 | We're back! The Women's Rights Committee is having a revitalization meeting. Yes, some battles will simply not go away yet we're determined to win the latest war that's being waged against women's rights.
Join us on May 20th at 7:00PM via Zoom (click to register) to learn about the ways that you can become a Defender of Democracy focusing on women’s rights. This year’s session of the Florida Legislature put forth numerous proposed bills that would negatively impact the health of women and children for years to come. At this time, these proposed bills were not approved, however the future is very uncertain regarding women’s rights in Florida and the nation.
Please come to learn about the many ways you will be able to advocate for women’s rights. Join us as we continue the fight we won once and need to win again.
Mary Ann Feldheim, Chair Women’s Rights Committee
2025-2026 PLAN
--Inform the community and the membership of women’s issues at the local, state, and federal levels and provide ways to advocate for women’s rights
--Partner with the Florida League of Women Voters to promote women’s health
--Host webinars on women’s health issues and rights
--Advocate for and against bills impacting women’s rights in the 2025 and 2026 legislative sessions
--Identify other opportunities to promote, advocate for, or women’s rights.
*Note some famous women's rights leaders below including Susan B. Anthony (Joan Erwin) and Sojourner Truth (Mary Lawrence) and League defenders of democracy including L-R: Lee Rambeau Kemp, Kathy Schmitz, Linda Chapin, Martha Haynie, Joy Dickinson, Linda C., Mayor Dyer, LWV UCF reps, Victoria Shinker, Alayna Kennedy, Erika Smith, Izzy McKenzie
|  | Check the calendar for all upcoming Committee meetings (most on Zoom) and become an active Leaguer!
MAY 10, 3-5pm, Sat
Young Professional Member Gathering
MAY 14, Hot Topics
Unkindest Cuts: The Cost of Government Downsizing
MAY 20, 12pm
Education Committee Mtg.
MAY 21, 7pm
DEIA Social Justice Bk Club
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*We table and sometimes provide power points to provide voter registration and civic information at the following opportunities. You must have taken and passed the League voter registration test HERE
MAY 13, 11:00AM
Student registration
MAY 14, 7:30AM
Student Registration
MAY 16, 7:30AM
Student Registration
JUN 21, 8:30AM & 11AM
Student Registration
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Available spaces are FILLING UP!
Florida public schools and public media, food banks, health services and assistance to vulnerable populations are facing steep reductions this year in government funding. The League of Women Voters of Orange County hosts a May 14 Hot Topics panel — “Unkindest Cuts: The Cost of Government Downsizing” — that will focus on local needs, efforts to soften the blow and how Florida responds to the current economic uncertainty.
Unkindest Cuts: The Cost of Government Downsizing, MAY 14, Doors open 10:30am
PANELISTS include:
Kelly Astro, Senior Vice President, Community Impact
Derrick Chubbs, President-CEO, Second Harvest Food Bank of Central FL
Skylar Swisher, Orlando Sentinel journalist
Dr. Maria F. Vazquez, Superintendent, Orange County Public Schools
Moderator, Steve Mort; Host and Executive Producer, NewsNight on WUCF-TV
PLUS, we're accepting non-perishable (non-glass containers) food items at Hot Topics for the Hope CommUnity Center! |  | |
JANICE ROUS
Not a member yet? Visit JOIN HERE and learn about becoming a Leaguer! |  |
JANE H. HURSH
REMEMBER, if you're joining or renewing on the national site, COME BACK and
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 | MEMBERS: The 40th Biennial State Convention of the League of Women Voters of Florida will occur June 6 - June 7 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Downtown Orlando, Florida. Click HERE for registration details.
Want to Serve as a LWVOC Delegate?
LWVOC is allowed up to 30 delegates to the state convention and has funds to pay the registration fee for 25 of them. Priority in serving goes to Board Members and Committee Chairs first and then is open to the general membership. If you are interested in attending as a delegate, please email Kathy Schmitz at president@lwvoc.org and indicate whether or not you would be seeking reimbursement. To be reimbursed for the $285 registrations fee, you will need to attend the full event and afterwards, submit a brief report.
Delegates will have the opportunity to participate in our Convention Plenary and vote on our 2025–2027 Program, 2025–2026 budget, 2025–2027 LWVFL Board of Directors and Nominating Committee, and submitted bylaws amendments.
ORANGE COUNTY LEAGUERS: Those of us in LWVOC won't need a place to stay but those coming from around the state will. If you are able to offer housing to someone attending convention, please click HERE to fill out a "hospitality form" and we will do our best to match you as LWV of Orange County Welcomes the State!
(FYI: There is a block of rooms at the convention hotel, DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, in Downtown Orlando, at 60 S Ivanhoe Blvd, Orlando, FL 32804. For those who don't know, this is adjacent to the Florida LWV offices in the Conduit.) |  | | Floridians for National Popular Vote invites you to attend a special pre-event workshop at the 40th Biennial State Convention of the League of Women Voters of Florida
• Date: Thursday, June 5 2025
• Time: 1:30pm - 5pm ET, Dinner to Follow
• Location: Orlando Doubletree Hotel, 60 S. Ivanhoe Blvd, Orlando (meeting room TBD)
• Registration: 1:00pm, Orlando Doubletree
FREE to league members, community partners and interested parties. This is an independent program which does not require participation in the LWVFL Convention. There will be a Caucus during the LWV Florida Convention on June 6 as well for those attending the Convention. Pat Rosenstiel will speak at both events.
|  | VOLUNTEER NEEDED who is well-versed in Roberts Rules of Order for the upcoming LWVFL Convention June 6-7
Meals are paid for (including Gala dinner)
Hotel (if not local) paid
Complimentary registration included
Needed for Fri. afternoon (6th) for plenary and Sat. (7th) from 10 am to around 4pm
If a volunteer cannot be found, paid staff will be considered. If you or someone you know is interested, please reach out to LWVFL Vice President, Barbara Lanning at barbara.lwvoc@gmail.com
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 | | LWVOC Homelessness Study 2025
Members of the Orange County League are expressing increased interest in being part of the conversation surrounding homelessness in our community, particularly with regard to the options available to our unsheltered neighbors. The conversation intensified following the March 12 Hot Topics, Unsheltered: Criminalized and Cast Aside, and the subsequent public meetings about shelter proposals in SoDo (South of Downtown) and East Orlando.
While members can support or oppose proposals as individuals, when we speak as a League, we base our advocacy on positions developed through a study and consensus process. To give the League more grounding going forward, we will be conducting a short and intense study.
This will begin with the assembling of a task force to gather information and create summaries and study guides. We expect this first phase to be completed in August. In September and October, during Phase 2, information will be available to all League members to review and discuss, with the goal of coming to some common understanding on what the League will and will not support.
Anyone interested in being part of Phase I, in small ways or large, can contact one of the co-presidents, Jane Hursh (co-president@lwvoc.org) or Kathy Schmitz (president@lwvoc.org).
Visit the Hot Topics RECAP here to find out more about how the LWVOC is highlighting the issue. | SPECIAL "Take Action" Alerts Now Available from Pres. Kathy Schmitz
“Alert lists” are open to both LWVOC members and non-members. They are a way to share timely opportunities, for example, upcoming rallies, volunteer needs, or urgent legislative actions. To keep email volume down, only I, or someone I specify, will be posting to this list.
“Sharing lists” are an additional option for LWVOC members. Within guidelines that will be posted, anyone who joins one of these lists will be able to post. Guidelines will focus on posting actionable information, avoiding debate, and maintaining a respectful tone.
Current topics are Immigration, Housing & Poverty, Women’s Issues & Health Care, and Defending Democracy
To sign up for any of the lists, fill out this simple form HERE.
| Sponsors are vital to our work to empower voters by providing timely information for the benefit of non-partisan civic engagement in our community.
To further explore how becoming a Hot Topics Sponsor can align with your business goals, please contact LWVOC Vice President, Lee Rambeau Kemp HERE
A range of sponsorship levels are available. |  |  |  | | Statewide call to action: The League of Women Voters supports the Florida Right to Clean Water campaign, a citizens' initiative to amend the Florida Constitution with the right to clean and healthy waters. If our current laws were working, then we wouldn’t have manatees dying in record numbers, 80% of our 1000 springs impaired, and harmful blue-green algae and red tide in greater frequency and duration. A constitutional right takes precedence over legislation that permits pollution, restricts fertilizer bans, and allows radioactive materials to be used in our roads. Create a legacy for the future of our waters!
The Right to Clean Water! In support of establishing our basic right to clean and healthy water, LWVOC has committed to helping get this citizen initiative on the 2026 ballot. Please sign your own petition. Those who signed prior to 2024 will need to sign the new petition.
Learn how YOU can become an active volunteer here: https://www.floridarighttocleanwater.org/resources | |