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Lunell Haught, President Ann Murphy, Lobby Team Chair |
March 8, 2020 Vol. 52, Issue 10 |
Empowering Voters. Defending Democracy.
Support the League by donating to our Advocacy or Education funds here.
Welcome to League Action!
If you are a returning participant, thank you for your actions, and more opportunities are below. If you are new to this Legislative Newsletter, here are some helpful tips to get started.
In this Final Week of the Legislature, Action is Still Needed!
There are still opportunities for Action. Please check our Action Alerts TODAY! Be sure to act quickly — status of bills can change daily and our Alerts may no longer be timely.
Proposed budgets can be reviewed here, under Documents and Lists. Click on legislative proposals and then you will see the operating, transportation and capital budget proposals. Action needs to happen on these budgets by Thursday.
If you do nothing else TODAY, these are the most important actions you can take. Responding to these alerts is a great way for you to have a big impact with a very small investment of time. Please act TODAY!
If you think that you may have missed an earlier Action Alert – the alerts for this session can be found here.
Bold Budgeting Needed to Address Homelessness
In this last week of the Legislative session, final decisions will be made on both Operating and Capital budgets. Both House and Senate have been generous in their initial budget proposals for expenditures on programs to aid people in need of housing, but the House Capital budget is especially bold and designates the larger appropriation to very specific high-impact categories: supportive housing and shelter. League members and supporters can help address this issue by letting their legislators know – both Representatives and Senators – that we would appreciate adopting the House form of the budget.
Please use this alert to notify your legislators that you want them to support the House budgets.
Status and Actions Needed for Legislative Priorities
Are you interested in following a specific issue that the League is? Please click on your area(s) of interest to see the status of bills that a specific Issue Chair is working on and what action is needed this week. The issue web pages include the Lobby Team contact information, League positions, and history of bills the League is tracking for this Legislative session. Please realize that you do not need to follow all of these – only select your area of interest and know that there will be others selecting other areas.
DEMOCRACY
Elections: *NEW UPDATES* Success for bills encouraging youth voting and citizen engagement and providing state support for election funding and outreach to underrepresented voters.
Census & Redistricting: *NEW UPDATES* Create a transparent, accessible, and representative process.
Campaign Finance & Government Ethics: *NEW UPDATES* Bill to fight foreign campaign interference moves forward, PDC request bill amended to remove most important component and add restrictions.
Election Security: *NEW UPDATES* Ensure secure, accurate, transparent elections.
FIGHTING CLIMATE CHANGE & ITS EFFECTS
Climate Change: *NEW UPDATES* Reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enact measures to promote climate resiliency.
Energy: *NEW UPDATES* Advocate for clean and renewable sources, and safe transport and storage.
NATURAL RESOURCES: Protect and restore:
Forests & Rivers: *NEW UPDATES* Protect our forests from wildfires and preserve as important carbon sinks. Protect our free-flowing rivers from dams, disturbance, and depletion.
Water: *NEW UPDATES* Protect the quality and quantity of our water supply.
ENSURING SOCIAL JUSTICE
Criminal Justice: *NEW UPDATES* Eradicate racial bias and uphold principles of fairness.
Economic Justice: *NEW UPDATES* Create equitable outcomes and opportunities for all; prevent and reduce poverty.
Education: *NEW UPDATES* Fully fund K-12 and student support services.
Gun Safety: *NEW UPDATES* Enact sensible gun safety measures.
Housing & Homelessness: *NEW UPDATES* Ensure affordable housing for all.
Healthcare, Behavioral Health, & Reproductive Rights: *NEW UPDATES* Ensure affordable and accessible healthcare for all.
ESTABLISHING FAIR REVENUE
Revenue: *NEW UPDATES* Balanced, fair, adequate, flexible tax structure.
Transportation: *NEW UPDATES* Achieve balanced, appropriately funded, environmentally sound multi-modal transportation system.
Click here for a list of Lobby Team members and contact info.
Other Sources of Information
TVW, Washington's public affairs network, provides gavel-to-gavel coverage of Washington State Legislature sessions and coverage of the Washington State Supreme Court and public affairs events.
The Washington State Legislature website has links to helpful legislative information of all kinds.
You are encouraged to invite others to take action by sharing the Legislative Newsletter subscription link, Action Alerts, and Calendar Events. You can also help support the League's work by donating to the Advocacy or Education fund here.
If you are curious about all that a bill goes through, click here.
March 10 – Presidential Primary. See here for what is different about this election.
March 12 – Last day allowed for regular session.
Washington State Legislature – Agendas, schedules, and calendars for 2020 session.
