Legislative Advocacy News

FAN-Sponsored Events: Snohomish County Sheriff Candidate Forum: A Conversation on Police Accountability October 18, 6:30 PM Snohomish County Administration (East)/Robert J. Drewel Building, 3000 Rockefeller Ave, Everett Kitsap Co/Olympic Peninsula Cluster Gathering October 19, 12-2 PM Olympic Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 1033 N Barr Rd, Port Angeles Seattle/King County Candidate Forum October 19, 10 AM - 2 PM Asian Counseling and Referral Services, 3639 MLK Jr. Way S, Seattle Federal Way General Election Forum October 23, 6-9 PM Calvary Lutheran Church, 2415 S 320th St, Federal Way Bellevue City Council Candidates Forum October 23, 7-9 PM East Shore Unitarian Church, 12700 SE 32nd St, Bellevue Redmond City Council and Mayoral Candidates Forum October 24, 6-8 PM Muslim Association of Puget Sound, 17550 NE 67th Ct, Redmond Yakima Cluster Gathering October 27, 2-4 PM Unitarian Universalist Church of Yakima, 225 N 2nd St, Yakima Downtown Seattle/Central District Cluster Gathering October 28, 6:30-8:30 PM First United Methodist Church, 180 Denny Way, Seattle North King County Cluster Gathering October 29, 7-9 PM Journey Christian Church, 1933 NE 125th St, Seattle Seattle City and King County Council Candidates Forum October 23, 7-9 PM St. Edward Church, 4205 S Orcas St, Seattle

November ballots are arriving soon! Initiative 1000 was passed in the 2019 state legislative session as a way to return affirmative action measures to Washington State, bringing equity to employment, contracting, and education for women, veterans, small businesses, and people of color. Now the vote has been brought to the people, and we are asking folks to look for Referendum 88 and APPROVE I-1000. The language around Referendum 88 and I-1000 has been confusing over the past year, so we wanted to show you an example of the language in the ballot (as posted in "The Stand") so you can familiarize yourself with what it is asking: As it states in the second sentence, I-1000 helps "remedy discrimination...without the use of quotas or preferential treatment." It asks whether I-1000 should be approved or rejected. We hope you will stand for equity in our state by filling in "APPROVED" this November! Please contact us if you need further clarification on the language of the ballot or what I-1000 and affirmative action would mean for the marginalized in our state. For more information, see the WA Fairness website or Facebook page.

Rail Bite #5 - SR will cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions

As we prepare for November elections, Candidate Forums are an opportunity to hear from candidates about the issues that matter most to you. We hope you will join us for a FAN-sponsored candidate forum in October, and share the flyers in your community:    

• Seattle Candidate Forum on Police Accountability October 16, 6:30-8:30 PM Centilia Cultural Center, 1660 Roberto Maestas Festival St, Seattle
• Snohomish County Sheriff Candidate Forum: A Conversation on Police Accountability October 18, 6:30 PM Snohomish County Administration (East)/Robert J. Drewel Building, 3000 Rockefeller Ave, Everett
• Federal Way Candidate Forum October 23, 6-9 PM Calvary Lutheran Church, 2415 S 320th St, Federal Way
• Bellevue City Council Candidate Forum October 23, 7-9 PM at East Shore Unitarian Church, 12700 SE 32nd St, Bellevue

• City of Spokane 2019 Candidate Forum October 5, 10 AM - 12 PM East Central Community Center, 500 S Stone St, Spokane
• Vancouver Candidate Forum October 9, 5:30-7:30 PM Vancouver Community Library, 901 C Street, Vancouver
• Seattle City Council District 3 and King County Council District 2 Candidate Forum October 9, 6:30-8:30 PM Immaculate Conception Church, 820 18th Ave, Seattle
• Kirkland City Council Candidate Forum October 14, 7-8:30 PM Holy Spirit Lutheran Church, 10021 NE 124th St, Kirkland
• Seattle City Council District 1 Candidate Forum October 14, 7-9 PM Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church, 7000 35th Ave SW, Seattle
• Battle Ground Candidate Forum October 16, 5:30-7:30 PM Dollars Corner Fire Station, 21609 NE 72nd Ave, Battle Ground
• Camas Candidate Forum October 23, 5:30-7:30 PM Camas Public Library, 625 NE 4th Ave, Camas
• Seattle City Council District 2 Candidate Forum October 23, 7-9 PM  Edward Church, 4205 S Orcas St, Seattle

Crosscut by Melissa Santos / September 11, 2019

The initiative relaxes Washington state’s 20-year ban on the use of affirmative action in government employment and contracting, as well as in admission to public colleges and universities. It does not allow race to be used as the sole factor in hiring or admissions decisions, however, and includes language banning the use of quotas.

The public vote on I-1000 will appear on the ballot this November as Referendum 88. If voters approve R-88, the affirmative-action policy will go into effect as the Legislature intended. If voters reject R-88, I-1000 will be overturned and not go into effect.

Read more here . . . 

Interfaith Worker Justice asks you to:

Tell your Representatives to endorse sensible heat protections TODAY!!!

The Asunscion Valdivia Heat Illness and Fatality Prevention Act (H.R. 3668) is an increasingly important and common sense legislation that directs the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to issue a workplace heat standard for both indoor and outdoor work.

  Redistricting U is All on the Line's free, in-person organizing training initiative. We’re sending dedicated trainers to cities across the country to train volunteers, give them the tools to impact the redistricting process in their state, hear from them on how to best make change in their communities, and empower them to be leaders in the movement for fair maps. Sign up to be among the first to hear when Redistricting U opens up shop near you.

“I’ve always believed that training is at the heart of organizing. It’s why I made it a priority in my 2008 campaign and throughout our larger movement for change in the years since. … The movement for fair maps will determine the course of progress on every issue we care about for the next decade. And we can’t wait to begin organizing when the redistricting process starts in 2021. We need to build this movement from the ground up – right now.” — President Obama

In mid-August, the Administration announced its final version of the “public charge” rule, which would force immigrants to undergo a rigorous wealth test in order to obtain their green card—an important step in the process of ultimately becoming a US citizen. Under new guidelines, immigrants may be denied their green card if they have in the past used or are deemed likely to use federal assistance programs such as Medicaid, Section 8, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program  (SNAP), or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Without a doubt, this policy blatantly favors wealthy immigrants, and boldly inserts racist, classist, and white supremacist ideology into a process that should be open and equitable for all. Even though the use of benefits will not automatically make someone ineligible for a green card, it's obvious that the Trump Administration hopes that news of this policy will deter immigrants from using the public assistance they are lawfully eligible for. Read our blog post for more in-depth information about the public charge ruling, including straightforward facts on who could be impacted. It's also important to remember that multiple lawsuits have been filed by states and organizations across the country in response to this rule, and that litigation could deter or completely stop this policy before it is set to begin on October 15, 2019. The Protecting Immigrant Families Campaign has also developed fact sheets and advocacy materials.

Join us for a Webinar on Democracy & Electoral Justice 2020 - Wednesday, August 14th, 7 pm ET/4 pm PT. Register now! Speakers include:

• Adam Eichen--Co-Author of Daring Democracy (Beacon Press, 2007)
• Charlene Sinclair--Center for Race, Religion and Economic Democracy
• Everette Thompson--Side with Love Campaign Manager
• UU State Action Networks & UUSJ in DC representatives
• Susan Leslie--Congregational Advocacy & Witness Director

The Sierra Club, in conjunction with the youth group Sunrise Movement, has organized national action on the Green New Deal, which has also been endorsed by the UUA (see below). Sierra Club leaders are hosting debate watching parties, where people interested in pressuring the Democratic National Committee to approve a climate debate are being recruited. Sierra Club leaders are also organizing constituent visits, with members of Congress during the August recess, to discuss the Green New Deal. The club has organized a coach-activist network which will help prepare activists understand and promote the Green New Deal. For more information, click on https://www.sierraclub.org/resist/growing-green-new-deal-mobilization

After the UUA General Assembly passed an Action of Immediate Witness endorsing the Green New Deal (see below), the UU Ministry for Earth (UUMFE) began actions to work for passage of the Green New Deal. The UUMFE has organized climate activists by state and region and appointed coordinators for each. JUUstice Washington Climate Lead Bill McPherson will be the Washington State and Pacific West coordinator. Each month there will be Climate Roundtable Conversations via Zoom teleconferencing, organized as follows:

• August, November, February and May: State networks
• September, December, March and June: Regional networks
• October, January, April and July: National network

Much has been said and written about the political aspects of the Green New Deal. The substance of the Green New Deal has not gotten as much attention. House Resolution 109, introduced by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, lists the goals of the Green New Deal. These goals are captured into two broad categories, climate and economic. Under the economic tent are goals of the creation of millions of good, high paying jobs; providing unprecedented levels of prosperity Great places to begin these discussions on the goals and politics of the Green New Deal are our congregations and community groups. An excellent video to facilitate the discussion is “The Climate Crisis and the Green New Deal” by the Sanders Institute. It can be found here.

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