Today we start March (again) which is also the start of the 12th month of Covid safety. 

We also wrap up #BlackHistoryMonth and move into #WomensHistoryMonth, with that we are reminded that we much celebrate Black history every day, as it is US history and Arkansas history.

Stay strong and safe,

Gracie Ziegler

AFDW President

gracieziegler@gmail.com

479-466-2735

ACTION ITEMS

1. Call the Governor – ask him to VETO the #BadBills on his desk, his # is 501-682-2345 
2. Check for vaccine availability near you - https://www.vaccinespotter.org/AR/
3. Call a friend in another part of the state and share this email with them so they can learn about the work AFDW is doing. 

Join us on March 24 at 6 pm for our annual WOMEN IN BLUE event! 

We will host a virtual WOMEN IN BLUE program and invite you to plan to attend.

Please contact the following committees and your elected officials about these #BadBills: 

Both of these bills are with the HOUSE CITY, COUNTY & LOCAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE - http://bit.ly/ARHouseCityCountyLocalAffairs 

•    HB1223 (Underwood) - The back the blue act. 
•    HB1544 (Underwood) - To affirm the right of a municipality to declare the municipality a pro-life city. 

These bills are completely unnecessary. 

#SB6 will go to the House Committee on Public Health, Welfare, and Labor on Tuesday. Contact these members and ask them to vote NO. 
https://bit.ly/ARHousePublicHealth

You can always use https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/ to see what’s happening day-to-day. We’ve also made a page on our AFDW website to help make it easier to see a full view of meetings and bills to watch out for and contact committees about - check it out here: https://www.arkansasdemocraticwomen.com/arleg-watch 

Behind the Scenes!
We need your help to track bills, organize information, and support the information that needs to be shared. 

COMMITTEES OF AFDW

• Rules, Resolutions, and Revisions - review the Bylaws annually and make recommendations to the Executive Board 
• Programming - works to plan programming throughout the year and the AFDW annual convention every August
• Fundraising -  planning and  implementing fundraising events
• County auxiliary expansion - shall work with counties not yet affiliated to kick off affiliation and monitor progress, reporting, start-up, etc.
• Candidate recruitment - as simple as asking your friends and neighbors to run for office and helping them get the tools they need to move forward with filing

Additional work being done by volunteers

• Track Bills - we have a digital log of bills that are filed each week. Can you help by researching a few and adding notes and key points? 
• Organize Data - we're making it easier to contact different committees and groups. Can you help with some data entry work? 
• Communications - Share and Create Content - we want to make sure no matter where you are online or not, you can get up-to-date information from AFDW. We need members to share from our Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts to their own pages and groups to help signal boost and amplify.
  • Just click that SHARE button anytime you see new material. 
  • Share the information when you're talking to your friends on the phone or safely if you are gathering with friends or family. 
• Register Voters - it's never too early to register to VOTE. Be sure to ask everyone you know if they are registered and ask them to confirm their voter information is still accurate. You can do this by visiting VoterView.