2015 Lobby Day in Olympia February 16, 2015 Prepared by Tamsen Spengler, 34th Dems LAC Chair
The 34th District Democrats had nine members attend Lobby Day in Olympia this year: Ann Martin, Ted Barker, Karen Chilcutt, Ed & Jackie Dupras, Tamsen Spengler, Chris Weiss, Bruce Stotler and Richard Schilling. We joined with over 50 other members of King County.
We arrived in Olympia in the morning to meet with Sarajane Siegfriedt and Steve Zemke, KCDCC’s Legislative Action Committee, Co-Chairs, who had arranged meetings with legislators and lobbyists to discuss pending legislation and issues they are focused on during this session. Speakers were Senators: Pramila Jayapal, Maralyn Chase, Bob Hasegawa, Jeanne Kohl-Welles, Karen Keiser and David Frockt; Representatives: Ross Hunter, Brady Walkinshaw, Carol Gregory, and Tana Senn Lobbyists briefing us were Andy Nicholas from Washington State Budget and Policy Center, Darcy Nonemacher from Washington Environmental Council, Nick Federici leader of Washington United for Fair Revenue, Sarajane Siegfriedt on the State Policy Committee of Washington Low Income Housing Alliance, Steve Zemke founder of Tax Sanity and Brian Gunn, Chair of the Washington State Progressive Caucus, representing Move to Amend.
The morning session was very well organized with member packets filled with information on the Legislative process, KCDCC’s 2015 Agenda with Status of Agenda bills, current roster of Senate and House of Representative members and standing committees, session cutoff calendar and the “They Represent You” 2015 Directory of Elected Officials brochure. These materials were very helpful in planning for the afternoon visits with our legislators, attendance at hearings and for future advocacy.
The primary take away from our morning visits were, we need to have: Revenue and Tax Reform in Washington State, passage of a Carbon Pollution Accountability Act (SB 5283/HB 1314) and Oil Transportation Safety Now bill (SB 5087/HB 1449), fully fund K-12 Basic Education, maintain the social safety net and Campaign Finance and Election Reform.
After lunch we met with our 34th District legislators, Senator, Sharon Nelson and Representatives Eileen Cody and Joe Fitzgibbon. We discussed current issues in the legislature and plans for the future. They all stated they would keep us informed as the session continues. If you are not signed up to receive their E-newsletters please do so at their websites. We left on a high note knowing our legislators recognize we appreciate their hard work and we are confident they have our best interests at heart.
Special thanks to Karen Chilcutt for getting some of us to Olympia and Sarajane and Steve for their dedication to effective advocacy and educating others!