All eyes turn to the dramas being acted out in Washington, DC. But here at home in the "other Washington" developments are unfolding that could affect our lives in Seattle. The Democrats in Washington have stronger majorities in both houses of the state legislature than their counterparts in the US Congress. And as citizens we can have much more influence in Olympia where just a few calls or e-mails to a legislator can have an immediate impact.
First off, do you know who your state Senator and Representatives are? If not, go to http://apps.leg.wa.gov/districtfinder/ and type in your address. Links to your elected officials will pop up on the screen, allowing you to e-mail them-or even more effectively, to call them.
The process of getting a bill sponsored, introduced, passed out of committee, amended and passed, is complex and fast-moving during the relatively brief legislative session ending April 22. If you want to track the progress of any bill, visit http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/ and type in the bill number.
The trick is to get a hearing before the relevant House and Senate committee. Unless a bill gets heard and voted on by the committee, it can't come up on the floor of the House or Senate for a vote. That's why it's important not only to contact your own legislators but also the chairs of the committees that will be hearing bills you support.
How do you know whose on which committee? Go to http://www.leg.wa.gov/legislature/committeelisting.aspx, choose the House or Senate and click on the committee name. On the left you'll see a link to Committee members.
OK, ready? Here are some bills coming up that could help make Seattle-and other Washington cities and towns-more equitable, affordable, and better places to live for all of us.
Condo crazy?
First, Senate Bill (SB) 5031 and House Bill (HB) 2014 would give back to cities the right to control condo conversions and ensure adequate relocation to displaced low-income tenants and senior citizens. As we wrote in last month's column, the rising tide of condo conversions has caused the loss of 3900 lower-priced rental apartments in Seattle just in the last two years.
Prime sponsor of HB 2014 is Representative Maralyn Chase but it's co-sponsored by Southeast Seattle's own Sharon Tomiko-Santos and Bob Hasegawa. Adam Kline is one of the sponsors of SB 5031. Thank them for their leadership and contact your other representatives to urge them to support local control of condo conversions. Thanks are also due to Councilmember Tom Rasmussen for testifying in favor of these bills.
Then if you have time, find the listings for the House Committee on Housing and the Senate Consumer Protection & Housing Committee and let the chairs know there's public support for giving cities the right to control condo conversions. The developers' lobbyists are crawling all over the state capitol grounds and only your e-mails and calls can overcome their machinations.
NOW FOR HEALTH
The Washington Health Security Trust (WHST) bill (SB 5756 and HB 1886) would provide unified "single-payer" health care financing for all Washington residents much like Canada's, funded by employer contributions based on gross payroll and individual premiums, subsidized for low-income residents.
The WHST bill is based on the premise that simplifying health care financing and eliminating administrative waste inherent in multiple insurance plans create sufficient savings to extend health care coverage to all residents and without restricting provider choice.
Hasegawa and Kline are sponsors, as is Eric Pettigrew. SB 5031 is before the Health & Long-term Care Committee of the Senate and the Health Care & Wellness Committee of the House. Here, too, high-priced lobbyists are at work. As a country we pay more for health care and get less actual care per dollar spent than any other developed nation.
In addition to supporting single-payer health care, we need to tell our legislators to object to the Governor's budget cuts for senior health care. Tell them to restore funding for long-term healthcare, for dementia care and a nursing home ombudsman.
NO NEW STADIUM
Meanwhile another billionaire is asking the taxpayers to fork over for his sports team. Seattle citizens successfully rid ourselves of the insatiable Sonics, but now Renton looks like the lucky city if Senator Margarita Prentice, chair of the Ways & Means Committee, succeeds in goal of getting us to pay $300 million for a new arena.
Prentice represents the 11th district which includes Renton as well as Beacon Hill. If you live in her district, and you're one of the 75 percent of Seattleites who approved Initiative 91 last fall, let her know you don't take kindly to having to pay for a stadium you already voted down.
NASCAR? NAW.
Now for all of you out there who care about global warming, air pollution, conservation of natural resources, hold on to your hats. NASCAR wants $145 million to build a speedway for car races on Hood Canal in Kitsap Peninsula. And once all the trees are cleared, all the acres of soil are covered with impermeable asphalt and all the taxpayer dollars spent for this racetrack, it would be used for two races a year.
Although the Kitsap County government has resisted the controversial project, two state representatives are overriding the principle of local control via HB 2062 and companion bill SB 6040, which would create a public speedway authority - Pettigrew is a sponsor. Maybe he has fallen for the hype of this being a job-creation bill even though it exempts construction firms from having to pay prevailing wages.
Tomiko-Santos and Hasegawa are on the House Finance Committee where HB 2062 is scheduled for a public hearing. Let them know that if people want to watch cars run around on a track using up fossil fuels and spewing greenhouse gases, there's no reason for society to subsidize their pastime. Instead of lavishing funds on billionaire team owners and speedways to nowhere, let's restore the funding cut from the senior health care budget. Our elders deserve better from us.
Now it's time for you to take action. Send those e-mails and make those calls, Make a difference!
John V. Fox and Carolee Colter of the Seattle Displacement Coalition may be reached via editor@sdistrictjournal.com.
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