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The State League pays monthly for a Pro Zoom account, which lets us host meetings of up to 100 participants with no limit on meeting time. State Zoom account is available on a first come, first served basis. Default meeting time is one hour - please contact us at lwvor@lwvor.org if you need more time.

If your League has local events that you would like listed here, please send them to Andrea Capere to be included below. ⭐LWV of Clackamas County LWV of Clackamas County Events Calendar ⭐LWV of Coos County LWV of Coos County Events Calendar ⭐LWV of Corvallis LWV of Corvallis Events Calendar ⭐LWV of Curry County LWV of Curry County Events Calendar ⭐LWV of Deschutes County LWV of Deschutes County Events Calendar ⭐LWV of Klamath County LWV of Klamath County Events ⭐LWV of Lane County LWV of Lane County Events Calendar ⭐LWV of Lincoln County LWV of Lincoln County Events Calendar ⭐LWV of Linn County Unit LWV of Linn County Unit Facebook page ⭐LWV of Marion and Polk Counties LWV of Marion and Polk Counties Events Page ⭐LWV of Portland LWV of Portland Website ⭐LWV of Rogue Valley LWV of Rogue Valley Events Calendar ⭐LWV of Union County Unit LWV of Union County Unit Events Calendar ⭐LWV of Umpqua Valley LWV of Umpqua Valley Events Calendar ⭐LWV of Washington County Unit LWV of Washington County Unit Events Calendar

The excitement of the League of Women Voters of the United States Convention has settled, and now it's time to turn inspiration into action. Our new national president, Sania Irwin, has reaffirmed the League's commitment to taking bold action in defense of democracy. LWVOR President Mark Kendall poses with LWV National President Sania Irwin at the 2026 LWV Convention. During our conversations at the Convention, she praised LWV Oregon's leadership in expanding youth membership, challenging federal overreach through the courts, and making the strategic decision to strengthen our capacity by doubling our staff. Just as importantly, she committed National's support to help amplify our work, improve collaboration among state Leagues, and share successful strategies so we can spend less time reinventing the wheel and more time advancing our mission. That momentum continues August 9-10, when the LWVOR Board of Directors and portfolio leaders gather for our annual Board Retreat. This year's theme, "Not More, But How?", reflects our focus on working smarter, building stronger systems, and preparing the League for the future. Together, we will develop a succession planning framework modeled after the national League, review our organizational structure, and clarify roles and responsibilities across every portfolio. We'll also tackle important questions that will shape the future of LWV Oregon: How do we consistently uphold our statewide brand? How do we recruit young members and keep them engaged? What does it take for local and state Leagues to model civil discourse? Which leadership roles need stronger succession plans and recruitment strategies? How do we better prepare Board members and volunteer leaders for their fiduciary responsibilities? What tools and practices can reduce volunteer fatigue and burnout? Just as importantly, we'll define how we measure success. We'll identify key performance indicators that allow us to track our progress, including: The number of Oregon high schools participating in the Student Mock Election. Member retention rates. Growth in youth membership year over year. Additional metrics that reflect the health and impact of our organization. We're also excited to share a few staffing updates. LWV Oregon recently welcomed Andrea Capere as our new Communications Coordinator. Andrea has quickly immersed herself in the League's work, bringing fresh ideas, strategic communications expertise, and a thoughtful approach to strengthening our outreach. As she continues to learn the many moving parts of our organization, we appreciate your patience and partnership during this transition. We're also pleased to announce that Lindsay LaPlante has accepted the role of half-time Development Director. Lindsay has served as our half-time Membership and VOTE411 Director, and during the search process for a Development Director, the Human Resources Committee recognized that her deep relationships with local Leagues and strong understanding of LWVOR's fundraising needs made her an outstanding fit. We look forward to the leadership she'll bring in this expanded role. There is tremendous energy across the League of Women Voters of Oregon. Thank you to our local Leagues, volunteers, and members for welcoming our new staff, supporting one another, and continuing to stand together in defense of democracy and the empowerment of voters. In League, Mark Kendall LWVOR President

Jean Pierce, Action Chair Over the past few years, local Leagues in Oregon have been asked to participate in several consensus studies. But there appears to be some confusion about the consensus process and why it is important. At the 2025 LWVOR convention, a 3-part K-12 education study was approved to Address: Exceptional Learners Safe and Healthy Schools Career and Technical Education The LWVOR action committee cannot take any action unless we know what League members think about an issue. Currently, LWVOR has no K-12 positions addressing the three topics, so we have not been able to weigh in on legislation that addresses these important topics. We DO have positions regarding funding of K-12 education, assessment and high stakes testing, attracting and retaining teachers, charter schools, civic education, and not using public funds for private schools. The consensus process means: A study committee researches a topic and creates a well-documented report The report is shared with experts in the field to determine whether Anything is omitted Anything is inaccurate There are any grammatical errors Based on their feedback, a revised report is submitted to the LWVOR Board for approval, along with consensus statements that present pros and cons and any supplemental information such as a video explaining the main ideas in the study. Local Leagues and units have 3 months to schedule a consensus meeting, during which League members determine whether they agree, disagree, or reach no consensus regarding statements. Each statement focuses on only one topic so that there is no confusion what League members mean if they agree or disagree. Reaching consensus does not necessarily mean taking a vote. After hearing reasons why League members agree or disagree with a statement, the meeting facilitator says, “I am hearing that there is general consensus that…” or “I am not hearing any consensus about this statement.” Members confirm whether that is Correct. The local League or unit submits a report which records not only whether members agree or disagree but also major reasons why they disagree or cannot reach consensus. Based on the responses, a member agreement committee develops the final wording for a position. The position needs to be written in general terms so that it stands the test of time and the position does not need to be updated when (for example) the name of a committee or a number changes. Positions represent what League members consider the ideal situation, which might not look like the current reality. The LWVOR Board decides whether to approve the position wording. If they do approve it, the position is immediately available for advocacy. While the focus of a state consensus study is creating a position that can be used to support or oppose state legislation, it is possible that a local League might be able to find something in a position which they can use for local advocacy. Delegates to the next LWVOR convention are asked whether they approve the new K-12 positions as well as all other positions in Issues for Action We have created separate timelines for the three parts so that local Leagues and units only need to consider approximately 20 statements at a time.

Youth Council < Back About the Issue LWVOR Youth Council is a youth-led nonpartisan network of young civic leaders focused on increasing political engagement among young Oregon voters. Youth Council offers: Membership at three levels! Includes LWV of the US, LWV of Oregon, and your local League Opportunities for participation as a national and state convention delegate or observer Participatory civic engagement and education Community service hours with Certificates of Recognition Find out more and join here !

Youth Rights Youth Council LWVOR encourages youth participation in government at every level. Read More

Back to All Legislative Reports Governance Internships Legislative Report - September Legislative Days Governance Team Coordinator: Becky Gladstone and Chris Cobey Artificial Intelligence: Lindsey Washburn Campaign Finance Reform: Norman Turrill Conflicts of Interest/Legislative Ethics: Chris Cobey CEI - Critical Energy Infrastructure : Nikki Mandell and Laura Rogers Cybersecurity Privacy, Election Issues, Electronic Portal Advisory Board: Becky Gladstone Election Systems: Barbara Klein Emergency Preparedness: Cate Arnold Immigration, Refugee, and Asylum: Claudia Keith Redistricting: Norman Turrill, Chris Cobey State Audit Working Group: Sheila Golden Voting Rights of Incarcerated People: Marge Easley Jump to a topic: Campaign Finance Legislative Report Interim Technology, Cybersecurity Governance By Norman Turrill, Governance Coordinator, and Rebecca Gladstone The House and Senate Rules committees met during the interim days last week. Senate Rules met Sept. 24 to consider various executive appointments. House Rules met Sept. 25 to hear testimony about some 1259 errors made at the Dept. of Motor Vehicles in forwarding records for non-citizens to the Secretary of State for voter registrations. The good news was that only 9 of these people actually voted (out of more than 3 million registered voters), and none of them affected the results of any election. The mistakes were made by the DMV, not by the SoS, nor by the non-citizens. The DMV has stated that the errors have been corrected, will not impact the November election, and will not happen again. Campaign Finance A CFR workgroup called by Rep. Fahey began meeting via video conferencing June 3. The work group’s goals are to identify technical adjustments needed to ensure successful implementation of HB 4024 (2024) , to recommend legislative fixes for 2025, and to consider broader policy improvements for future sessions. The workgroup includes most of the groups from business, labor and Honest Elections that negotiated on HB 4024. The LWVOR is represented by Norman Turrill. Honest Elections representatives have been disappointed that the other workgroup members have so far been unresponsive to suggested changes to HB 4024. Legislative Report Interim Technology, Cybersecurity By Becky Gladstone This section addresses this volunteer’s current projects and a few interim topics from the Joint Committee on Information Management & Technology, JCIMT , for AI, linked to cyber and election security. Oregon GEOHub app exploration: Rep. Gomberg submitted a legislative concept at our request, to resemble our Vote411.org for incumbents, like our printed They Represent You. This could be more comprehensive than the LWV Find Your Elected Officials or the OLIS Find Your Legislator . Importantly, it could help facilitate data compatibility improvements between various stakeholders we’re working with in the DoR Tax Districts workgroup, for ORMAP Tools . OLIS video navigation buttons. The League is requesting the insertion of 10 or 15 second forward and back navigation buttons for OLIS video recordings, since we listen carefully, to cite deliberations accurately, and toggling the time bar is awkward. Staff will request these OLIS video player buttons from the 3rd-party vendor. They suggest we cite OLIS users' support for this improvement, from legislative staff to lobbyists to interested citizens. Watch for more information. A few Interim Technology topics: See the JCIMT agenda , materials , and video . This ambitious, well-run, compatible committee has excellent grounding from Co-Chairs with relevant professional experience, to a highly engaged, diverse membership. Sean McSpaden, Committee Admin, serves as Oregon’s representative to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), Taskforce on Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Privacy , where states are collaborating to improve cyber defenses. They will be working on the following subjects heading into the 2025 session, including anticipating our bill on a GEOHub app to Find Your Legislators. An AI update, HB 4153 Enrolled (2024) : AI is expanding our abilities, to better present existing data, for example augmenting wildfire monitoring, with cameras up 99% of the time, supporting human observers. See the OSU Wildfire Map . We recommend subscribing to Watch Duty for fires and Shake Alert for quakes. AI is more of a discipline than a technology, note the 2024 OR Cyber Resilience Summit theme, Cybersecurity in an AI World . The vigorous Oregon Cyber Advisory Council has compiled 78 recommendations, aware of concerns that AI could replace humans and ensuring that humans be in these loops, more freed from tedium to improve public service access. Cyber attacks: AI might become helpful to protect against false information blasts, against elections work and media, and cyber attacks. Think “big data” sized attacks. The WA Employment Division breach was mentioned. Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment ( BEAD ) funding: Challenges include workforce and supply chain shortages and permitting complexities. A common state permitting app, across all Oregon governments, is a candidate’s hope. A cyber placeholder bill, expect another, no mention of data centers yet. Protective phone and tablet settings for minors, change to opt-out instead of opt-in settings.