League of Women Voters of Williamsburg Area
Newsletter - April 2025
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- 07 May | 4 pm | Board Meeting | Williamsburg Library on Scotland Street
- 23 May | 11:30 am | Birth in Color Baby Shower at Old Towne Medical Center
- 04 June | 4 pm | Board Meeting | Williamsburg Regional Library on Scotland Street
- 12 June | 2 pm | LWV of Williamsburg Area Annual Members Meeting | Legacy Hall
- 13-15 June | LWV of Virginia State Convention | Fredericksburg, VA
- 17 June | Virginia Primary elections
| Thank You New & Renewing Members!
**Abby & Lee Anderson, Susan & Michael Carron, Susan Cox, Christine Dube, Paul J. Fameli, Conny Graft, Martha Hamed, Martha Jordan, Jan Keady, Bonnie Konowitch, Paul Langenus, Lissa Lyerly, Melissa Magowan, Lisa Ownby, **Linda Rice, Sam Rose, Kristan Sammons, Les & Jo Solomon, Barbara Starkweather, Caroline Sterling, Cynthia Young
[** gave an extra donation in addition to membership]
[as of 4/4/2025] | | MILLIONS TO BE TURNED AWAY AT THE POLLS? |  | On 1 April 2025, the League of Women Voters filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump over his recent Executive Order (EO). While entitled “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections,” the EO disenfranchises possibly up to 160 million voters. [see the order here.]
The Executive Order, according to the pleadings, violates the constitutional separation of powers; as the executive branch executes laws, it does not create them. The EO also illegally orders the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to change voter registration within 30 days to require a passport (only half of citizens have one) or other citizenship document to register to vote. Plus, the EAC is to decertify all state voting machines across the country until a new federal standard is developed. There is no current federal standard. Election officials doubt the new systems would be ready for the 2026 federal elections, although Virginia is doubly hurt by this EO, since we actually have an election this year, for Governor, Attorney General and Lieutenant Governor.
Additionally, states are to hand over voter rolls and information to Elon Musk's DOGE staff, and it changes the deadline for absentee and mail ballots to the day of the election, in spite of 18 states having different deadlines. An extra burden will be placed on military voting overseas to prove attachment to a state.
Article 1, Section 4, of the Constitution assigns the “Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections . . . shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations....” The Executive Branch is not included in this task.
The SAVE ACT
Speaking of which, Congress is contemplating making a nationwide voter registration law, which is also going to disenfranchise millions. The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE Act) has been introduced in the House, where it is expected to pass once brought to the floor. Predictions are that it will not pass the Senate. The Act requires proof of citizenship to register to vote. A passport works, but also a birth certificate - providing your name on the birth certificate matches the voter's current name. Estimates are that 69 million women who changed their names upon marriage, will not be able to register to vote.
Currently only citizens are allowed to register to vote. There is an oath, under penalty of prosecution, that you must take before registering. The system is not broken, but it will be if these “fixes” are allowed to go into effect.
| Meeting With State Senator McDougle (R)
March 10, 2025 General Assembly Bldg, Room 1406
Mary Tyler, Secretary LWV-WA and Linda Rice, Action/Advocacy LWV-WA met with Senator McDougle (Ranking Member on Senate Finance Committee) and his Chief of Staff, Nat Pittman, on March 10, 2025 at 8:45am. Senator McDougle was courteous and spent nearly an hour listening to our concerns and answering our questions. He and his fellow legislators face enormous challenges in meeting funding needs without increasing taxes if federal funding cutbacks in Medicaid Expansion and grants from the Department of Education occur.
We discussed:
a. Medicaid – Virginia currently pays 50 per cent of the cost of Medicaid with the Federal government paying the remaining 50 per cent. Senator McDougle expressed his concern about the exponential growth in Medicaid cost. He stated that Medicaid and K-12 education are the two biggest expenditures. He also feels that the Medicaid monies received by hospitals need to be carefully evaluated for appropriate expenditures.
b. Medicaid Expansion - In 2017, Virginia passed a bill to participate in Medicaid Expansion under the Affordable Care Act. That expansion provided coverage for an additional 630,000 Virginians. Currently, Virginia pays 10 percent of the costs of Medicaid expansion ($571M) with the federal government providing $5.1B. However, a trigger law was passed along with the expansion. The Trigger law would halt Medicaid expansion if the federal funding falls below 90 per cent. Recent Congressional budget discussions indicate likely cuts to Medicaid expansion.
c. Elimination of the Department of Education – Senator McDougle stated that the Department needed to operate more efficiently and effectively. He did not respond to how Virginia would respond to potential cuts to Title 1 which provides funds for schools with low performing students and special education students.
d. Impacts of Federal Firings on Virginia Economy – According to Senator McDougle, he did not see any negative effect of the firing of federal employees on the Virginia economy at this time. Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) reported only 300 claims as of March. An important note is that some Virginians live in Virginia but work in DC or Maryland. They must file unemployment claims in the area where they worked. So, some claims may not be registered at VEC.
e. Other GA bills – We thanked the Senator for his support of several bills such as SB 770 (Review of Deaths of Inmates), SB 765 (Guardianship and Opposition to the Loss of Right o Vote – Note: Governor vetoed this bill) and SJ 251 (JLARC Study to Look at Removal of Books from School Libraries). He commented that the siting of data centers should be a decision made by localities. He opposes the Right To Vote CA because he felt violent felons should not have their rights restored. Further, he felt victims should receive compensation from the perpetrator before rights are restored. | Digby Solomon - former president of The Daily Press, The Virginia Gazette and the Tidewater Review, now retired after a 40-year news career that included being a foreign correspondent in Latin America - is very troubled about the decline of local news. He sees this as a problem that stresses the very fabric of our democracy and how we treat each other as citizens and neighbor.
To push back, Solomon has started a local news service on the Substack platform which will be free for first few months, but then move to a paid subscription model.
He is looking for a few local residents who have well-informed and passionate opinions about our community to serve as guest columnists. Read about it here WilliamsburgWatch | | PROJECT 2025 STRIKES HARD | If you are concerned about what is happening to our Federal governments, its departments, programs, and functions, keep your eye on the
| The newly renovated Muscarelle Museum has reopened with a blockbuster exhibition “Michelangelo: The Genesis of the Sistine.” League member and social media coordinator, Harry Chancey, will be conducting public tours twice every Saturday at 11:00 am and 12:20 pm beginning April 19 until the exhibition closes at the end of May.
Free for museum members; $15 for non-members. Saturday parking is free. | | WRAPPING UP GREAT DECISIONS | | Great Decisions 2025 Team Picture | The 2025 Great Decisions Lectures were a great success for the League of Women Voters of the Williamsburg Area!! The Great Decisions Program is a joint program that the League and the Foreign Policy Association (FPA) provide each year. The FPA identifies the most pressing issues of the day and recruits experts to write articles on each one that are then compiled into a book. The League brings those topics to you through its lecture series. The book is included with each registration for the program which runs during February-March on eight Tuesday mornings. We host speakers in the Williamsburg Regional Library theater and carry the event live on Zoom. If you miss a lecture, you can watch the recording later on YouTube.
Our audience is always amazed at the expertise and professionalism of our speakers and how informative the lectures are. Recent lectures were on Global Relations, AI, the relationship of India between China and Russia, and Climate Control.
This program is the Williamsburg Area League’s annual fundraiser. For what works out to be only $5 per lecture plus $35 for the book, you hear from experts who have inside knowledge of the most pressing issues of our day. This type of information is not generally carried by any news organization so it is especially enlightening. Time and again, our audience has expressed how much they appreciate the programs and are amazed by the expertise of our speakers. |  | Virginia voters are getting ready to go to the polls once more! 2025 marks the commonwealth-wide Virginia elections for Governor, Lt. Governor, and Attorney General. Most areas also have elections for councils, boards of Supervisors and school boards. Candidates for these positions are finishing their filing this week, so the final list of candidates should be known very soon. In James City County, the Jamestown and Powhatan seats on the Board of Supervisors are up for election, as are the corresponding school board seats. No City of Williamsburg seats are open as of this date, nor are any of the York County seats. Referenda may appear on ballots, but that has not yet been confirmed.
KEY DATES
Key dates to remember for the June 17 primary election are May 2 (start of early in person voting), May 27 (last day to register to vote in the primary election with a regular, non-provisional ballot) and June 6 ( last day to request an absentee ballot be mailed to you).
If you have joined the permanent absentee list and opted for all ballots, your ballot will be mailed to you. If you are voting by mail, please return your ballot AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. You can always drop your completed ballot off at your Voter Center or Registrar’s office. You can track the progress of your mail in ballot on Ballot Scout at www. Elections.Virginia.gov.
Your Voter Services team is out and active right now. Look for us at the Landing, Patriots Colony, Windsor Meade and Brookdale. The announcements within these communities will give you exact dates and times. Our Facts for Voters brochure will be in local libraries and community centers by the end of April.
Let us keep up our excellent voting record in Virginia. 70.2% of us voted in the last election, so let’s beat that number!
GET INVOLVED
| | READ ANY GOOD BOOKS LATELY? | | May 01 | 4:30 PM | Member's Home
Discuss with us The Hidden Globe: How Wealth Hacks the World by Atossa Araxia Abrahamian
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