Dear Members and Friends,

Welcome to our November/December, Holiday Newsletter. For me, gratitude will underpin these two months. I sometimes forget that I am fighting for others rather than myself since I live a privileged life. I appreciate you and your activism. Your support of the NOW mission and progress on our pillar issues is more important than ever before here in FL. Women’s rights continue to be challenged globally. We will never give up on our pillar issues.

Getting signed petitions is still job #1. We need to hit our numbers in these next two months without fail. FPF, Floridians Protecting Freedom, the coalition driving the abortion ballot initiative needs money to pay paid petitioners. I want to thank all our Chapters that contributed from their coffers to FPF to keep the paid petitioners going. To be a successful at a ballot initiative, it costs $19M. We are nowhere near that number. Please help us to get there with an individual contribution to FPF-- Floridians Protecting Freedom..  Please find new events and locations to get signatures. Petition Signatures by volunteers is so important to this final push.

Since the holidays are about giving, try one or more of these:

• Buy an ad in the 2024 Conference Program book—contact Judi Marraccini
• Register for the 2024 Conference on May 3-4, Orlando—contact Judi Marraccini
• Per above give to FPF
•  Donate to your local NOW Chapter
• Buy a lifetime membership
• Buy a membership for a grandchild
• Read an important book like “White Rage”, “The Color of Money”, “The Color of Law”, “Stamped from the Beginning”
• Perform a kindness every day!
• Attend every local NOW Chapter Meeting
• Bring a friend to a local NOW Chapter Meeting
• Volunteer to be in a leadership position -contact me for FL NOW Legislative Director
• Write a Letter To the Editor
  
• LIKE our FLNOW posts every day for a week
• Up your game on petition collection, find a new event or location to do petition gathering

Other news:

The next ballot initiative, i.e., for 2026 ballot, is FL Medicaid Expansion, since our legislators and governor won’t do it. Medicaid expansion is critical for the health and well being of women and girls. The expansion would provide basic healthcare to about a million FL residents who are uninsured right now. FL would have a net gain of $6.6B from federal funding. It will also create jobs. Medicaid Expansion improves access to healthcare, less delay in obtaining healthcare, better support of hospitals, improvements in maternal and infant mortality, improved racial disparity, etc. Look for a press conference on this ballot initiative Feb 1 when the doors will open for petition collection. There will be more time to collect these petitions. Nothing to worry about right now, but it is on the horizon.

FL NOW joined State Voices of FL which is a large coalition of non-profits working voter registration, getting out the vote, election protection, and legislative advocacy. State Voices support all the non-profits with tools, training, and data in each of these areas. They give us free access to VAN the voter software for example. This is an exciting, committed group. They are driving targets from each nonprofit for getting out the vote to get a higher turnout in 2024. They are quite the resource. We will work a ‘get out the vote’ pledge card for us to use to support getting out the vote, participate in election protection (poll monitors--State Voices of FL identify the most important precincts to cover), and more. More to follow.

Digital Democracy Project is coming your way the first week of January. It is a capability for our members to vote on bills that the legislature is addressing, those votes go to the legislators to know how their constituents would vote on each bill. Then it shows the legislators' actual vote and whether the legislators supported or opposed the bill versus their constituents. It is pretty slick. It gives us a great way to apply pressure and hold these folks accountable. Please sign up with the Digital Democracy Project  using the project app to be able to make your opinion known by voting for yourself. 

We are very fortunate to have National NOW's support to conduct a Racial Equity Survey and get coaching to grow in our racial equity support. The survey identifies where the group and a person individually relate to the racial equity spectrum, so we can improve and expand. Besides the FL NOW Board, we will be including Chapter Presidents to get as much impact from this resource as possible. We will be sharing our results and what we are doing with it.

Campus NOW Chapter Support Framework is now finished with a guide and a Link Tree toolkit to support existing and new FL NOW Campus Chapters. Judi Marraccini did a fine job working on this with the Board. We would love your input. Take a look.

We will open endorsements for the 2024 election this month, November. Be ready to get out to candidates now that the forms are available.

We still need a legislative director. Please contact me to discuss.

Thanks for everything you do. It is so important to the future for women and girls. It all adds up.

Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanza, and Happy New Year to all of us.

Take Care,

Debbie

Women in Florida are struggling to survive due to the inability to meet basic needs.   Lack of affordable housing, no Medicaid expansion, reproductive health care on the line, waiting lists for childcare, low pay, domestic violence.  These issues comprise only a short list of the issues that contribute to high rates of poverty for women. Poverty can be eradicated.

 For more information, contact Laurie Scop

• Get  Abortion in the FL Constitution - Keep getting those petitions signed
• Mentor Your Local College Feminists / Help them start a Campus NOW Chapter
• Help with Voter Registration wherever and whenever you can
• SAVE The Date -May 3rd-5th The '24 FLNOW State Conference in Orlando

Constitutional Equality (ERA): Nancy Terreri - This Task Force is part of the National ERA Coalition and Fund for Women's Equality. The ERA wraps around every issue which impacts women with 280 members who will present resolutions in both chambers of the 118th US Congress. Help Nancy get the ERA into the US Constitution.  Support ERA being made law via legislative action in the 2024 session of the FL legislature.

• 2023 Feminist Calendar
• FLNOW Book Club Picks Through January 2024
• Decision Day
• Chapter Events
• Three Articles by the Climate & Environmental Justice Focus Group

The impacts of extreme weather events vary geographically but not equally. Everywhere, they are harsher on women as caregivers of family, children, parents and the poor.  Join this focus group to find out about your county's resilience plan and what members can do to move to zero waste, a very small carbon footprint, and to help limit the negative impacts on our environment.  For more information, contact Renai Collins..

Raincheck: Focus Group reschedules for 2024The Climate & Environmental Justice Focus Group (C&EJ FG) postpones its launch until 2024. Co- Chairs Dr. Penelope Canan and Rev. Renai Collins explain that personal health issues have altered their plans. They will share more information when appropriate. In the meantime, watch for short C&EJ FG articles in The Florida Feminist.

Do you have something to say?

Are you running for Office?

This Newsletter Reaches OUT to FL Feminists

$20 Buys You A Business Card Spot HERE!

Contact Judi Marraccini  For More Info.

Freedom from Violence: Kat Duesterhaus & Beck Andre - Members of this Task Force engage local Sexual Response Teams to promote the Start By Believing Program. We need members from each Chapter to work their county's Sexual Assault Response Teams to first listen, not question. Excellent presentation and coaching availiable to support review with Sexual Assault Response Teams and even the police. Join us in making FL safer for all people by advocating for survivors.

SUPPORT SB 156 / HB 137 Sen. Lauren Book / Rep. Rita Harris 

If passed, SB 156/HB 137 would prohibit the use of “gay and transgender panic” defenses in court. According to the American Bar Institution, these defenses seek to partially or completely excuse crimes such as murder and assault on the grounds that the victim's sexual orientation or gender identity is to blame for the defendant's violent reaction. Though no state explicitly allows these panic defenses, defendants across the country have used these defenses during trials.

SUPPORT SB 34 / HB 111 Sen. Lauren Book / Rep. Anna Eskamani 

This bill would decriminalize self managed abortion.  It clarifies that certain penalties relating to unlawful termination of pregnancy do not apply to the pregnant woman who terminates the pregnancy.

OPPOSE HB 93 Rep. Basabe (no corresponding Senate bill)

Proposes 12 week ban, no US mailing of abortion medication, no Telehealth for medical abortions, and abortions can only be performed in medical facilities.

Reproductive Rights: Amy Weintraub Monthly zooms are held and we need NOW members to attend, especially since the overturn of Roe v. Wade. When organizations work both in coalitions and local advocacy, they create and implement more effective and impactful actions.

Florida NOW fully supports access to safe and legal abortion, to effective birth control and emergency contraception, to reproductive health services and education for all women.

This summer the off Broadway Theater of New City featured an original play by Key West NOW member and playwright Toby Armour. “Freedom Summer” pulled from her experiences 50+ years ago when she traveled to Mississippi for voter registration. 

https://www.chelseanewsny.com/home/playwright-toby-armour-draws-on-personal-experience-for-freedom-summer-EB2553420

LGBTQIA+ Rights: Beck Andre - Does excellent work in coalition with other organizations, especially Compass Center, which is in Palm Beach County and has far reaching connections. Please join us in "Saying Gay"!

Florida NOW is committed to fighting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in all areas, including education, employment, business, housing, health services child custody, etc.

Florida Atlantic U’s LGBTQ History Month event focused on Archival work and three authors shared their research via Zoom. One exciting, 7-year, study connected a dead LGBTQ person to a living person to engage folks with the lineage for queer roots in the history of sexuality. The researcher compared the matching process to a blind date, but successfully protected some elusive histories.

PBC Compass Community Center holds a social hour with an invited speaker in their Coffee Clatch bi-monthly meeting and a monthly Book Club. We just discussed Mad Honey and all highly recommend it!

I also recommend Inverse Cowgirl: A Memoir by Alicia Roth Weigle, an intersex activist and terrific author. Salon provided an interesting interview with the author, too.

Florida NOW has been acutely concerned about how we can maintain our role as an effective force in advancing the rights of all women - today and into the future. For a long time we have recognized the need to increase engagement and membership of young women and women of Color. To this aim, we are seeking to prepare Florida NOW for diversity in the most meaningful and respectful ways. And we want to create a welcoming environment for a new generation of feminists, so that the intergenerational opportunity will make us stronger.

Dr. Heather Sanders, Director of the Restore Forward Institute/Black Women Blueprint has met with Board members to design a program specific to our goal. The initial component is an Assessment Process: to create an individual and institutional baseline so that the other components will be grounded. They include NOW in the Future: Intentional, long-term campaign to engage 14 to 30 year old women, Storytelling at the Intersection: Intentional, long-term initiative to engage women of Color, In the KNOW: Ongoing social media campaigns specifically targeted to less represented populations (i.e., youth, People of Color), and much more.

The United Nations notes that:

…[Putting gender equality at the center of climate change solutions means integrating diverse gender perspectives across holistic and enduring climate, environmental, and disaster risk reduction policies and programs.https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/explainer/2022/03/explainer-why-women-need-to-be-at-the-heart-of-climate-action

Post-disaster, women are usually at higher risk of placement in unsafe, overcrowded shelters, … where they also fear domestic and sexual violence, and become even less mobile as primary family care-givers. Poor women and those in countries of higher gender inequality appear to be at the highest risk: observers report a direct correlation between women’s status in society and their likelihood of receiving adequate health care in times of disaster and environmental stress. https://www.un.org/womenwatch/...

Similarly, when women do not enjoy economic and social rights equal to men, more women than men die in disasters. This gender discrepancy was the case in a range of major disasters, including the Asian Tsunami; Hurricane Mitch, Hurricane Katrina, and other storms in the Americas; European heat waves; and cyclones in South Asia. … The vulnerability of women to disasters is higher for a number of reasons. In the context of cyclones, floods, and other disasters that require mobility, cultural constraints on women’s movements may hinder their timely escape. Certainly, greater responsibilities for children and the elderly, as well as limited transportation options contribute to this situation.

Becoming Climate-Savvy Home Champions

There are many human activities that influence global warming; however, income and social status do not cover the causes and consequences of global warming. Across the globe, a main determinant of effective climate change behavior is related to whether householders are savvy about managing their homes with global warming in mind. It is important to recognize that women contribute to the quality of life for families and relatives everywhere. Their activities typically determine the load that the residential sector places on the regional carbon budget. Typically, they purchase goods and services, they maintain the physical living space of the home (setting thermostats!), and manage the cooking and clothes washing duties.

Like us, they may need to connect the dots between their decisions and global warming. FL NOW proposes that NOW is the time to improve our “Climate Change Savvy” at home. Encouraging women to appreciate how their behaviors at home make a big difference in the health of the local-regional-national-global atmosphere. Such a perspective is REVOLUTIONARY!

Essentially, we are embracing our leadership roles as climate change-savvy home economists where benefits to the planet are central to our personal well-being at home: socially, financially, and psychologically. Demographically, the size, gender, and age composition of families influences the distribution of resources at home. In North America, women are the “heads of household” in almost half of our residences. (Furthermore, women-as-providers are likely to be earning 80% of their male counterparts in the work force, central facts facing our members in the FL NOW Women and Economic Justice Task Force.) A wild weather event can be a devastating financial challenge for tight budgets. Speaking about psychological benefits, it is demoralizing to think that there is nothing you can do about large social problems. And, keeping track of small things can show how they add up.

Are you doing all you can manage your carbon footprint?  As FL NOW friends and members let's collectively lower our carbon footprint and reduce our waste.

- Please renew your commitment to reduce, reuse, recycle, and avoid using non-biodegradable materials.

- Don't use your heat - put on clothes.  In the cold, keep the temperature as low as possible, e.g.,68.  Saves big bucks each month.

- Keep training yourself to live and work at higher heats - less air-conditioning - raise your thermostat to 78 to 80.  Saves a lot each month.

-When you can, upgrade your A/C, water heater, dryer, etc. to take advantage of the huge energy efficiency gains of recent years.

-Drive a hybrid or electric car and enjoy not filling up your tank.  Major monthly savings.

-Use a clothesline to dry your clothes or some of them.

-Unplug most electronics and appliances when not in use.

The FL NOW Board and many local NOW chapters have contributed money to Floridians Protecting Freedom.

We need to do everything in our power to get the Abortion Initiative on the 2024 ballot.

Families Against Court Travesties (FACTS): Natalie Andre & Sheila Jaffe - Serving women and some men for over 20 years who face horrible treatment in court. FACTS created Court Watch, which adds a vital public dimension to proceedings so that the demeanor and behavior of presiding judges and attorneys, which are frequently biased against the mother, can be raised to the level of fair hearings.

Knowing what influences home energy use, as well as improving the efficiency of home space heating and cooling equipment, could go a long way to reduce monthly household expenses.

Floridians are likely to set their summer thermostats to a chilly range, between 74 and 76, while the set point that FPL recommends for electricity cost savings in the summer is 78 degrees. Restaurants are notorious for setting the temperature way too cold for most customers, but with an eye to the cook stage and servers.

Do not hesitate to ask for a temperature adjustment in the thermostat. (Most clothes do not look good with a parka!) Of course, home comfort varies, but we’ are all in this together. Maybe you want to experiment with a notch (or two) higher in cooling setpoints. At night, say to yourself, “I can take off these warm pajamas” or, “Let’s see what a difference it makes if I use add a bedroom fan on low all night.” Maybe try an experiment for one month and see if you save on your next electricity bill (kWh consumed, not cost as costs include all sorts of fees and fluctuating fossil fuel prices.) It is still pleasant at 79 in the daytime and 78 at night especially with the right fans. Our Focus Group could adopt a new item for sale at the state conference: “Fans of Fans.” Or start taking a fan to meetings or have a fan by your TV.

Of course, the exact impact of a one-degree change in your HVAC thermostat depends on several factors, such as the size of your home, insulation, and weather conditions, number of residents. Here are many other ways to find savings in our homes without touching the thermostat:

• Program your thermostat to turn up the temperature when you are not home.

• Close curtains and blinds during the day.

• Have your air conditioning serviced yearly to ensure it operates efficiently. Use Tune-Up incentives to save up to $50 on this service.

• When on vacation, turn up the thermostat even more.

• Make sure the lights you use are LED.

• Consider adding shade screens to your windows.

• Add shade trees to help block the sun’s heat. Plant low water use shade trees in front of south, east, or west facing windows to keep sunlight from heating up your home in the summer months.

• Tightly caulk around windows, door frames, sill plates and wherever air might leak through exterior walls, floors, or ceiling.

• Reduce the use of your oven, try to microwave instead.

• Turn off unnecessary lights and appliances.

• Change your air filters monthly to improve performance and efficiency of your air conditioning.

In Florida there are several programs that may improve a home’s insulation, replace deadbeat heaters, old refrigerators etc. Householders can request energy audits from their energy provider. Plus, homeowners may participate in the US Dept. of Energy Home Energy Rebates program for energy efficiency and electrification projects under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, implemented by Florida’s state energy office. Floridians can also consider the Florida PACE Funding Agency, a public entity that provides financing options for energy-efficient and hurricane-resistant home improvements. PACE stands for Property Assessed Clean Energy. It allows homeowners to finance up to 100% of the cost of eligible improvements, with repayment terms of up to 25 years.

Finally, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) offers short-term assistance to eligible low-income families to help pay utility bills. Another program that assists homeowners in Florida with energy efficiency improvements is the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), designed to help low-income families reduce their energy bills by making their homes more energy-efficient. WAP provides free home energy audits and offers services such as insulation, weather stripping, and minor home repairs.

The State of Florida has listed 71 county locations to the 2023 - 2024 STATEWIDE FLOODING AND SEA LEVEL RISE RESILIENCE PLAN. A network of state agencies[i] coordinate them. Florida is vulnerable to flooding, sea-level rise, and hurricanes. In terms of managing evacuations and shelters during extreme weather events, public agencies are clustered under a division of emergency management. A Registry of persons with special needs is located within the state’s Department of Health. Each county has water disaster relief shelters.

The world is now open to women’s unique perspectives on the environment and invites women to enter policy discussions and decision-making roles. Feminists should be part of the solutions for environmental protection. Over time, improving conscientious management of home energy could be economical and even lifesaving. FL NOW supports all citizens to be part of the solutions to the climate crisis.

After all, we folks in the northern hemisphere must own this global problem as our own (it is) and lead by transforming our own economies to be sustainable, not exploitative. This means that, as individual members of FL NOW and as members of the global community, we must do all that we can do! Let’s talk about it.

The Honorable Rene Flowers has agreed to be the FL NOW spokesperson for all things racial justice related.  She will be issuing press releases to address the injustices going right now.  The first one was recently released.

Florida NOW continues to fight for equal opportunities and support for women of color in all areas including employment, education & health care.

Congratulations to the recipients of the 2023 Connie Gilbert Scholarship Awards which totaled $8000. this year! Through an application and selection process, Monroe County female identifying women can receive monetary assistance to further their education through college or certifications. Now we begin fundraising for 2024. Note one recipient was represented by her dad as she is at college. The three others, who were unable to attend, will receive theirs individually.

https://facebook.com/events/s/key-west-fundraiser-for-florid/619671333671737/
To register: allie@Floridawomensfreedomcoalition.com
To donate: http://Bit.ly/FWFC-KeyWest

ABORTION ACCESS PETITION CAMPAIGN UPDATE

WE ARE AT THE MOST CRITICAL POINT TO SUCCEED

Background:

The law requires 60% voter approval for a citizen initiative to become an Amendment on the Florida Constitution. To qualify to be on the 2024 Ballot, Floridians Protecting Freedom (FPF) began the process to make abortion accessible and to keep government out of women’s healthcare decisions in May 2023.

We have until December 31, 2023 to meet requirements.

To Date:

The specific number of certified petitions required is 892,000. The State has certified 491,589 (more than half) and thousands more are awaiting its review.

FPF set our goal at 1.2 million to allow for rejections. The rate of rejected petitions statewide is 10% for volunteers (you and me) due mostly to signatures not matching the SOE records. We must double check that each petition has been filled out as instructed, i.e., no abbreviations, county not country, no delays in delivering batches to hubs, and correct signature (if a question, voters can check FL Driver Licenses).

We have met the 222,881 number of certified petitions required to have the Florida Supreme Court rule on the petition’s language. The Court has not yet set a date for this hearing. It may not until Spring!

Specific numbers of valid petitions based on respective percentages per congressional district of 14 of the 28 must be met. Here are some reports: PBC has reached 78%, Pinellas 69%, Miami Dade 67%, Hillsborough 69%, Duval 61%.

HARD FACTS:

Many parts of Florida been amazing in its support of women’s healthcare choice. BUT, all volunteers need to push even harder to cross the finish line by December 31. Please be creative - carry clipboards to movies, MD offices, family gatherings, county events, all public places are in play. Until women have equality before the law (until the ERA is published), this may be our last direct effort for women’s healthcare rights in Florida.

Believe it or not, Citizen Initiatives cost millions of dollars (to pay petitioners, SOE costs, and more). FPF has depleted its $9M fund. It desperately needs donations. If you are able, please donate to (FPF) <floridians="" protecting="" freedom.com="" donate<="" a>="">.

IT IS NOW UP TO US!

We need you to take a few minutes a day to CLICK for FLNOW!
Did you know that FLNOW has a Facebook Page? 

The link is:  https://www.facebook.com/FLNOW

Please "like" our posts and repost them DAILY -- including sharing them to your chapter's FB page.

Thanks for the CLICK for FLNOW!