JUUstice Washington

A Unitarian Universalist State Action Network

Announcing Faith Action Network’s 2021 State Legislative Agenda and Trainings

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Please find our 2021 Legislative Agenda (fanwa.org) where you can also download and share a copy.

Each year the FAN Governing Board and staff, in collaboration with our coalition partners and input from our Spring Summit attendees and the FAN Program Committee, approves FAN’s Legislative Agenda that guides our work during the state legislative session. We will be adding and adjusting priorities even as the 2021 session gets underway, so please check back here for updates.

Be sure you’re receiving our weekly E-News for legislative alerts starting in January. You can learn more about the bills on our Issue Fact Sheets page, which we continue to update as we receive bill information. And each week we will update the progress of the bills through our Bill Tracker.

Plan to join us for an Advocacy Day near you, held virtually this year for Spokane/Eastern WA 1/30, Olympia-focused 2/11, and Central WA 2/20. More information and registration links will be posted soon!

This year we are offering two pre-session trainings, on Wednesday, January 6, 6:00-8:00pm, and Sunday January 10, 2:00-4:00pm. Both will have the same content: An introduction to what to expect of the 2021 virtual legislative session and our legislative agenda by Paul Benz, with breakout rooms/workshops on specific content areas and some Advocacy 101 training. Registrations and more information to come on those, please hold the date!

Senate Environment Committee Met on December 1

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The Washington State Senate will be meeting virtually this year and next. In preparation for the session that begins in January, the Senate Environment Committee met virtually on December 1, 2020 at 10:30 a.m. The following topics were be discussed:

1.   Washington State Energy Strategy update.
2.   Environmental Justice Task Force update.
3.   Siting clean energy facilities case study.
4.   Plastic packaging.
5.   Broadband update.
6.   2020 Cybersecurity overview.
7.   Data privacy update.

Information presented in the hearing can be found at https://app.leg.wa.gov/committeeschedules/Home/Documents/28034?/Senate/28240/11-23-2020/12-01-2020/Schedule///Bill/  If you have any interest in these topics, please look at the documents. They are PDF format presentations using slides, with very concise and cogent points. They present some important points about climate and environmental justice that will come up in 2021.

Links to Help with Election Problems and Misinformation from Town Hall Project

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Voter Protection Hotline. The vast majority of voting experiences will be easy, but there may be challenges in select locations. Make sure you and your community know to call or text 1-866-OUR-VOTE or visit 866ourvote.org for live answers to any questions about voting rights and procedures, or to report any issues you experience or witness at the polls.

2. Beware of Disinformation. It’s human nature to want to share something alarming you see online. But know that active disinformation isn’t just possible this year, it’s likely. And disinformation campaigns can be powerful ways to scare people from voting. So please, in these next few days — and especially on Election Day — only share stories or reports you see from reputable journalists or state and local elections officials.

If you see disinformation about voting in an online post or ad, do your part to stop the spread. Don’t engage, react or comment — that only means more people will see it!

Do take a screenshot to submit it to ReportDisinfo.org. Then share official voting information, like your local election official or Secretary of State. Do your part to keep voters safe from disinformation!

3. Town Hall Pledge. We don’t endorse candidates at Town Hall Project, but we love to highlight candidates who’ve taken the common-sense Town Hall Pledge to hold regular town halls (virtual until its safe again) with their constituents. Over 100 candidates this year have taken the pledge, including dozens of sitting members of Congress. If you have friends still making up their mind, let them know why accessibility and accountability are essential qualities in a public servant: townhallpledge.com

Washington Can’t Wait group plans environmental action

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Washington Can’t Wait (WCW) is a movement of environmental activists founded by FutureWise, a statewide environmental group.

According to the WCW website,“Washington Can’t Wait Campaign is building a grassroots movement across Washington to pressure our legislature in the 2021 legislative session to pass major updates to the Growth Management Act that would incorporate policy to address climate change, affordable housing and environmental justice.”  Events in the fall include Zoom meetings on October 29th on the Growth Management Act, a priority of the Environmental Priorities Coalition; on November 12 on land-use planning; on November 23 on housing; and December 9 on environmental justice. More details and registration are available on the WCW website. Most of these issues will come up in the 2021 Washington State Legislature. 

Training for Election and Post-Election Defense

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So… now that UU the Vote has got all this incredible voter outreach going together and are in striking distance of hitting our new goal of 2 million (!!) we are pivoting to election defense.
UU the Vote is partnering with The Frontline Election Defenders program coordinated by the Movement for Black Lives Electoral Justice Project and Working Families Party – it is 501c3.  You may want to attend the training(s) and/or send your people.

https://www.mobilize.us/thefrontline/event/321224/