The Bulletin. A Year of Growth. Annual Coalition Luncheon

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1 Where hands-on work to safeguard democracy leads to civic improvement. Dates to Remember Coalition Luncheon, March 23rd, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Board Meeting, April 12th, 6 p.m., NUMC Lunch with LWV, April 20th, Noon. Location TBD Inside this Issue: Coalition Luncheon, Pg 2 Freedom School & Lunch with LWV, Pg 3 Changes to LWV Indy Structure, Pg 4 A Year of Growth Leaguers, We are experiencing a growth spurt within our membership and that s amazing! With all our upcoming Voter Registration events (and the requests are JUST getting started), it looks like 2018 will be The Year of the Voter for LWV Indy (as it should be, right?). We had a very impressive voter registration training led by Erin Kelley and Kim Irwin in February. If you missed it? We hope to do more trainings with other groups soon, so stay tuned!! We also will be getting these materials up on our website so anyone can refresh themselves before they go out and work to register folks within our community. If you ve ever been on the fence about giving your time to LWV events? Trust me now s the time to get involved! There s momentum out there, and as one of the most organizations that is consistently ranked as most trusted by voters? We need to let our community know that we are here to provide them the tools they need in order to get to the polls and vote on Election Day. I really hope to see as many of you as I can at our upcoming events. And if you ever have questions or concerns? Please feel free to reach out to me I m here to help YOU make the most of your membership.! Yours in League, Rhea Cain President, LWV Indy / membership@lwvindy.org March 2018 Annual Coalition Luncheon Civic Saturday, Pg 5 Voter Registration Drive, Pg 6 News from National, Pg 7 When? March 23rd, 2018 at 11 a.m. Where? North United Methodist Church (3808 N. Meridian Street) Cost? Free! But we do ask you bring your own table service and a bread or salad to share with the group. For more details, please see page 2 inside.

2 Page 2 Annual Coalition Luncheon League of Women Voters, American Association of University Women and Church Women United annual Collaborative luncheon with be Friday, March 23rd from 11 am to 1 pm at North United Methodist Church, 3808 N. Meridian Street, Members of the American Association of University Women and Church Women United will join us. Volunteer THANKS! A big THANK YOU to all our many dedicated volunteers who have made our work possible: Debbie Asberry Sarah Halter Carol Fowler Betsy Bayne Mary Boggs Rachel Loveman Kim Irwin Erin Kelley And everyone who has worked to register voters: THANK YOU!! Judge Sarah Evans Barker will be our guest speaker. Sarah Evans Barker was appointed judge of the United States District Court, Southern District of Indiana, in March 1984 and served as chief judge between 1994 and 2001.Judge Barker served as president of the 900-member Federal Judges Association, , and continues her work on the FJA Board of Directors. She is also currently serving on the federal Judicial Conduct and Disability Committee, having recently been appointed by Chief Justice John G. Roberts. Judge Barker is active in numerous civic, educational, cultural and religious organizations, including the State of Indiana Bicentennial Commission, the board of directors of Indiana University Health Partners, Inc. and the board of the Indiana Historical Society. She is a member of the Indiana Academy, a recipient of the Trailblazer Award given by the Indiana Commission for Women, a Living Legend awarded by the Indiana Historical Society, the Silver Gavel presented by the Indianapolis Bar Association, and a Distinguished Alumna of Indiana University. In addition, she has been awarded ten honorary degrees from Midwestern colleges and universities. Judge Barker is a member of the Downtown Kiwanis Club of Indianapolis, the Lawyers Club, and the Gathering. Judge Barker was born in Mishawaka, Indiana, and is a graduate of Indiana University and the American University School of Law. She is an active member of the Morgantown United Methodist Church. She and her attorney husband, Kenneth R. Barker, have three grown children and five grandchildren. No reservations are required for the luncheon. Those attending are to bring a salad or a bread to share with others. Attendees also need to remember to bring their own place setting. Look forward to seeing as many of you as possible.

3 Page 3 Freedom School Update Your generosity went a long way in making the second year of The Children s Defense Fund Freedom School a big success. In 2017, LWV of Indianapolis members donated a whopping $1,818! Adding the League s maximum matching amount of $1,000, we contributed a total of $2,818 as an organization. Eight hundred dollars provides one full scholarship for the six week program. Your generous support paid for three children from low income families to attend Freedom School last summer. The Freedom School at All Souls Unitarian Church hosted 27 scholars last summer, with an 85% attendance record. The Children s Defense Fund was unable to provide an evaluator to gather and record the data on the scholars reading retention, but in 2016, 83% of our scholars maintained or improved their reading level. Anastassia Zinke, the pastor at All Souls and the administrator of the Freedom School, is confident that 2017 was equal to or better than All Soul s is gearing up for Freedom School 2018 and needs your support! We have launched a Faithify fund raising campaign and you can donate at: Thank you for your generous support of this vital summer reading enrichment program. Betsy Bayne, Treasurer Lunch with LWV Update Stay tuned on updates for a new location for Lunch with LWV going forward. There has been a change of caterers at Scottish Rite, and unfortunately, we will no longer be able to utilize the Truman Room like we have in the past. If you have any suggestions on a new space? (With convenient, free parking and food onsite), please drop an to membership@lwvindy.org

4 Page 4 Changes to LWV Indy Structure The Board of Directors of LWV-Indianapolis is proposing a change to our organizational structure. We would like to convert our dual-entity League, made up of our member organization designated by the IRS as a 501(c)(4) organization and our education fund designated as a supporting 501(c)(3) organization, into a single-entity 501(c)(3) organization. We will be asking for member approval of this change at our 2018 annual meeting by adoption of revised by-laws that will be provided for consideration 30 days prior to the meeting. We want to provide information on the conversion and allow you time to ask questions prior to this formal process. The significant differences between 501(c)(4) and 501(c)(3) rules can be summarized as follows: A 501(c)(4) can support or oppose candidates for elected office and political parties, a 501(c)(3) cannot A 501(c)(4) has no limit on lobbying activities whereas a 501(c)(3) cannot have lobbying activities as a substantial part of its overall activities. 501(c)(4) donations are not tax deductible whereas donations to a 501(c)(3) are deductible unless 1) they are specified for a lobbying expenditure or 2) to the extent the member or donor receives something of value in exchange for the dues or contribution. For us, the second bullet is the concern of most members. To clarify this section, there is no limitation on pure advocacy (i.e., activities that do not involve specific legislation or ballot measures) under either designation. In our conversion, we would select the substantial part test be based on dollars spent rather than time spent. The threshold for substantial is lobbying exceeding 20% of our total annual expenditures. We will need to keep close accounting of our lobbying expenses in case of audit but these are well below the 20% limit. Converting to a single-entity 501(c)(3) gives the advantage of members being able to deduct their dues and in-kind contributions such as occurs when members attend LWV conventions or councils and absorb some or all of the cost of attendance. It will also simplify operations by having all funds at one banking institution and will simplify IRS reporting considerably. It eliminates the need for 2 separate boards. Tax deductible contributions could now be made directly to LWV Indianapolis. This process has been executed by numerous state and local Leagues over the past several years. A detailed document for the conversion process was created. If you have any specific questions or concerns about this conversion, it is possible that they are addressed in this document. Please forward those to us at Communication@lwvindy.org and we will investigate.

5 Page 5 Civic Saturday What is Civic Saturday? By Erin Kelley In January I attended the first-ever Civic Seminary hosted by Citizen University in Seattle. Over the course of 3 ½ days, Citizen University founders Eric Liu and Jena Cane, C.U. staff, and a cohort of 11 dedicated community leaders discussed how we can spark a renewed sense of #civiclove in our communities by creating Civic Saturday events. What is Civic Saturday? Civic Saturdays are meant to help us practice being together as citizens; that is, as those willing to show up in public life together. Civic Saturday is a civic analogue to a faith gathering. Friends and strangers congregate in a common place to nurture a spirit of shared purpose, wrestle with moral questions regarding what it means to be an American, and develop a sense of civic character. On Civic Saturdays, we will gather around America s civic religion and our sacred creed of liberty, equality, and self-government... and all the messiness and moral questioning that brings. These gatherings are not about (nor aim to replace!) traditional religious practices. Nor are they about partisan politics. Rather, at Civic Saturday, we will sing together, listen to poetry, read civic scripture (great and provocative American texts), hear a civic sermon, and, above all else, be in fellowship with one another. We will support and uplift one another to maintain the energy needed to show up in civic life. America is not held together by blood and soil, by race or religion, or by party affiliation. America is held together by a set of guiding beliefs a common creed that unites us even when we disagree about its meaning and argue about its intent. In fact, as Eric Liu stressed to me and my fellow civic seminarians, Civic Saturdays are not about reducing the number of arguments we have about policies. Instead, Civic Saturdays are about helping us all have smarter arguments that acknowledge a shared heritage and humanity. Spirit & Place will host at least two Civic Saturdays in 2018 and is thrilled to say the Indianapolis Public Library is our venue partner LWV Indy is a Community Partner, too. The first will be on Saturday, April 28 from 10:30 to 11:30am at the Glendale Library (6101 N. Keystone Ave.). A second Civic Saturday will be held on Saturday, July 28 at Central Library (40 E. St. Clair St.) from 10:30 to 11:am as well.

6 Page 6 Registering Voters at the Library A Great Partnership! Thanks to everyone that has volunteered so far!! This has been a wonderful partnership with The Library. Don t forget: We are still registering new voters monthly at Naturalization Ceremonies at Central Library. Want to help? VoterService@lwvindy.org to send Rachel Loveman, our Voter Services Coordinator, your information.

7 Page 7 News from LWV US Homeland Security Provision is Another Attack on our Democracy 3/12/2018 Washington, DC League of Women Voters president Chris Carson issued the following statement in response to a Department of Homeland Security bill provision that would allow President Trump to dispatch Secret Service agents to polling places: "Polling places must be safe, accessible and welcoming to all voters not places where eligible Americans will feel threatened and intimidated. "Elections are the life blood of our democracy and sneaking in a provision that allows the President to order armed Secret Service agents to polling places is simply appalling. This is just one more attempt this Administration has made to attack voters and flagrantly dismantle core tenants of our democracy. "The League will continue to stand against these shameless assaults. The best way for all of us, as Americans, to fight back against attacks on our rights is to get registered and vote in 2018." Tell Congress to Pass a Clean Budget! It s budget time in Congress but instead of focusing on ways to fund a government that serves and protects the American people, ideologues in Congress are working to sneak through policies that would further weaken our democracy. We have to stop them. Will you make a call today? Multiple ideological riders have been secretly added into the must-pass federal spending bills that threaten to tip the balance of our democracy in favor of wealthy special interests even further. These poison pill riders include: Blocking enforcement of the Johnson Amendment, which would allow tax- deductible dark money to flow through churches and charities into our politics, essentially unleashing Citizens United 2.0. Relaxing campaign finance coordination limits, which would allow candidates to spend significantly more. Stopping the Securities and Exchange Commission from requiring companies to disclose their political spending. Stopping the IRS from creating clear definitions for nonprofit engagement in politics. Prohibiting federal contractors from being required to disclose their political spending. Today, Americans from across the country are calling Congress to say that we need a clean budget with none of these poison pill riders. We don t need more loopholes that make it easier for special interests to disrupt our democracy. Urge Congress to do the right thing. Call the Senate Today:

8 League of Women Voters of Indianapolis 3808 N. Meridian Street Indianapolis, IN Visit us online at or on Facebook! Welcome New Members! Dues are $50 a year for individuals, $75 for households, and $25 for students and AmeriCorps members. Make checks payable to the LWV of Indianapolis and send to 3808 N. Meridian Street, Indianapolis, IN Name: Address: Phone: Kind of Member: NEW RENEWING