URGENT: Upcoming WA Caucus! (+Legislative actions)
Seriously, this is important!
The March Caucus is fast-approaching, so those even thinking you might be interested: Become a member to reserve your right to participate!
Voting at the Caucus (which selects delegates for the State Convention) requires 43rd folks to have already been a member by Feb. 24. (FYI, Delegates will have to declare by April 1-ish if they will attend in person or virtually.)
What happens at a State Convention? Only helping decide the Democratic platform that will be in place for the next two years, resolutions, and amendments to the State Party Charter and Bylaws. It's kind of a big deal. We'll send even more info soon!
Upcoming Virtual Town Hall
If you'd like to ask questions of our 43rd legislators this weekend, be sure to submit them ahead of time! Regardless, tune in at 1pm this Saturday, Feb. 19, to watch via Facebook or YouTube.
Our February Meeting
There was admittedly a lot going on Feb. 15th! Most people had overlapping meetings, not to mention the legislative cut-off date that evening, and organizers separately preparing for a "sick-out" to demonstrate their importance as workers. But don't worry, if you missed the meeting, you can watch it here!
Legislative Actions & Updates
On behalf of our Policy & Advocacy Committee, we'd like to share some of our legislative priority actions actions discussed during the meeting with you all:
Climate-Intersecting-with-Housing Bills
SB 5042, closing the Growth Management Act (GMA) sprawl loophole, has a hearing TOMORROW! So sign in "PRO" by 12:30pm! (do not list an organization or us so we're not just lumped in to one effort instead of many different individuals)
HB 1099, adding climate resiliency & environmental justice into our GMA, is scheduled for a vote in the Senate Housing and Local Government Committee tomorrow at 8AM. While WA Can't Wait is confident there won't be an issue in the Committee, you can still let Representatives know that we want them to vote YES on HB 1099! Here's who's voted for and against it so far.
HB 1220, which adds affordable housing requirements into the GMA and passed last year, will ideally see a budget proviso so that the state will provide funds to community organizations to do outreach to and engage folks who otherwise aren't typically sought in urban planning.
Relatedly, HB 1769—advancing housing affordability by sunsetting the legal authority of municipal corporations to veto land use decisions—would help HB 1220 fully apply to the entire state. It thankfully passed out of the House by the Feb. 15 deadline, and now sits in the Sen. Housing & Local Government Committee.
Equitable justice-related bills
HB 1406/SB 5426, the Billionaire wealth tax that would only impact 12 whole people in Washington state, could technically be revivable at any time because it has a fiscal note but it looks like legislators are aiming to let it sit on the bench. Instead, Democrats are flouting a one-time "holiday sales tax" (HB 2018) like it makes up for not making the ultra-rich pay their fair share. A whole coalition of organizations sent a letter to House leadership asking that they instead prioritize tax reform that helps those with the least. [Note: The 43rd Dems do not officially have a stance on this latter bill.] It's also of note that our very own Sen. Jamie Pedersen has told 43rd members before how he doesn't support a wealth tax.
Relatedly, all of the other tax reform bills (an estate tax, an inheritance tax, and Guaranteed Basic Income) already died on the vine this year. Shout out to Poverty Action Network's Shaun Scott for his fabulous testimony on GBI and to Balance Our Tax Code's efforts around, well, our backwards taxes.
After HB 1782, an effort to add missing middle housing, was largely gutted (down to only a half mile from high-frequency transit but with reduced density, now defines "courtyard apartments" as six units instead of four, and generally slows down new housing), it didn't make the Feb. 15 cut-off.
Note: The 43rd does seek $500 million at minimum in the budget for low Area-Median-Income (AMI) housing!
Police Accountability
Just like the rest of the police accountability bills this year, Community Oversight Boards died early this session.
Instead, some of our very own Democrats are proposing bills left and right to roll back the accountability efforts won last session, despite the pleas of families affected by police violence. [Again, the 43rd Dems have no official standing here; this is just FYI.] Some examples of this: SB 5919 which would allow police to use physical force at any brief investigatory stops, including traffic stops, and allows more incredibly dangerous vehicular pursuits (Sen. Pedersen voted no!) + HB 2037 which would allow police to use physical force and fire to stop someone from running away during a Terry stop, and unfortunately it passed the House by a wide margin (but both our Reps. Nicole Macri and Frank Chop voted no!)
Democracy Bills
The local options bill for Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV) bill (HB 1156) unfortunately didn't make the Feb. 15 cut-off. That said, advocates did win an hour-long work session with legislators that's to-be-aired. (Normally, it's just 15 minutes.)
Likewise, the presidential primaries RCV bill (SB 5851) died after the first Feb. 7 cut-off.
Keep your eye on the bill trying to update our state's Voting Rights Act, though! Certainly provides some remedies after our state's redistricting mess in Yakima. Votes so far have been straight down party lines (surprise, surprise).
Education
One of our priorities is increased and equitable education funding according to the McCleary decision...but we haven't heard much talk on this at all...
Transportation
Despite the amazing Move Ahead WA campaign's best efforts to "fix it first" and center public transportation in the state's transportation budget, it looks like Democrats' transportation package includes $4 billion for highway expansion. More deets here. Shout out generally to Disability Rights Washington, Front & Centered, Transportation Choices Coalition, and 350 Seattle's valiant efforts to push our state to actually meet its professed climate values.
