groundwater policy; watershed management; access for agriculture; equitable access to water; reduction of microplastics
Civic Education	11	Reach underrepresented voters; review and strengthen current curriculum; emphasis on the electoral process, how government works, the rights and responsibilities in a democracy
Health Care*	9	Health care; mental health care; universal health care; equitable access, including in rural areas and for people who are undocumented; recovery from COVID-19preventative mental health care and intervention; community education to spur advocacy; Medicare-for-All; care for underserved communities; women’s health services
Current Priorities*	6	Making Democracy Work in California; Climate Change; Housing and Homelessness; Criminal Justice Reform
DEI/Racism*	6	Incorporate DEI as a lens through work in various issue areas; seek partnerships to collaboratively reduce injustice; ensure inclusivity at all levels of government
Immigration*	5	Pathway to citizenship; access to healthcare
Education*	5	Ensure equitable access to free, high quality education; increase diversity among teachers and administrators; high quality, universal preschool; more funding, possibly through the ballot measure process
Behavioral/Mental Health*	4	As a critical factor in LWVC focus on Criminal Justice and Housing & Homelessness; As it relates to education, people who are incarcerated; people experiencing homelessness; people who are old; people with mental illness; people with substance use disorders; adequate funding, transparency, and oversight
Systemic Racism in Education*	3	How it has manifested historically to present day, with a focus on curriculum, the persistence of achievement gaps and learning loss, disparate funding and resources, and their long-range detriment to students of color
Voter Education and Misinformation*	3	Combating misinformation to help voters make more informed decisions
Meeting Basic Human Needs*	3	Access to Childcare; access to housing & services for people experiencing homelessness
Education Funding*	2	Increase funds for public schools and libraries to reduce inequities in resources and opportunities, with a focus on COVID-19 recovery
Land Use & Preserving Farmland*	2	Infrastructure; land use; farmland preservation
Community Education*	1	Models and templates on how to reach members of the local community
Environment*	1	Environmental Justice OR Water; climate change; land use planning
Digital Divide*	1	Legislation regarding internet access
Public Health*	1	Deteriorating public health system; shortcomings of non-profit hospitals and state labs; routine underfunding of critical function
COVID-19 Recovery*	1	COVID-19 recovery and relief

* Denotes not-recommended item

Recommendations for a New State Study, a Study to Update an Existing Position, or a Position Adoption by Concurrence

There were no recommendations for a new state study, a study to update an existing position, or to adopt a new position by concurrence.