A Message from the Presidents

Dear League Members and Friends, This is a moment of transition for our League. As I close out my term as your co-president, I want to thank every member who showed up this year — at tabling events, at Council meetings, at Cordova High School and CSUS and the ASPA awards dinner, at the Water Forum, and at Antiquité on the evening we honored Isela Bravo and Tina Reynolds. Serving alongside you has been the honor of my civic life. Read More

Lilli Duval and Claudia Bonsignore

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Spotlight

Unite & Rise for Voting Rights

On Saturday, August 15, 2026 from 2:30 to 5:30 PM, the League of Women Voters of Sacramento County will host Unite & Rise for Voting Rights, a Day of Action for members and community partners committed to protecting the freedom to vote. The event is planned for the Arden Arcade Library, 2443 Marconi Avenue, Sacramento 95821, with a possible move to Oak Park Community Center if space allows. Save the date and watch the LWVSC website for confirmation.

The afternoon will bring together members, partner organizations, and neighbors for training, dialogue, and hands-on registration work heading into the November election. Voter ID, mail-in voting, redistricting, and the SAVE Act have dominated national headlines all summer. Unite & Rise is our chance to move from watching the news to doing the work.

If you would like to help plan, table, or bring a friend, contact Norma Nelson at nnorma31@gmail.com or 510-754-6353. Every hand matters, and every conversation counts.

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League in Action

LWVUS Convention — Columbus, Ohio

By Carol McKee Marque From June 25 to 28, more than 1,000 delegates from Leagues across the country gathered in Columbus, Ohio for the 57th Biennial LWVUS Convention, this year themed "Women Unite & Rise." Sacramento County was represented by Melanie Arechiga, Carol McKee Marque, Norma Nelson, and Lexie Tesch. Delegates spent four days in policy debate, workshops, and community-building. Highlights included the adoption of the Washington state immigrant-rights position, a floor debate on proposed changes to Article IX of the League bylaws, and a sustained focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion in League leadership and programs. Several sessions returned to the same core question: how do we defend the freedom to vote in every state, in every language, and for every voter? We came home with new relationships, new ideas, and a renewed sense that our local work is part of a much larger movement. Read More

Newsletter Now Public

Our monthly newsletter, The Voter, is now viewable from the LWVSC Homepage under "News and Resources" so you can easily go back and read past issues or share with friends, family, and your network. If our website links do not work in your browser, type https://lwvsacramento.org directly into the address bar. Login issues from the earlier ClubExpress security incident are still being resolved.

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Action Opportunities

National Voter Registration Day

Tuesday, September 15, 2026, 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM. Volunteers will table at five Sacramento-area colleges: CSUS, American River College, Cosumnes River College, Folsom Lake College, and Sacramento City College. Site leads: Carolyn Peth (ARC), Marge Patzer (Cosumnes River), and Claudia Bonsignore (Sac City). To volunteer, contact Marge Patzer at margepatzer@gmail.com or 209-815-5787.

Vote411 Team Recruitment

Claudia Bonsignore and Karen Redman are building a two-person Vote411 team for the November general election, with statewide training from LWV California scheduled for the first week of August. If you would like to help voters access nonpartisan candidate and ballot information, email Claudia at cbonsignore@cavote411.org.

Help Sacramento Voters Rank Their Vote

Better Ballot Sacramento continues gathering signatures to qualify ranked choice voting for city elections. Contact Paula Lee at (916) 704-0195 or paula.lee@comcast.net.

Defeat Proposition 39

LWV California is leading the statewide coalition to defeat the voter ID initiative on the November ballot. Watch the LWVC newsletter for talking points and local action opportunities.

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Please login to lwvsacramento.org for member-only information. Check the Calendar weekly, as new events and news from California and National League are posted regularly.

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News Reel

Sacramento County adopts $8.9 billion budget after difficult cuts.

The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors approved an $8.9 billion budget on a 4-1 vote, with Board Chair Rosario Rodriguez casting the lone dissent. Facing a roughly $101 million shortfall driven largely by federal Medicaid changes, the county cut $57 million from general fund departments and eliminated 194.5 full-time positions across the Sheriff's Office, District Attorney, Public Defender, and social services. After public testimony, supervisors restored $9.9 million, including $7.9 million to the Sheriff's Office for the Homeless Outreach Team, Marine Patrol, gang suppression, and identity theft units. Read more from the Sacramento Bee.

County ends foster youth transportation contract.

The Board of Supervisors ended the county's $450,000 contract with HopSkipDrive, which had provided school and medical-appointment transportation for foster youth. Child welfare advocates warned that missed school days and missed appointments carry real long-term costs for children already navigating instability. The elimination took effect June 30. Read more from CBS Sacramento.

Supervisors reverse course on the Sheriff's POP team.

On July 15, in a rare mid-cycle reconsideration, the Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to restore funding for the Sheriff's Problem-Oriented Policing (POP) team, which had been on the chopping block a month earlier. A parallel discussion about funding for the District Attorney's misdemeanor unit was postponed until September, when the state budget picture will be clearer. Read more from KCRA 3.

Governor Newsom signs $351.7 billion state budget.

Governor Gavin Newsom signed his final state budget on June 29, a $351.7 billion spending plan that delays some deeper cuts into 2027-28 and preserves a $900 million commitment to local homelessness funding. The budget raises revenue through a new sales tax on business software, a higher tax on commercial health plans, and a cap on corporate tax credits, while restoring most of the Medi-Cal reductions Newsom had proposed in May. Advocates for immigrant health coverage, in-home supportive services, and subsidized childcare welcomed the softer landing but flagged that harder choices are only postponed. Read more from the Los Angeles Times.

California's November ballot is set with 14 statewide measures.

On June 25, Secretary of State Shirley Weber certified the final list of 14 statewide propositions on the November 3 ballot, spanning elections, housing, taxes, environment, and healthcare. Voters will decide on an $11.25 billion affordable housing bond (Prop 1), a doubling of the state's rainy day fund (Prop 2), a one-time billionaire wealth tax (Prop 40), and — of particular interest to the League — Proposition 39, the voter identification and citizenship verification measure. Read more from CalMatters.

LWV California leads the coalition against Proposition 39.

Proposition 39 would amend the California Constitution to require government-issued ID at the polls, ID information on mail-ballot envelopes, and annual county-level reporting on citizenship verification. The League of Women Voters of California, ACLU California Action, and California Donor Table are leading the statewide opposition, arguing the measure would create new obstacles for women, seniors, voters with disabilities, and communities of color. Read more from KQED.

Trump's election speech lands with a "whimper," and the SAVE Act remains stalled.

On July 16, President Trump devoted a rare primetime address to demanding that Congress pass the SAVE (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility) America Act, which would require documentary proof of citizenship to register for federal elections, impose photo ID at the polls, and sharply restrict mail voting. The speech landed with what the New York Times described as a "whimper" among Republicans on Capitol Hill, and House Speaker Mike Johnson is now attempting a workaround by folding roughly $10 billion in SAVE-related grants into a $95 billion budget reconciliation bill. Even that vehicle faces internal Republican resistance and Senate parliamentary hurdles. Read more from the New York Times and Reuters.

Federal judge halts the Postal Service's mail-ballot rule.

On July 1, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan in Washington, D.C. blocked the U.S. Postal Service from implementing a proposed rule that would have refused delivery of mail ballots in states that did not share detailed voter roll data with federal agencies. Sullivan found the rule violated a 2021 legal settlement governing USPS mail-handling practices, and the decision effectively supersedes an earlier June 25 ruling in Boston that had already blocked the underlying executive order. Read more from the New York Times and CNN.

Supreme Court upholds mail-ballot grace periods.

On June 29, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that states may count mail ballots received after Election Day, provided they are postmarked by the deadline. The decision preserved Mississippi's five-day grace period and, with it, similar laws in 14 other states plus the District of Columbia — including California. Two justices appointed by Republican presidents joined the three liberal justices in the majority. Read more from the Associated Press and NPR.

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Member Submissions

Member submissions are authored by submitting members. They may be lightly edited for formatting and the occasional error. If you are a member and would like to be featured, please email tommy.civicsoutreach@tommyyap.com. 

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Welcome New Members

Jeri Willoh
Angie Rooney

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Previous Issues

February 2026 March 2026 April 2026 May 2026 July 2026

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