March 23, 2006

On March 8, the Washington State Legislature adjourned after a 60-day session. During the two months they were at work in Olympia, we asked our readers to take action on important issues of fairness and justice. Please take a minute to say thank you to your legislators for the good that came out of this session and another minute to contact an advocacy group to help support future efforts. If you don’t already receive Real Change’s email alerts sign up at the top of the main page.

We asked you to support House Bill 2418, expanding affordable housing. You did, and the bill passed the legislature and was funded in the budget at $21 million. This was one of the biggest successes this session. Please take a minute to let your legislators know that you believe providing funds for affordable housing is the best way to end homelessness in our state, and that you are pleased this bill was passed and funded. To stay up to date on state-level homeless issues, please contact SethDawson@worldnet.att.net or visit www.wliha.org.

We asked you to support House Bill 2002, the Foster Youth Achievement Act, to extend foster care for young adults up to age 21 enrolled in college or vocational training. You did, and House Bill 2002 was passed and funded. Now youth who work hard to advance their education will continue to have the support of their foster families. Please let your legislators know that you appreciate the passage and funding of House Bill 2002. To learn more about this and related issues, contact the Mockingbird Society at www.mockingbirdsociety.org.

We asked you to support funding for health care for low-income children and families. The final budget provided $10 million for the Children’s Health Program to provide health care for 14,000 kids in Washington state, $12 million to increase enrollment in the state Basic Health Plan by 6,500 people, and restored $2 million in funding for community health clinics. Let your legislators know that you believe investing in health care for low-income people in our state is one of the best ways to prevent homelessness and save us all money in expensive emergency-room care. For more information about this issue, contact the Children’s Alliance at www.childrensalliance.org or Save Health Care in Washington at www.savehealthcareinwashington.org.

We also asked you to support a version of the national Fair Share Health Care Act, requiring businesses to either offer health coverage to their employees or pay into a fund to expand subsidized health care, payday lending reform to reduce predatory lending practices, and a clean elections bill allowing local governments the option to fund campaigns and reduce the influence of big money in politics. These issues all got part of the way through the process and will be back in some form next year. You can help by contacting the following organizations and asking to receive their action alerts so you’ll know the best time to make your voice heard.

Fair Share Health Care: Washington State Labor Council; www.wslc.org.

Payday Lending: Statewide Poverty Action Network; www.povertyaction.org.

Clean Elections: Washington Public Campaigns; www.washclean.org.