More deadlines approaching – Continue the calls

Tuesday, February 23 is the deadline for the House to consider policy bills from the Senate and Friday, February 26 is the deadline for the Senate to consider House bills.

If a policy bill does not meet these deadlines it is deemed dead for the year. The deadline for bills addressing fiscal matters is Monday, March 1.

We’re asking you to make a call or send an email to your legislators now.

Please ask your legislators to support the following:

• Fiscal flexibility – ESHB 3179 and ESSB 6424 provides cities and counties flexibility in raising and spending money. ESSB 6424 eliminates non-supplant language and expands purposes for gambling taxes. ESHB 3179 also eliminates non-supplant language, addresses brokered natural gas use tax, city sales tax authority and gambling taxes.
• Local stormwater funding – SHB 3181 would assist cities in meeting their stormwater management requirements. Funds are generated by increasing the Hazardous Substances Tax from 0.7 percent to two percent. It passed out of the Capital Budget Committee and was sent to the Rules Committee.
• Adjusting timelines for local GMA update obligations – SSB 6611 would provide a three year extension for current deadlines for mandated Growth Management Act (GMA) plan reviews and updates in all 281 cities and 39 counties. It passed the Senate unanimously and is moving through the public hearing process in the House.
• Open public records – SB 6367 allows public records requestors to be directed to the specific website links where the responsive documents may be found. Cities believe this bill will lower the cost of responding to public records requests and allow the use of new technology.
• Abatement of nuisances involving criminal street gang activity – SHB 2414 would provide another tool for cities to address growing gang problems.

Please ask your legislators to oppose the following:

• Wrongful death liability expansion – SSB 6508 is an unprecedented expansion of Washington’s wrongful death statute, greatly increasing the number of people who may file a wrongful death claim and ask for damages. This bill is estimated to cost state and local governments millions of dollars each year.
• Restrictions on rental housing inspections – SSB 6459 significantly restricts cities’ ability to implement local rental housing inspection programs. These programs are a useful tool for cities to improve deteriorated and unsafe housing conditions.

More specifics on these proposals can be found in their respective sections of this Bulletin.

Contact with your legislator is crucial. When legislators hear from many of their constituents on a particular proposal, they pay attention.

Tips for contacting your senator or representative:

• There is no such thing as too much feedback. Legislators generally want their votes to reflect their constituents' opinions. Even if you just wrote an email or called last week, it is okay to do it again. The more your voice is heard, the better.
• Make it personal. When contacting your own legislator, make sure you state how the bill will impact your city or town.
• Consider making a phone call. While email is certainly an effective communication tool, legislators receive 100’s of emails daily.
• When making a call, you probably won't speak directly with your legislator, but rest assured that the staff member you speak to will forward your comments to your legislator.
• In your message, be clear in regards to the issue, bill number(s), and whether you support or oppose it. You should include your full name, the city or town you represent and a reliable way to contact you.
• If you decide to email, keep it brief – a half-page or less should be all you need to get your point across.
• In the subject line state in capital letters either SUPPORT or OPPOSE and then the bill number (i.e. "Please SUPPORT ESHB 3179 providing fiscal flexibility" or "Please OPPOSE SSB 6549 restricting rental housing inspections").
• This is an incredibly busy time of the session. Don't be discouraged if you don't get a returned phone call or a reply to your email immediately.

Thank you for contacting your legislators. You do make a difference.

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