Actions

Weekly Actions

Members of Congress

  • Sen. Patty Murray
    (202) 224-2621 | Email

  • Sen. Maria Cantwell
    (202) 224-3441 | Email

  • Rep. Suzan DelBene (1st)
    (202) 225-6311 | Email

  • Rep. Kim Schrier (8th)
    (202) 225-7761 | Email

  • Rep. Adam Smith (9th)
    (202) 225-8901 | Email
    		•

    For the Week of August 2, 2021 

    🔹 We will be resuming our online group meetings on September 19th! Save the date and then join us on Zoom at 4:30 on Sept. 19th. Please register to attend.

    🔹 One more day to vote! Please drop your ballot at a drop box before 8 pm on Aug. 3rd to ensure that it gets counted. You can find the location of your nearest one here. There’s also a voting resource section at the end of the newsletter. If you’re interested in turnout across the state compared to 2019 you can check here.

    🔹 Here are your 3 actions for this week.

    ✊ Action 1 – [US Senators] Ask our Senators to put a price on carbon

    From Citizens’ Climate Lobby

    Senate Democrats are signaling that they are focused on climate change right now. An economy-wide price on carbon would be one of the fastest ways to reduce America’s carbon pollution. We need to price carbon if we want to hit the Biden Administration’s goal of 50% emissions reductions in the next decade. It has to be part of any serious climate solutions. Find out more about why to put a price on carbon. 

    Because of current filibuster rules in the Senate, Senate Democrats must either gather 60 votes (requiring at least some bipartisan cooperation) or, where possible, use budget reconciliation, where adjustments to spending and revenue can be made with 51 votes. The recent $1 trillion infrastructure deal was bipartisan, but included very limited climate-related expenditures. To support the many climate actions left out of that deal, Senate Democrats plan to create a separate bill that can be passed through budget reconciliation. Budget reconciliation has strict requirements, but a price on carbon meets those requirements. So the Senate can and should include a price on carbon in the upcoming budget reconciliation.

    Please call or email both of our senators and ask that they make this a priority. Note that if you ask to put a price on carbon in this year’s budget reconciliation, they’ll know what you mean.

    ☎ Sample Script:

    “Hello, my name is [NAME] and I am a constituent from [CITY, ZIP]. Climate change is one of the biggest threats to our future. I’m calling to urge you to include carbon pricing in this year’s budget reconciliation package. Carbon pricing is one of the most efficient mechanisms for reducing carbon pollution and would go a long way towards this administration’s goals on emissions reductions. 

    Thank you.”

    [IF LEAVING A VOICEMAIL: please leave your full street address to ensure your call is tallied]

    ✊ Action 2 – [You] Tell the League of Women Voters not to support the Compassion Seattle initiative

    The League of Women Voters does not endorse candidates for office but does provide guidance on King County ballot measures. They have been asked to support the initiative known as Charter Amendment 29, ‘Compassion Seattle’,  which is a campaign to change Seattle’s city charter in response to homelessness.  The initiative will be on the November ballot. The League is asking for feedback on which position (support, oppose, or neutral) to take.

    CA-29 would force the mayor to create 2,000 shelter or housing spaces within a year, budget 12% of the city’s general fund for homelessness and human services, and when there is enough housing or shelter for people living outside in Seattle, keep public spaces such as parks and sidewalks free of encampments. 

    A recent article in Real Change explains that CA-29 provides no dedicated funding for permanent housing. While CA-29 technically calls for a 1% increase in the human services budget from the city’s general fund, the vast majority of the funding for this plan would be taken from the existing human services budget, with ongoing impacts to existing social and human services that low income and unhoused people rely upon, including health services, food security programs and utility assistance. The Chamber of Commerce — one of the primary architects of this charter amendment — recently filed an unsuccessful legal challenge against the Jumpstart tax, which the Seattle City council passed in 2020 to tax large corporations to build deeply affordable housing.

    The initiative would also enshrine sweeps of homeless camps, where people are displaced and frequently lose tents and other belongings, including medication and legal documents. Sweeps do nothing to address root causes of homelessness and only exacerbate suffering and trauma. 

    The ACLU opposes the initiative and has written a detailed statement about how the initiative does not address the long-term solution to homelessness, which is permanent, affordable housing. 

    Action 2 – communicate with the League of Women Voters:  Go to seattlelwv.org/advocacy/current ballot issues by August 4th and oppose CA-29. This initiative is not a good plan for providing real help and solutions for the unhoused population.

    ✊ Bonus Action – add your voice in support of the Redmond “Health Through Housing” project:

    Recently King County Council announced the purchase of 7 hotels to house people who are homeless in Seattle, Redmond, Renton, Auburn, and Federal Way as part of the Health Through Housing initiative. This project will provide 800 rooms, which is more supportive housing than the County was able to build in 2019 and 2020 combined. While nowhere near enough to accommodate the entire homeless population of the county, this project gives a quick and easy way to get people experiencing chronic homelessness off the streets and provide on-site staffing and support services. 

    On Monday August 2, there will be a meeting hosted by King County and the city of Redmond to share information and answer questions on the Redmond project, which will be housed at the Silver Cloud Inn, 2122 152nd Ave NE, Redmond. We encourage you to join the meeting to let King County and Redmond know that you support this approach to helping our homeless neighbors. There is predictable and vocal opposition to the project and it is important to let both agencies know that they have community support for this important initiative. 

    You can join the meeting via this link, also available via the Redmond website. Questions and requests for translation services can be made by messaging health.through.housing@kingcounty.gov.

    ✊ Action 3 – [Bellevue residents] Participate in a survey on Bellevue’s transportation priorities

    The City of Bellevue has  a survey out to establish priorities and help to consolidate several existing transportation plans. This survey is important because it will affect how the city prioritizes transportation projects. Make sure to share your experiences navigating our city & tell Bellevue that it should prioritize the needs of people walking, biking, and taking transit. Staff documents show that there’s still a long way to go before we achieve that. You can read about it in detail at this report in completesteetsbellevue.org.

    The survey (https://bellevuewa.gov/city-news/mobility-plan-questionnaire) is available for your input until August 13. Reach out to Bellevue’s Transportation Commission and tell them that data shows we should prioritize investments in walking, biking, and transit infrastructure

    Voting Resources:

    Calendar of Events:

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    Previously Recorded Events of Interest:

    … and More:

    Resources: 

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