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Update from Olympia #6

Monday, February 15

Washington State LegislatureWe’re starting the 6th week of session and it’s going to be another busy week. We’ve got two conference calls for members, our annual legislative reception, and a big revenue rally to look forward to.

IN THIS ISSUENursing Home Workers Rally for Funding in Olympia * Legislature Starts Considering Revenue Bills * Career Pathway Bills Ready for Senate Floor Vote * Revenue Forecast Shows Slight Worsening of Budget Situation * Grassroots Legislative Organizer Blog

COMING UP THIS WEEK Monday: Revenue Rally * Tuesday: Legislative Conference Call * Wednesday: Nursing Home Worker Conference Call * Thursday: Purple Presence * Thursday: Legislative Reception

REMINDERS Three More Weeks of Purple Presence


IN THIS ISSUE
Nursing Home Workers Rally for Funding in Olympia Nursing home workers rallied in Olympia to voice support for a new funding source for nursing homes in Washington. It's known as a Quality Assurance Fee, and it is already used in more than 30 other states. The House bill (HB 3021) to create the fee is sponsored by Representative Tami Green of Lakewood, a registered nurse who has worked in long-term care facilities. It has 23 co-sponsors. The Senate bill is SB 6751.

Donna Peake, a certified nurse's assistant in Vancouver, says such a dedicated funding source would be welcome. Cuts by her employer have meant fewer caregivers, and more frustration for staff and residents, she says. "You've got to take shortcuts to meet the care; to try to get things done when you're working with that many residents. It's hard. It hurts me, because I know I'm better than that, but because we don't have the staff, I can't deliver the quality care that they need to have."

Click here for a Radio Story, Pictures, and a Fact Sheet.

Legislature Starts Considering Revenue Bills The legislature has introduced three important bills to start the debate on raising revenue. We support all of these efforts.
  • ESSB 6130 - Amending provisions related to Initiative Measure No. 960. (Sponsored by Senator Margarita Prentice)
  • HB 3176 - Increasing state revenues to preserve funding for education, public safety, health care, and safety net services for elderly, disabled, and vulnerable people by preventing abusive tax avoidance transactions, narrowing or eliminating certain tax preferences, and providing equitable tax treatment. (Sponsored by Representative Ross Hunter)
  • HB 3183 – Concerning the economic crisis revenue bill (Sponsored by Representative Dennis Flannigan)

Career Pathway Bills Ready for Senator Floor Vote Two bills that we’ve been working on – Senate Bill 6662 and Senate Bill 6582 – both made it out of the policy and rules committees and are ready for a vote on the Senate Floor! They need to be voted on by Tuesday, February 16th in order to be considered in the House.

Click here for details.

Revenue Forecast Shows Slight Worsening of Budget Situation On Friday, the official revenue forecast was released and showed that our budget situation has worsened slightly. We now face a $2.8 billion deficit. Legislators have been waiting to put together their budgets until they received the new revenue forecast information. Now is the time to act. All of the necessary information has been received. Now is the time to move quickly to develop a responsible approach to the economic crisis – with the forecast confirming that the state still faces severe cuts to core services without new revenue, the need for substantial new revenue is clear.

Click here for a press release put out by the Rebuilding our Economic Future Coalition

Grassroots Legislative Organizer (GLO) Blog Cathy just posted another update on her blog. Get the inside scoop on what it's like to be working full-time in Olympia.

Click here to read her blog.


Here's what's coming up this week:
Monday: Revenue Rally The Rebuilding our Economic Future coalition is organizing a Revenue Rally at 12pm on Monday, February 15th on the steps of the Capitol Building. It will be an opportunity for us to flex our collective muscle and show that there is broad based support for a balanced approach to our budget problems.

Tuesday: Legislative Conference Call Join us every Tuesday for the rest of the 2010 legislative session for SEIU Healthcare 775NW conference calls. The calls will be led by Catherine Byrd, a member and this session's Grassroots Legislative Organizer. She'll help us understand what's happening in Olympia, and what we can do to help stop the cuts and increase revenue.

For more information on how to join the conference call, please call our Member Resource Center toll-free at 1 (866) 371-3200.

Wednesday: Nursing Home Worker Legislative Conference Call This week we will host our second Nursing Home Worker Legislative Conference Call. If you're interested in joining, please call our Member Resource Center toll-free at 1 (866) 371-3200 for details.

Thursday: Purple Presence On Thursday, caregivers from Spokane, Tri-Cities, and across the state will be gathering in Olympia to raise attention about the impact of cuts to long-term care services. Thursday will also be Senior Lobby Day. We’ll be talking with legislators about the need to raise revenue to prevent devastating cuts. The legislative districts coming to Olympia this week are 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 16, 25, 31, 45, and 48.

Thursday: Legislative Reception Executive Board members will be meeting with legislators at our annual legislative reception on Thursday evening in Olympia.


REMINDERS
Three More Weeks of Session; Three More Weeks of Purple Presence Click on this Web site or call our Member Resource Center toll-free at 1 (866) 371-3200 to find out when members from your legislative district are coming to the Capitol. If you don't know which district you live in, you can find out by entering your zip code here.



Update from Olympia 2010 Archives
Update from Olympia #5 (February 8 2010)
Update from Olympia #4 (February 1, 2010)
Update from Olympia #3 (January 25, 2010)
Update from Olympia #2 (January 18, 2010)
Update from Olympia #1 (January 11, 2010)