Do you too feel like you are in a car careening along a highway, up and down hills, and around startling curves, and all you can do is grip your seat tightly?
Our political environment is probably as dangerous and distressing as any of us have known, so alarm is definitely in order, but what do we DO about it?
Within the League I am seeing eyes wide open, courage up, and more efforts than ever to engage with our wider community as we “empower voters and defend democracy.”
This effort has included a lot of personal visits with legislators, board of elections commissioners, county executives and more across the three counties we serve. The productive, interesting, and sometimes even entertaining discussions we end up having with almost everyone have definitely buoyed our spirits. Even when we don’t agree on public policy we hear and learn from what we’re told. Here in New York, and especially in the local offices where these public servants actually reside, we can experience the joys of getting along!
Because we have 7 Assembly members, 3 Senators as well as 6 elections commissioners and 3 county executives you won’t read about all these meetings in this newsletter, but reports from a random few will appear here and in future newsletters. If they intrigue you and you want to be part of a visit, let us know.
Right now the visits with state legislators are focused on issues related to the state budget which is supposed to be finalized in April (ideally April 1), but after that they will broaden out into other policy areas.
But back to that careening car we are in...Of course over all the debates about issues affecting just New York, or even just our individual counties, is the big question of how everything happening at the federal level will impact us here. So far it is all just one big question mark and we’re being told they are just trying to stay “state focused” (or county-focused) until more is known. And we sympathize!
HOWEVER, elsewhere in this newsletter you will read about the Save Act that is being discussed at the federal level. It would totally undermine every effort we are all making to help Americans – even New Yorkers – register and vote! When we ask local officials about it, we are getting mostly blank looks. This is not acceptable!
For anyone who cares deeply about elections, this should be a five-alarm fire. Make sure your Congressional reps (even if you know they’ll agree with you) hear how you feel about it. It simply must not become law!
And continue to let everyone who represents you know what you are feeling about ANYTHING that deeply concerns you. They have to be told to do their jobs and keep us all safe and secure. It’s all hands on deck, including yours!
Dare Thompson, President
845-236-3074 (preferred) 845-591-3445 (cell)