ICYMI Video of the Feb 23 Meeting with Maine Women’s Lobby Executive Director

During this meeting, Destie Hohman Sprague (she/her), executive director of the Maine Women’s Lobby, walked us through a Legislative Advocacy 101 presentation to show us when and how to get involved in the state legislative process. Watch the video for a thorough explanation of this infographic she shared.

Chair Kelli Whitlock Burton shared a list of all bills sponsored by Representatives Holly Stover and Lydia Crafts and Senator Cameron Reny. Rep. Stover also shared some details on a few upcoming bills that she is sponsoring. The video below shows the bulk of the meeting as summarized above. The LCDC business portion of the meetings and any open discussion was removed from the video below.

In Committee Business, a final 2022 financial report was shared and the voting members approved the appointment of April Thibodeau of Westport Island (also our state rules committee member and chair’s designee to the state committee) and Valarie Johnson of Somerville (a past chair and current fundraising initiative group member) to the LCDC Executive Committee.

Sean Smith, director of the Maine House Democratic Campaign Committee, was also on hand to explain how the special election for HD 45 will work, if needed.

And as always, we voted in new members to formally join our committee. Other announcements and items shared during the chat appear below the video.

Note that our next meeting will be Thursday, March 23 (4th Thursday of the month). More details to come. This may be a hybrid meeting. Sign up for the Zoom link and updates here. Pre-registration is not required for voting members but will help us plan and you will receive updates with the final details.

We took a poll to start the meeting off!

Have you ever submitted public testimony in support of or opposition to a bill before the Maine Legislature? (your answer is anonymous)
45% Yes!
8% No. I doubt it would help.
28% No, but I want to learn how!
8% I did not know we could do that! Tell me more!

13% No Answer (which might mean a simple No.)

Announcements & Other Shared Items During the Meeting

From Destie Hohman Sprague, Maine Women’s Lobby to Everyone:
destie@mainewomen.org email me! Or better yet, text – 207-406-0838
– Copy of the Infographic that she walked through
– Maine Women’s Lobby (MWL) Take Action page
– MWL Legislative Process How-To Videos
– MWL Mini Explainer Videos
– MWL Legislative Tracker

From the Chat:
Question: Do all of these votes need only a simple majority vote or do some types need more?
Answer from Destie Hohman Sprague to Everyone: In general a simple majority is what goes out of committee and then gets voted on by the full legislature. Certain bills, like constitutional amendments, only need a simple maj in committee, but 2/3 support in the full house and senate

From Chair Kelli Whitlock Burton to Everyone: Take a look at this link for a list of all the bills our legislators are sponsoring!
https://lincolncountydemocrats.com/billtracker

From Chair Kelli Whitlock Burton to Everyone: Learn about this bill that Rep. Holly Stover is talking about now here.

We heard from Mary Sheldon, secretary of the Nobleboro Democrats about the success of their recent fundraiser for heating assistance. Here’s the coverage with photos from the Lincoln County News.