Our Biennial Conventions are held every two years in the fall of the odd-numbered years, so 2015 is a very busy year! Our NFRW Convention will be held in September, our CFRW Convention in October, and the 3 divisions will meet in November. Each convention has its own specific bylaws about who and how delegates are selected. One thing they all have in common is that all delegates must be members in good standing. Members in good standing are those who have paid their dues to their local clubs, whose club has sent in their name along with their dues to the appropriate membership secretaries on the various levels.
The final per capita to apply to delegates for the NFRW Biennial Convention must be in NFRW hands 90 days prior to the convention, though for CFRW, it is 60 days prior to our convention. Check your division bylaws for the deadline for the final per capita to apply to delegates for your division convention. Also, the local club must be sure to have sent in their national service charge to NFRW no later than July 1, and preferably sooner.
Even if you are a club president, if you have not sent in your per capita by the deadline, or if your club has not sent in the $15 national service charge to NFRW, you will not be eligible to be a delegate at the conventions. We all need to renew our memberships and send in our dues ASAP, even if you are not a club president. You might be appointed a delegate-at-large or an alternate delegate-at-large for one of the conventions, so you want to be a member in good standing.
The NFRW 2105 Biennial Convention will be in Arizona from September 10-13. There are a number of things we need to do prior to the NFRW Convention. Club presidents: be sure to send me a copy of your Achievement Award application by June 1, at the latest! Be sure to send me a copy of the Club Report Form for the Campaign Hours Awards, and also a copy to our State Campaign Hours Chair, Janet Gardner, by June 1. Also send a copy of your Caring for America Project to me by June 1.
Please don’t forget to reach out to your local colleges and help a young woman apply to the NFRW Pathfinder and Betty Rendel scholarships. Last year, we had very few applications for the Pathfinder Scholarship, and no applications for the Betty Rendel Scholarship. All applications must be in my hands by June 1, no exceptions!
In the summer, we will be getting information from NFRW on how many delegates-at-large and alternate delegates-at-large we can appoint. It is very important that all delegates, whether you are a club president, delegate-at-large, or alternate delegate-at-large, send me a copy of your NFRW Voting Credential Form. I will bring a binder with copies of all the California delegate forms, including club presidents or their appointed alternates, delegates-at-large, and alternates-at-large, so if there is a problem with credentials, I will have a copy of your delegate form to prove you are eligible to vote. If you do not send me a copy of your NFRW Voting Credential Form, I will not be able to help you if a problem arises over credentials. Hope to see many of you in Arizona!
Thanks you ladies for all you do,
Roseann
Working Together to make a Difference
More on the Water Crisis
Jerry Brown continues issuing ridiculous conservation targets and is now taking it a step further. His proposal to grant new enforcement powers to local agencies would include penalties of up to $10,000 for the worst offenders. Initially, these fines did not exceed $500 per day. Brown also plans to propose legislation to speed environmental permitting for local water supply projects, but not for the things California actually needs, which is water storage!
Similarly, Brown announced incredibly ambitious goals for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Indeed, California’s regulatory framework is set to become the strictest in the entire country. Specifically, Brown has called for an 80% reduction of emissions below 1990 levels by 2050.
Brown has also revised his plan for the twin water tunnels that aimed at diverting water around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to several state and federal diversion canals near Tracy. The project is necessary to stabilize water deliveries throughout the state and help restore the Delta ecosystem. The revised plan would call for thousands of acres of ecosystem restoration and protection to compensate for construction and operation of the tunnels project. That is, Brown chooses to focus on environmental projects over the more demanding, crucial task of finding ways to store our water.
Discouragingly, several bills related to this issue have died. AB 311 (Gallagher, R) would have streamlined environmental reviews of water storage projects, but was opposed by environmentalists and Democrats. Similarly, Andy Vidak’s bill was also struck down. Ironically, the day after AB 311 was killed, Brown issued his proposal to increase penalties for water usage and expressed his desire to expedite these types of environmental projects within Prop 1.
Ultimately, it is necessary to understand and confront the fact that we cannot conserve our way out of this drought! We have to prepare for the future through the construction of new water storage projects, because so much water is being wasted every single day! Brown’s move to expedite environmental projects instead of focusing on what we truly need to support 30 million people is simply irresponsible.
Education Bills Package
Last week we mentioned an education bills package that was to be heard on the 29th of this month. Unfortunately, the legislative committee on Wednesday rejected these Republican education bills that would have overhauled teacher tenure and firings rules. Specifically, Assembly Bill 1044 (Baker, R) would have mandated that seniority no longer be the sole factor in determining which teachers could be laid off. That is, it would have eliminated last-in-first-out rules had it not been voted down. Assembly Bill 1048 (Chavez, R) would have extended from two to three years how long it would take for teachers to achieve tenure, but was also struck down. Assembly Bill 1078 (Olsen, R), which would have resulted in the implementation of teacher evaluations to inform layoff decisions and the like, was also sidetracked to interim study.
We are sad to hear about this, considering these were proposals for very minor changes that ultimately would have benefitted students immensely. Still, we thank you for doing your part in calling your representatives to encourage them to vote for the legislation. Education reform is necessary, and we hope we get the opportunity to affect this type of legislation in the near future.
Deadlines
There are several important deadlines coming up that will influence the passage of legislation. First, (April 30) is the last day for policy committees to hear and report fiscal bills for referral to fiscal committees. Second, May 15th is the last day for policy committees to hear and report to the Floor non-fiscal bills. After this, if bills don’t pass to a fiscal committee or to the floor, they will die. Fourth, May 22nd is the last day for policy committees to meet prior to June 8th. Finally, May 29th is the last day for fiscal committees to hear and report bills to the Floor. We will keep you updated on what’s going on as committee hearings start rolling in the next couple of weeks.
Some Good News
Though it was a rough week for Republican legislation, we’ll leave you with something positive. Assembly Bill 289 (Melendez, R) aimed at legislative whistle blower protections is still fighting its way through the system! This is a bill that CFRW SUPPORTS.
Generally, most other employees have specific whistle blower protections that have yet to be extended to legislative employees. In practice, this disenfranchises legislative employees and eliminates an incentive for whistle blowing on ethical breaches. The passing of this bill is important considering the many recent scandals witnessed in the Capitol. For instance, former state Senator Ron Calderon still awaits his day in court after being indicted on 24 felony charges including accepting thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for official actions. Senator Leland Yee is believed to have conducted wire fraud and to have engaged in a conspiracy to deal firearms without a license and illegally import firearms, among other things. Lou Correa is also accused of corruption. Maybe much of the corruption evident in the Senate and even the Assembly, then, would be curtailed if legislative employees were protected as whistle blowers. We hope this bill passes and will keep you updated on how to help!
