LWVUS Program planning needs you!

Program is the League's "reason for being," the basis of both education
and action efforts.
--excerpted from the LWVUS publication, In League.

Program--governmental issues chosen for study and action--is an essential element of League. Because Program is so important, it has traditionally originated with the membership through the Program planning process.

This year, LWVUS Program planning materials will be mailed with the First Call to Convention in October 2005 to state and local Leagues and ILOs. The same materials will be available on the LWVUS Web site. Report Forms are due back in the LWVUS office by March 1, 2006.

Unfortunately, grassroots participation in this process has declined steadily over time. As a result, we are seeing Program planning at the state and local level increasingly being replaced by Program planning on the convention floor, which traditionally accounts for only 1.3 percent of the membership. In 2004, only 29 percent of local and state Leagues participated in LWVUS Program planning, making it difficult for the LWVUS Board to determine the extent of interest on specific issues for study and action.

We hope to increase grassroots participation by engaging members in conversation about issues of national interest prior to the March 2006 deadline via an online LWVUS Program planning discussion list beginning this fall. At the same time, local Leagues should provide opportunities for their members to participate in LWVUS Program planning discussions. We need your input and your ideas to bring Program back to its (grass) roots!