| Issue:
The state legislative session is almost over, but there
are some important issues still being decided —
most importantly, the budget. You can still make a difference
if you speak up now. But do it fast; another bill deadline
is coming up this Friday, and the legislature is scheduled
to adjourn April 22, and may even wrap up a few days earlier.
Background: A few things to consider
speaking up about:
Family
Leave Insurance: Senate Bill 5659 would
provide $250 for up to five weeks when a worker has
to take time off work to care for a seriously ill family
member or a new child. The Governor wants to add an
extra hurdle to this common-sense idea by sending it
the people for a vote. Contact the governor, the Speaker
of the House, and the Senate Majority leader and tell
them this is what we elect them to do, and that they
should pass this legislation this year.
Housing:
The House and the governor increased the Housing Trust
Fund from $100 to $140 million, but the senate left
it at the same level it was at last year. The Senate
also reduced the amount raised for homelessness services
in House Bill 1359. Contact your senator and Senate
Majority Leader Lisa Brown and ask them to include $140
in the budget for the Trust Fund, and to reinsert the
$8 document recording fee in HB 1359, because we can’t
solve the housing crisis without a commitment of new
resources.
Health
Care: While the legislature made a huge
step forward in making sure that all kids have health
coverage this session, they neglected to adequately
address adult health care by expanding the Basic Health
Plan — even though voters passed I-773 five years
ago to expand the program and provide a funding source.
Tell the governor and House and Senate leadership to
fix this mistake in the budget.
The House budget did include funding for a pilot program
offering mental health services to people who are temporarily
disabled and receiving GA-U, but the Senate did not
include this funding. Almost half the people who receive
GA-U have mental health needs and can recover and return
to work more successfully if those needs are addressed.
Tell your senator to include funding for this pilot
program in the final budget.
Sonics:
The new owners continue to lobby hard for taxes to pay
for a new arena in Renton. Through much of the session,
legislators seemed to say they weren’t interested
in buying a new basketball stadium because we had more
pressing needs. But now there seems to be a good deal
of interest in doing just that, even from the Seattle
delegation. Contact your representatives and senator
and tell them there are more important things to spend
tax dollars on, and if your legislator is from Seattle,
remind them that 75 percent of Seattle voters said no
to professional sports subsidies when they voted on
I-71 last fall.
Action: Speak up on any or all of
the issues above by calling the Legislative Hotline
at 1(800)562-6000, or find your legislators at www.leg.wa.gov.
Contact the governor at www.governor.wa.gov or call
(360)902-4111. Reach the Speaker of the House, Frank
Chopp, at chopp.frank@leg.wa.gov
or call (360)786-7920. Contact Senate Majority Leader
Lisa Brown at brown.lisa@leg.wa.gov
or (360)786-7604.
Links:
Family Leave: http://www.eoionline.org
Housing: http://capwiz.com/nlihc/issues/alert/?alertid=9598496&type=ML
Health care: http://www.savehealthcareinwa.org/action/index.php
Sonics:
http://www.citizensformoreimportantthings.org/
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