Sat. December 17, 2011 Women Democrats Meeting

The Clark County Women Democrats will gather for a no-host
luncheon and meeting,
Saturday,December 17, 2011,
at 11:30 AM at Boppin' Bo's Restaurant,
7809 N.E. Vancouver Plaza Drive, Vancouver, WA ( Next to the former WINCO'S).

THE 'WHITE DONKEY' AUCTION; our annual fundraiser, will happen.
(Please bring items that you believe will be of interest for purchase.)

ALSO, bring personal items, like toiletries for the "Battered Women's Shelter."
This is an effort that we support each holiday season. 

We are fortunate to have as our
GUEST SPEAKER
our knowledgeable and extremely interesting DNC Representative,
ED COTE

We can count on Ed to give us an update on the happenings in DC.
There will be an opportunity for our questions.

We will have the opportunity to find out about I-505 (below).

How about singing some "Political Holiday Music?"

We can share our ideas about supporting our "99%" and other democratic efforts.



All Democratic men and women are welcome and invited to attend this very informative and important holiday meeting.

Kindly RSVP to Donna Quesnell 360-694-0766.

About YES on I-502

“New Approach Washington is a coalition of Washington citizens who believe that treating marijuana use as a crime has failed, and that it is time for a new approach.  We include doctors, lawyers, treatment and prevention experts, business people, and parents.  We are united in the belief that Washington should stop wasting law enforcement resources on adults who use marijuana, and instead create a tightly regulated system that generates tax revenue for our state and local governments.

Initiative Measure No. 502 (I-502) is an initiative to the legislature.  New Approach Washington must submit 241,153 valid petition signatures to the Secretary of State by December 30, 2011. I-502 will then be referred to the legislature for consideration during the 2012 session, which begins January 9.  If the legislature fails to pass the measure, I-502 will go onto the November 2012 general election ballot.”  Link

This was supported in a resolution by the WSDCC, and will be discussed at the Women Democrats meeting Dec 17.

 Call your legislators about your ongoing concerns:

 THESE ARE YOUR LEGISLATORS:

District 17 (Cascade Park, Orchards, Brush Prairie east of I-205)

District 18 (North County, Battle Ground,
La Center, Salmon Creek, Yacolt)

District 49 (west of I-205, Downtown Vancouver)

A REVIEW:  WASHINGTON STATE FEDERATION CONVENTION

On July 22-23, Kathy Lawrence and Donna Quesnell represented the Clark County Women Democrats in Olympia at the State Federation of Democratic Women's Convention.  Besides Convention Rules, Resolutions / By-Laws and the Executive Board meeting, there were two excellent presentations:


~  NARAL - PRO=CHOICE Washington, Speaker:  Alison Mondi - Quality and Affordable Health Care for Women...She stressed that THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT gives women greater control over their own health care-- the costs are lower -- there are more affordable choices and competition

~  Re-Cap of Democratic Work by Timothy Anderson, Washington State Co-Ordinating Campaign Organizer  OFA (Organizing for America) He stressed the importance of getting our voting block back -- Single females are very important and we need to get them involved.  He praised women as being natural problem solvers.  He said further that women getting degrees is 2 to 1!

His theme:  RESPECT, EMPOWER, INCLUDE.

NOTE:  I will bring this information to our September meeting for you to view in greater detail.

 Kindly RSVP to Donna Quesnell, President, 360-694-0766 for any questions or concerns.

Some support for Planned Parenthood is continuing. The good news is that the Washington and Oregon state budgets have retained family planning funds in their budgets.  However, as our legislators continue to work on budget cutting, we will need to watch carefully.  One thing to stress with lawmakers is that cutting Planned Parenthood services actually will cost MORE than keeping the services as is.  It would take only 115 unintended pregnancies in one year to cost the state as much money as the funds it spends on Planned Parenthood.  Without the services, it is estimated there will be 800 unintended pregnancies per year statewide.  96% of Planned Parenthood funding goes to family planning.  Only 3% ($7500/year) is used for abortion.

"We offer members the opportunity to access current and accurate information on Democratic issues and candidates, and open the avenues for involvement."

Officers:
President: Donna Quesnell  360-694-0766   Mail: 4419 NE 62nd Ave., Vancouver, WA 98661
Vice President: Judith Mehegan
Secretary: Carrie Parks
Treasurer: Kathy Dixon