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eridani
(51,907 posts)arlier this month, we announced our new name: Washington Bikes. It expresses our vision for the future--one in which more and more of Washington bikes every day.
And while it looks like the state legislature is finally getting close to investing in our transportation system, current proposals don’t go far enough to build the vision we all want.
That’s why we need you to contact legislators now.
The proposed $12 billion package will spend less than just 2%--two pennies out of a dollar!--on giving you and me alternatives to being stuck in traffic and spending our hard-earned dollars at the pump.
Thursday the State Senate Transportation Committee will hear testimony on this $12 billion transportation proposal. Your legislators need to hear from you today that every day more and more of Washington bikes, walks, and takes transit and a balanced, sensible transportation package will invest accordingly.
This package will guide transportation investment over the next decade. Just some of the reasons we think two cents should instead be two dimes—things you can tell your legislators about why they should dedicate 20% of the new funding to biking, walking, and transit:
•Your needs: Rapid increases in the number of Washingtonians who can’t, won’t, or shouldn’t drive alone, from youth to seniors, who need to get to school, work, a doctor’s appointment or the grocery store.
•Local interest: High demand from communities across the state for investments in bike/walk projects for more comfortable connections that encourage healthy transportation and help create room on the streets for those who do need to drive.
•State interest: At stake—whether or not people and goods can get where they need to go (the person in the bike lane or bus next to you isn’t in the car in front of you!) and whether our kids can walk and bike to school safely.
Add in the fact that bike/walk projects actually create more jobs per dollar invested than traditional road projects (40%-50% more, one study found), and we think this approach is smart for all of Washington.
eridani
(51,907 posts)A 21st century transportation system for Washington
Olympia is is debating a transportation package that doubles-down on a failed strategy. We need a smart transportation package that serves Washinton families, reduces greenhouse gasses and reflects our community values.
Act now and tell your legislator to fund OUR vision for a sustainable Washington.
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eridani
(51,907 posts)http://wabikes.org/transportation-advocacy-day/
TAKING THE FIGHT TO OLYMPIA
Join us on February 27th
Transportation Advocacy Day is right around the corner! On February 27th, join fellow citizen lobbyists in Olympia to fight for transit funding, safer streets and healthier communities.
We need you in Olympia more than ever! Transportation is center stage... Whether its transit agencies facing devastating cuts, or the disturbing rise in cyclist and pedestrian deaths. Be a part of the solution.
Join us by bus, train, or Zipcar and make your voice heard on January 31st. Advocacy Day is free and registering will take 2 minutes of your day. Our goal is to reach 200 participants, so please sign up today,
You can help us create a better future for transportation in Washington State.
Sincerely,
Kate Whiting
Field Director
Transportation Choices
eridani
(51,907 posts)Track and comment on bills, and lots of other neat stuff
http://www.leg.wa.gov/pages/home.aspx
liberal_at_heart
(12,081 posts)eridani
(51,907 posts)--even if you aren't in the 36th LD.
liberal_at_heart
(12,081 posts)eridani
(51,907 posts)Olympia, WA
Mark your calendars and rally the troops; on January 20 we are reinventing our Lobby Day.
Every year we bring hundreds of advocates, just like you, to Olympia to take action on the issues that matter most. In 2013, over 200 of our members joined us to make change. This year we hope you will join us again!
You told us, we listened. After reading your feedback we made some exciting changes and are working hard to make this Lobby Day as meaningful as possible. We are finalizing lobby day plans now, and we think it will be our strongest yet. We have amazing workshops and trainings lined up, more legislative appointments scheduled, streamlined transportation options, and some great swag too!
Registration will open soon. Be sure to visit our website for the most up to date information about our Lobby Day. See you in Olympia on Monday, January 20!
WA State Poverty Action
eridani
(51,907 posts)February 3, 2014 from 11 am to 3 pm at the State Capitol in Olympia
You've saved the date. We've lined up trainings, transportation, and meetings with your lawmakers. And today, registration is open
Sign up now for Reproductive Health and Rights Lobby Day 2014.
https://org2.salsalabs.com/o/5757/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=69358
Together we can send a strong, face-to-face message to our lawmakers in Olympia that reproductive freedom matters to our state, and that every woman's right to the full spectrum of reproductive choices must be upheld by our legislators.
When all pro-choice voices come together, we can win.
Questions? Check out our Lobby Day FAQ, http://www.prochoicewashington.org/events/rhr-lobby-day.shtml or send an email to TiffanyHankins@ProChoiceWashington.org
See you on the Capitol steps. Thank you for everything you do!
Sincerely,
Tiffany Hankins, Field Director
eridani
(51,907 posts)http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=5955&year=2013
This is to notify you that SB 5955 is scheduled for a public hearing in the Senate Financial Institutions, Housing & Insurance Committee on January 16, 2014 at 1:30 pm in Senate Hearing Room 2.
Please see the link below to the Financial Institutions, Housing and Insurance Committee’s agenda:
http://www.leg.wa.gov/Senate/Committees/FIHI/Pages/Agendas.aspx
eridani
(51,907 posts)Community to Community wholeheartedly supports HB-1874, the Trust Act. When we say we want healthy and safe communities we also mean that all of our neighbors and families are included in these conversations. In the past 9 years we have seen the negative impacts and criminalization of immigrants and people of color through programs like Secure Communities program grow. Locally in Whatcom and Skagit County thousands of our friends and neighbors have been detained and deported for minor offenses such as broken tail lights or speeding; this means that thousands of families have been torn apart.
We also have seen a rise in racial profiling by local law enforcement officers and an informal cooperation with Border Patrol Agents on the roads and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the jails. This has created a climate of fear and distrust and is unraveling the safety net of local law enforcement who are here to assist the most vulnerable in our community when they need help.
HB-1874 seeks to “Provide essential safeguards to address serious concerns raised by the (Secure Communities) programs detrimental effects on public safety, community policing, and civil liberties”.
Please send an email to REP. LUIS MOSCOSO, the sponsor of the bill, thanking him for his leadership and ask why this bill hasn't been scheduled for a hearing yet. Please cc: SPEAKER FRANK CHOPP, MAJORITY LEADER PAT SULLIVAN, AND PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE CHAIR ROGER GOODMAN.
Rep. Luis Moscoso - luis.moscoso@leg.wa.gov
Speaker Frank Chopp - frank.chopp@leg.wa.gov
Majority Leader Pat Sullivan - pat.sullivan@leg.wa.gov
Rep. Roger Goodman - roger.goodman@leg.wa.gov
KEEP SENDING E-MAILS AND MAKING CALLS UNTIL WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN A DATE AND TIME FOR THE HEARING – AND PLENTY OF TIME – WE CANNOT HAVE A REPEAT OF LAST YEAR, THE TRUST ACT WAS LISTED AS THE LAST BILL TO BE HEARD AND THEN “TIME RAN OUT” AND THE BILL WAS NOT HEARD!
HB-1874 is in danger of not even being allowed to receive a hearing. We are urging our friends to spread the word and call and e-mail Speaker of the House Frank Chopp and to let him know that this bill is important to all of us. We also would encourage e-mails and calls of support to Rep. Luis Moscoso who has been working tirelessly for over a year on getting a hearing for the Trust Act.
The Washington State DREAM Act gave hope to students, now let us continue the work of ensuring that everyone in their families have a chance to contribute and feel welcomed in all of our communities.
In Solidarity and Si Se Puede!
Edgar Franks
Community to Community
Formación Cívica/Campaign to End Racial Profiling
Office:360-738-0964
Cell:360-391-4561
eridani
(51,907 posts)CALL TO ACTION!!
SUPPORT HB1874
SUPPORT FAMILIAS UNIDAS POR LA JUSTICIA!
Monday February 10, 2014
On the Capitol grounds in Olympia WA
Meet at the North corner of the Legislative Building
onCherry Lane SW at 10:30AM
Come and listen to grassroots leaders mobilizing for HB1874, members of families that have had loved ones deported, some after what we think are contrived traffic violations, the perfect intersection of racial profiling and anti-immigrant Homelnad Security agents.
HELP TO CURB ICE AGENTS AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT FROM DEPORTING IMMIGRANT FARM WORKERS! STOP "SECURE COMMUNITIES"
Homeland Security's program that instead of providing security has raised the level of fear for farm workers in rural WA State. Immigrant farm worker families are asking that this bill be heard in committee and allowed to move on to vote this session. There is no immigration reform in sight in WA D.C. and we must do something in WA State –
stop the gridlock in Olympia!
e-mail c2coutreach@qwestoffice.net for more info and for carpooling from Whatcom and Skagit Counties
Rosalinda Guillen, Executive Director
203 W. Holly, Suite 31
Bellingham, WA 98225
360-738-0893
www.foodjustice.org
eridani
(51,907 posts)Legislation to create a Tax Expenditure Budget as part of the regular biennial budget appropriations process took a big step forward last week. Companion bills were introduced in both the House and the Senate in the Washington State Legislature. They both had strong support.
Representative Gerry Pollet (LD 46) introduced HB 2721 with 25 sponsors total. Sponsors included Pollet, Reykdal, Fitzgibbon, Moscoso, Ryu, Appleton, Dunshee, Stanford, Farrell, Bergquist, Tarleton, Walkinshaw, Cody, Kagi, Pettigrew, Freeman, Riccelli, Jinkins, Lytton, Roberts, Wylie, Sells, Ortiz-Self, Gregerson, Goodman
Senator Maralyn Chase (LD32) introduced SB 6477 with 9 total sponsors. These included Senators Chase, Hasegawa, Kline, Rolfes, Keiser, Kohl-Welles, Conway, Frockt, Ranker.
This legislation would require new and existing discretionary tax preferences to be authorized every two years in a tax expenditure budget. It will add much needed transparency to the hundreds of exemptions and preferences, along with their cost and how each decision to spend money on an exemption or preference is a choice to expend funds for this purpose with particular beneficiaries.
The state biennial omnibus operating appropriations act would be required under this measure to include a tax expenditure budget to approve new and existing discretionary tax preferences, including exemptions, deductions, credits, and deferrals. The tax expenditure budget would detail the fiscal impact, purpose, and effectiveness in meeting the purpose, of each tax preference. Tax preferences not included in the tax expenditure budget would expire at the end of the calendar year in which the budget is adopted.
Your support to help publicize and push for passage of this legislation is needed. We expect passage to be difficult given the current makeup of the State Senate but we are planning to reintroduce the legislation next year regardless of any action or inaction this year. We are heartened by the strong support of Legislators we have received to date.
Steve Zemke
Director - Tax Sanity
www.taxsanity.org
info@taxsanity.org
206-366-0811
eridani
(51,907 posts)As many of you know, one of the core values of Poverty Action is to examine and break down intersections of oppression. We know that poverty is created at the confluence of many forms of systemic discrimination. One way we are delivering on this value is our extensive work with members that have struggled to rejoin their families and communities after experiencing incarceration. That work has amplified our message: legal financial obligations (LFOs) are a major barrier to economic security.
That is why we are leading the charge for HB 2751 which will improve the system of legal financial obligations (LFOs), protect restitution to crime victims, ensure successful reentry, and reduce recidivism.
After leaving the criminal justice system, our family members, neighbors, and friends face a daunting array of roadblocks to reentry. These roadblocks include housing and employment discrimination as they work to reclaim their lives. One of the biggest hurdles, which persists long after a sentence has been served, is the payment of LFOs.
Legal financial obligations are financial penalties assessed as a part of a criminal sentence. They include restitution, court costs, attorney fees, and financial penalties and carry a 12% annual interest rate. Most people assigned LFOs have limited incomes and struggle to find the means to pay these fines. The consequences of our LFO system are devastating for our communities:
•People living on low incomes are often labeled as “failing to pay,” and receive additional sanctions such as arrest, re-incarceration, and wage garnishment;
•Families owed restitution rarely receive payments;
•Unpaid LFOs mean people cannot fully close out their sentences, which adds to their difficulty in finding employment;
•The families and children of people with criminal records suffer most as assets are drained from their homes;
•LFO debt exacerbates racial disparities for the disproportionately high number of African Americans and Latinos in the criminal justice system; and
•An inability to find employment, coupled with high fees and fines, can lead to increased rates of recidivism.
HB 2751 addresses the systemic flaws around legal financial obligations and creates pathways toward payment. A stronger Washington requires that we have pathways out of poverty; LFO reform helps pave that pathway.
It is time to fix this broken system. It is time to recognize the link between LFOs and a person’s ability to leave poverty and reach economic security. This is not just a public safety issue; this is a root cause of poverty in our state.
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=2751&year=2013
eridani
(51,907 posts)On Monday, February 17th, 2014 YDWA will be invading Olympia for their annual Lobby Day. Lobby Day is an important tradition that gets YDWA members in front of elected officials and allows us the chance to push for legislation important to us and teach people about the legislative process. Join us in celebrating democracy by signing up below.
This event is free for everyone, we will providing breakfast and lunch. If you have any questions, they can be directed to YDWA’s Vice President of Political and Legislative Affairs, Alex Clardy at Alex[dot]clardy[at]ydwa.org.
We will be lobbying on our legislative priorities, you can read about them here.
Lobby day schedule:
7:30 – 9:00 am: Breakfast (provided by YDWA), intros and training
9:00 – 9:30 am: Picture with legislators
9:30 – 12:00 pm: Caucus meetings and talking to legislators
12:00 – 1:00 pm: Lunch (provided by YDWA)
1:00 – 3:00 pm: Lobby meetings
Want to party afterwards? Attend the State Democrats crab feed! You can volunteer to get in free, or if you purchase a ticket list YDWA as your table captain.
eridani
(51,907 posts)WashingtonVotes.org is WPC's long-running independent, legislative information and tracking website for our state. This year, we have expanded on the popular services and created WashingtonVotes.org NEWS, which covers important legislative action in Olympia and provides brief reports about committee hearings, floor action and much more. Below is a recent article. To learn more and to sign up for these regular news articles from WashingtonVotes.org NEWS, please visit: www.wavotes.org.
Halftime in Olympia: a look at the numbers and what’s next
February 11th was the 30th day or halfway point in this year’s 60-day legislative session. The deadline for committee action on policy bills in the house of origin hit Friday, February 7th, and the next deadline is today, Friday, February 14th, the last day each house can act on its own policy bills.
Currently, there are 207 bills on the House Regular Calendar waiting for debate on the floor (called Second Reading). The Senate has 52 bills on its floor calendar. So far this session, lawmakers have introduced 1,300 bills, 694 in the House and 606 in the Senate. The House has passed 50 bills, and the Senate has passed 19 bills, but no bills other than legislative housekeeping and memorial measures have passed both houses. In all, for the 2013-14 legislative session cycle, lawmakers have introduced 3,889 bills, of which 401 have passed the legislature.
The bills that are currently up for debate and legislative action cover a broad array of subjects, among them topics such as designating a state waterfall and creating Seattle University license plates, but they do not include the major issues that have made headlines in recent weeks.
The remaining bills that see action will likely be passed either with party-line votes or near unanimous consent. Further action would then depend on the opposite chamber, and any amendments to bills in the opposite house would have to be reconciled between the House and Senate before being sent to the governor.
Once the deadline for considering policy bills in the house of origin passes, legislative action will shift to budget issues such as additional education funding, new taxes and a transportation package. The next thirty days should make for an interesting time in Olympia, and WashingtonVotes.org News will continue to help keep you on top of the latest action.
eridani
(51,907 posts)The legislative session has officially passed the halfway mark. And the two policy bills SHB 2537 (the Fair Tenant Screening Act) and ESHB 2368 (ending the sunsets of homeless housing and assistance surcharges) are both still alive. Their next hurdle will be in the Senate. Both have to be heard and passed out of the Senate Financial Institutions, Housing & Insurance Committee by Friday, February 28 in order to keep moving.
ESHB 2368 - The Homeless Housing & Assistance Surcharges
Last Thursday was a roller coaster ride for this bill. The day started out with several confirmed Republican yes votes on an unamended version. However, it ended with a somewhat different set of seven Republican supporters and a significant and sudden floor amendment on the bill. In the end, the bill passed the House around 5:00pm. Go here for the roll call to learn who voted yes and why thanks are in order.
The House floor amendment requires that 45% of the state's portion of the homeless housing and assistance surcharge be permanently set-aside for the private rental market. Also, if the Department of Commerce fails to meet reporting requirements outlined in the bill, the Office of Financial Management may hold all of the department's funds collected from this fee. Click here for more information on how this amendment affects the bill & what would happen if the sun sets on document recording fees.
SHB 2537 - The Fair Tenant Screening Act
The House version of the Fair Tenant Screening Act passed out of the House on Thursday the 13th on an almost party-line vote. The floor debate included a powerful introduction by the prime sponsor Representative June Robinson (38th LD) and a passionate rebuttal to bill opponents by Representative Drew Hansen (23rd LD). Representative Hansen's floor speech specifically talked about the tenant testimony he heard earlier in the month. He noted the stories they shared and said, "This bill is about fairness." You can watch the debate, as well as Rep. Hansen's speech at our website.
Why Action is Needed Now!
Both ESHB 2368 and SHB 2537 will have a challenging time in the Senate. That's why we need you to take action right now and tell your senator to support both these bills when they get there. Start here to take immediate action!
Updates on Housing Alliance Support Priorities
Last week was a mixed bag for our legislative support items.
Your persistence and dedication ensures our lawmakers pass the bills and funding needed to prevent and end homelessness. We've already come a long way in this fast, short session. Please keep weighing in and spreading the word. As Representative Hansen's floor speech on the Fair Tenant Screening Act made clear, you are being heard!
Thanks for being an advocate,
Michele
Michele Thomas, Director of Policy and Advocacy
Washington Low Income Housing Alliance
eridani
(51,907 posts)er since Rodney Tom and Tim Sheldon facilitated the coup that gave Republicans control of the Washington State Senate, true bipartisanship in that body has been a rarity. Tom’s disciplined right-wing caucus have battled Senate Democrats over everything from reproductive rights to transportation choices to the state’s constitutional obligation to fully fund our public schools.
So it came as a surprise to many observers when seven Senate Republicans bolted from the right-wing caucus to kill a bill sponsored by one of their own.
Republicans brought up Senator Steve Litzow’s SB 5246, which would require school districts to link teacher evaluations to student test scores as their very last item of business before the 5 PM cutoff for non-budget bills.
The “five o’clock bill” is typically one that the majority wishes to highlight, one that the majority is confident they can pass.
Republican Senators expressed their shock that SB 5246 failed, and several media outlets shared that view. But nobody should have been surprised at this outcome.
The Senate’s rejection of SB 5246 is part of a growing national uprising against bad education policies that, in the name of data and accountability, have turned classrooms into test prep centers, eroding quality education in favor of a too-narrow and demoralizing focus on test scores.
eridani
(51,907 posts)OLYMPIA (Feb. 26, 2014) — Tax dollars should be spent in the most effective and efficient ways. The public deserves to know what the government is spending their tax dollars on. But right now, those basic rules that apply to state agencies don’t apply when Washington state outsources public services to private contractors.
Washington State agencies have strict reporting requirements in the delivery of public services, making information available for review and inspection by the taxpayer. But contractors delivering outsourced public services are not required to make information available for review and inspection by the taxpayer. Because Washington state outsources more public services than it provides in-house, this lack of comparable oversight leaves the state and taxpayers vulnerable to fraud and abuse.
The Taxpayer Protection Act (HB 2743), sponsored by Rep. Sam Hunt (D-Olympia), would improve cost-effectiveness, transparency, and accountability of any proposed outsourcing of public work.
TAKE A STAND –Urge your legislators to SUPPORT HB 2743. The Taxpayer Protection Act will bring accountability and transparency to outsourced public services. EMAIL this message and/or call 1-800-562-6000 to leave this message.
HB 2743 requires:
•Cost analysis prior to contracting. Agencies must conduct a cost analysis of any proposed outsourcing of work traditionally done by state employees before entering into a contract. The analysis will include estimated costs of work done by public employees and work done by contractors to demonstrate that the outsourcing will produce savings. This report must be filed with the Department of Enterprise Services.
•Responsible agreements to contract. Contracts must include terms that include a cancellation clause, performance objectives, employment and wage information, and a waiver of basic financial information of the contract. Contractors who have committed fraud or other crimes in the previous five years will be debarred from entering into agreements for work with the state.
•Increased monitoring and oversight. Agencies must monitor contracts to ensure they are meeting performance objectives and standards. If these terms are not being met, the state will have the ability to terminate the contract. Contractors, not taxpayers, will be liable for the costs of bringing the contract back into compliance.
HB 2743 passed the House of Representatives by a 53-44 vote on Feb. 14, and its is scheduled for a public hearing on Thursday, Feb. 27 in the Senate Committee on Governmental Operations at 5:30 p.m.
eridani
(51,907 posts)Legislative session ends: The good, the bad and the “to be continued”
Lawmakers adjourned their 60-day legislative session shortly before midnight Thursday (March 13). Federation members can be proud their activism won a few big good things, stopped many bad things and set the stage for future completion of good legislation that didn’t pass.
They won funding of our new health care contract that holds the line on costs, stopped the bad 401(k) bill and other working family-unfriendly schemes and set the stage for future actions on outsourcing accountability, interpreter services, PSERS and more.
Many victories had a flip side of potential future challenges.
• Health insurance
The final budget, ESSB 6002, funds your health care contract for Calendar Year 2015. It holds the line on premium share, co-pays, deductibles and medical out-of pocket costs in calendar year 2015.
The final budget also funds the related wellness program that offers a $125 discount off your PEBB medical deductible in 2015.
BUT THE FLIP SIDE ON HEALTH INSURANCE?
The final supplemental budget cuts $64 million of the amount the state contributes to your health insurance benefits.
Legislators gamble that the lower usage of health care means they can fund the same level of benefits by cutting the per employee per month funding the state pays from $782 to $662.
But Federation members believe this is a temporary trough in state employee usage of health care. Members loudly warned legislators that if usage instead goes up, we face a $300 deficit in per employee funding.
So we have a future fight to make sure future shortfalls from a failed gamble won’t be balanced on the backs of state employees in the form of higher health costs.
• Important Federation bills pass
The Federation initiated or supported many good pieces of legislation. But like most legislation, split control of the Legislature meant that most didn’t pass this year.
But two major bills did pass and now await Gov. Jay Inslee’s signature to make them law:
• ESSB 6517 to exempt state employee driver’s license numbers and identicard information from public inspection. The Federation sought the change after a Thurston County Jail inmate requested such information. The bill is meant to combat identity fraud that can be devastating to personal finances and personal safety.
• SSB 6095 the amended Senate bill on background checks to correct a situation for those employees who cleared the major DSHS background check review in 2002. SSB 6095 would untangle confusion that arose when other laws passed since 2002.
Another bill that Federation Parks members testified in favor of also passed.
ESB 6034 expands partnership opportunities to benefit state parks – and keep them open. ESB 6034 allows the State Parks Foundation to find funds to run parks and includes a Federation-initiated proviso requiring accountability for those parks partners.
Tax loopholes
The good: final budget rejected the Senate plan to open 20 new loopholes that would have taken hundreds of millions of dollars away from kids, the elderly, the vulnerable, public safety, higher education and our environment.
The flip side on tax loopholes: No costly loopholes were closed. HB 2796 would have raised more than $100 million in new revenue for public services by closing just four of the state’s 650 tax loopholes. In the end, it never came to a vote of the House or Senate.
Mental health
The final supplemental budget increases mental health funding by $7 million, which includes $3 million to cover overtime costs and funds for security enhancements at Eastern State Hospital and Western State Hospital.
The flip side: The Federation warned there’s still a gaping hole when it comes to adequate staffing levels, capacity and recruitment and retention of staff.
Also: SB 6002 that would have increased penalties for patients who assault staff at mental health hospitals passed the Senate and despite high-level media attention, did not get a vote in the House.
Good bills that didn’t pass but built momentum for action in future sessions.
Many good pieces of legislation take years to pass – getting all sides addressed and all concerns answered. Several good Federation-initiated bills showed momentum in the 2013-2014 sessions and paved the way for future action.
• Taxpayer Protection Act (2SHB 2743) was the Federation-initiated bill that gained national attention for proposing to increase cost-effectiveness, transparency and accountability in outsourcing of state work. It passed the House and got a Senate hearing, but died there. But the progress it made in 2014 bodes well for action in another legislative session.
• Expanding the Public Safety Employees Retirement System. EHB 1923 would have expanded the PSERS to include DSHS Institutions and Juvenile Rehabilitation members in dangerous jobs that provide direct care, custody or safety. EHB 1923 passed the House in 2013 by a vote of 94-3. Despite much interim work and support, it did not come up for a vote in 2014. But the debate and push continues.
• DOT Fallen Heroes Bill. HB 2587 would have granted tuition waivers to the children and spouses of Department of Transportation highway workers killed or totally disabled in the line of duty. It passed out of a House committee but didn’t come to a vote of the full House. But it will rise again as the Federation’s continuing commitment to DOT safety. The Federation had previously won assault benefits for DOT Highway Maintenance workers mowed down in work zones by motorists. Sadly, four Federation DOT members died in the line of duty since 2000 so the DOT Fallen Heroes Bill was one small way to help those left behind.
• Interpreter Services. The 2014 version of this bill continued the momentum and passed the House but died in the Senate. EHB 2617 aimed to streamline delivery of interpreter services across state agencies to save money and increase efficiencies. It would have extended the successful concepts proven in the DSHS/HCA Medicaid program to Labor and Industries and other state agencies, consolidated procurement of services to cut run-away middleman costs, created a Spoken Language Interpreter Advisory Group, and granted collective bargaining rights to interpreters providing services to L&I providers and other state agencies. It passed the House in 2014 but died in the Senate. But it’s a good, cost-saving idea that will come back.
• The Federation-initiated HB 2248 to increase the amount of annual leave a state employee can accrue from 240 hours (30 days) to 360 hours (45 days) passed a House committee but didn’t come to a vote of the full House. It’s one of the many legislative and bargaining ideas the Federation will continue to push as members take a stand for a COLA (cost-of-living adjustment), health insurance, fairness and quality services.
• Liquor Enforcement Officers. SHB 2394 took many twists and turns. In the end, it would have opened admittance to the basic law enforcement academy to Liquor Control enforcement officers. It cleared a House committee but didn’t come to a vote of the full House. But the Federation fight to give these law enforcement professionals the tools they need to protect taxpayers and public safety will go on. On the upside, the final supplemental budget adds staff to the Liquor Control Board for increased enforcement related to legal recreational use of marijuana.
• Two other Federation-initiated law enforcement bills made progress over the past two years, but didn’t pass: HB 1875 that would have granted park rangers general authority; and HB 1540, the Campus Police Interest Arbitration Bill.
• The good bill to open admissions at Yakima Valley School, SB 5962, got a Senate hearing but not committee vote.
Bad bills died
Thanks to Federation members’ phone calls, e-mails and almost daily lobby days in Olympia, several bills aimed at cutting retirement security and state employees’ voice at work all died.
The biggest bad bill to die: ESSB 5851, the bad 401(k) bill that would have started the phase-out of your retirement security. It passed the Senate but the House and governor said no way and it died. Helped by Federation members’ blitz against it.
Other bad bills that died: 2ESSB 5127, the bad workers’ compensation bill; and the package of Wisconsin-style attack bills pushed by the (Evergreen) Freedom Foundation in the Senate; only one came to a vote in the Senate and it promptly died in the House.
The flip side: The (Evergreen) Freedom Foundation and their ilk won’t go away anytime soon and they will continue to propose bills to trim your rights and voice. So our proactive opposition must continue. We can never let our guard down.
A few items you may not have heard about:
• A bill allowing our Members Only Benefits partners AFLAC and Colonial Life on state grounds to provide information about their programs is headed for the governor for signature into law. These are providers of programs that the state allows payroll deductions for. But in recent years, the state Ethics Commission reversed itself and banned these state-authorized payroll deduction providers to talk to state employees at state facilities. But HB 1785 allows those providers of authorized payroll deduction programs on state facilities, with some limitations. The Federation has brought AFLAC, Colonial Life and others under its umbrella so they can provide benefits to members – and they’re available as a union program to provide educational presentations on such things as planning for retirement, wise investment and the like.
• In response to a KING-TV 5 aired an investigative report alleging that the DSHS fraud unit “purged” some 5,000 tips as “junk,” even though they were submitted by conscientious line workers. The Legislature didn’t buy it. The final supplemental budget included a proviso in the supplemental budget passed by the Senate Thursday that basically ties funding for the Working Connections Child Care program to making sure fraud referrals aren't dumped by the Office of Fraud and Accountability. It includes a performance audit by the State Auditor's Office. Sen. Andy Hill, chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, proposed the fraud audit amendment.
Court rules for UW custodians, trades classes in special pay case
A Thurston County Superior Court judge on Friday (March 14) ruled in favor of eligible University of Washington custodians, trades workers and others in the long “special pay” case.
This in the long battle over agreed-to special pay provisions that the union negotiated in 2008 – that the UW unilaterally halted a few months later.
Judge Christine Schaller ordered the UW to pay double damages and interest on last year’s arbitration decision ordering the UW to pay back pay from April 13, 2012, through June 30, 2013.
Schaller sent one issue to full trial: the issue of whether the pay should be ongoing after June 30, 2013. The judge there was dispute of material fact – whether the parties negotiated the increases in the 2013-2015 UW contract.
This phase of the UW foot-dragging started April 13, 2012, when the UW filed the appeal to an earlier unfair labor practice ruling in favor of the union – an appeal the university lost in King County Superior Court in December 2012.
Up to now, the UW has only paid back pay from February 2009 to June 2009.
The union is still looking at options for back pay for the rest of the time, from July 1, 2009, to April 13, 2012.
The special pay covers:
• Custodial-related classes that began receiving shift differential of $1 an hour effective July 1, 2008. The UW unilaterally stopped paying those increases in January 2009.
• Other agreements in November 2008 increased the salaries of certain trades classes under the union contract, such as plumbers/pipefitters/steamfitters and leads; carpenters and leads; and elevator mechanics and leads; and any other employees who had been paid shift differential of less than $1 an hour were boosted to $1 an hour. But the UW, too, unilaterally stopped paying those upgrades.
eridani
(51,907 posts)http://climatesolutions.org/cs-journal/tax-breaks-for-oil-have-got-to-stop-tales-from-the-2014-legislative-session
The short 2014 Washington legislative session concluded on Thursday night, and centered on a single question: How will we prepare a better future for our children? The question was central to the policies put forward by the Environmental Priorities Coalition: Do we want a future where basic education is fully funded, and our communities are safe? Or will we let fossil fuel companies gobble up tax breaks and run dangerous oil tankers through our backyards?
In Olympia, the answer to that question was shown by Big Oil’s lobbying power, which was on full display this year. Rep. Reuven Carlyle introduced a bill that would close the Big Oil Loophole to help fund education, but ultimately, Big Oil twisted arms in Olympia and got away with taking our tax dollars yet again. When our children’s future and education is at stake, our classrooms are packed and our teachers are under-resourced, it is simply unacceptable to give $63 million dollars to oil companies that are flush with cash.
Elsewhere on clean energy, Climate Solutions and our allied organizations, Northwest Energy Coalition, Washington Environmental Council, Washington Conservation Voters and Renewable Northwest Project, were able to defeat another onslaught of attacks on Washington’s most effective clean energy policy, the Energy Independence Act, or Initiative 937. With your help and the Governor’s leadership, we prevented any significant changes to the law. During this session, however, the conversation did begin to turn to the future of clean energy in our state and how to strengthen and extend I-937 beyond 2020. We know that the energy efficiency and clean energy components of the law are enormously successful at reducing pollution and creating jobs, and we need to have a productive conversation about how to build on that progress. We cannot talk about the future though, if we are constantly defending the gains of the present. Next session, we must call upon our legislators to continue towards a sustainable future and grow our clean energy economy by building on the success of I-937.
Short legislative sessions are difficult, because legislators are tackling complex issues on an accelerated timeline. At the same time, global warming continues apace, and we risk dangerous climate disruption on an accelerating timeline as well. As we recognize our successful defense of the clean energy economy in 2014 and look towards the 2015 legislative session, we cannot be satisfied with simply holding the line. The best science tells us that we are on track for dangerous climate disruption. In the next year we have to show Olympia that oil companies, and their fossil fueled cronies, will not be allowed to run our state. We can embrace a clean energy future that creates jobs, improves the health of our families and lessens the dangers of climate change, but we must break the strangle hold that fossil fuels — oil and coal — have on our economy and our legislature. Let’s make the rest of 2014, and all of 2015, about holding fossil fuel companies accountable to create a better world for our children.
eridani
(51,907 posts)I-937 survives challenges while new clean energy bills stall; operating budget provides oddly mixed message
Thanks to the steadfast efforts of activists such as you, our Clean Energy Initiative 937 has weathered another stormy legislative session. Despite numerous bills to weaken its energy efficiency and new renewables standards, I-937 emerged from the session not only relatively unscathed, but in some ways strengthened.
Legislators considered other clean energy bills, including several on water and battery charger efficiency and the future of solar power. While little of consequence moved forward in the short session, the stage is set for clean energy advances next year.
The Clean Energy Initiative
Washington's legislature passed two bills affecting I-937:
•The first, House Bill 1643, grew out of negotiations between utilities, the NW Energy Coalition and the environmental community to help accelerate energy efficiency investments. It allows a utility whose energy efficiency gains exceed its two-year target to use the extra savings to meet up to 20% of each of the two subsequent biennial compliance goals. This "conservation rollover" bill provides utilities an incentive to invest in large efficiency projects, likely leading to additional efficiency achievements over time. This bill also ensures that utilities are using the most current methodologies and data when setting their savings targets.
•The second, HB 2733, allows new power generation from certain irrigation and water pipes and canals to count as an eligible renewable resource. While this new generation (an estimated 25 average megawatts, less than 2% of the renewable standard in 2020) does nothing to broaden our renewable resources beyond hydropower, it involves no new water diversions or impoundments.
Many far more harmful amendments to I-937 were turned away. These included allowing purchases of "transition power" from the Centralia coal plant to reduce a utility's renewables obligation and counting existing municipal waste incinerators as new renewables. Also failing to advance were several bills to count federal hydropower dam upgrades that will happen anyway toward utilities' renewables targets and a skewed study bill to consider the costs - but not the benefits - of I-937.
Efficiency, solar bills
Two energy efficiency bills - one setting new toilet, urinal and faucet water standards that would save 75 million gallons of water a day, the other adopting California efficiency standards for battery chargers and one kind of lamp fixture - passed the House but not the Senate. We will be looking for sponsors to reintroduce these bills next year.
On solar, two bills were introduced to modify the state's incentive program, focused on leasing options and consumer protection. These bills grew overly complex and contradictory, and ultimately would have reduced rather than expanded solar installations in Washington. We intend to work with other stakeholders between sessions to sort out the various issues. Solar is too important to let languish.
Supplemental Budget
Unfortunately a supplemental capital budget did not pass and with it died some good energy efficiency funding for weatherization and high-performance buildings.
A supplemental operating budget did pass and included two provisos relating to energy.
•The budget allocates $2.25 million for the state to purchase electricity for state facilities from solar energy projects, high-efficiency biomass fired cogeneration projects (likely to be from Nippon Paper) and coal transition power (from TransAlta's Centralia coal plant). The appropriation of funds is for one year and to cover the incremental cost of making these purchases of in-state resources. It is possible that smart management of this could allow the state to make longer than one-year contracts.
•A legislative task force was established to study nuclear power generation - "the task force must consider the greatest amount of environmental benefit for each dollar spent based on the life-cycle cost of any nuclear power technology. Life-cycle costs must include the storage and disposal of any nuclear wastes." The task force has no dedicated funding and must use House and Senate general operations funds. A study done in this manner is not likely to be very substantive on the environmental or economic aspects of new nuclear power generation for Washington.
Overall
Considering the challenges, Washington's 2014 legislative session turned out fairly well for clean energy. But much remains to be done as we look to extending the promise of a clean and affordable energy future next session with a more proactive agenda.
Thank you for your efforts! Your calls and messages to legislators, your letters to editors, and your visits to Olympia made all the difference.
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