Welcome to Policy Watch 2008
PART II – WEEK NINE IN OLYMPIA
THE SCENE… especially the players
The final gavel has come down.
The second Session (2008) of the 60th Legislature came to an end on the evening of Thursday, March 13. Anyone present - or watching from home via TVW - could see this was not an ordinary day in the legislature. There were tributes to legislators who’ve chosen not to run again, and public thanks to all the staff who work behind the scenes.
But mostly Senators and Representatives were in high spirits - milling about, making jokes (at one point Lt. Gov., Brad Owen – who presides over the Senate – said, “I’ve enjoyed playing the straight-man for all of you…”), and breaking into applause at every step that took them closer to adjournment. When one Senator broke in to (facetiously) “call for a roll call vote,” Owen declared him “completely out of order…” to raucous applause.
Then, with both House and Senate pretty much simultaneously passing SCR (Senate Concurrent Resolution) 8413 - “Adjourning Sine Die,” legislators broke into hugs and hi-fives and smiles all around. Staff will stay behind for a bit to clear out their Olympia offices and regroup back in the Districts, but the lion’s share of the legislators’ work was done, and they could finally go home.
By now all the major media and countless blogs have offered commentaries on the Session as a whole, and the Budget in particular. It’s possible to find everything from 30-second items on the evening news to 40-column-inch stories in the major papers, commenting on details of interest to a region or locality alongside broad-brush accounts of the big-picture trends.
As anyone who has read a summary of the session and the final budget in their local newspaper or advocacy group newsletter would know, this Session had one thing in common with all that have gone before. By the end, a lot of groups/issues/people had won some of what they wanted; and at the end, virtually no group/issue/individual had won everything they wanted.
Equally unsurprising, the Majority party (Democrats this year) had good things to say about the final the results (“…we got a lot done,” said House Speaker Frank Chopp), while the party in the Minority (Republicans this year) did not. (“All we have are lots of promises, some really nifty talking points, and a deficit looming…” said Deputy Minority Leader Senator Cheryl Pflug.)
But if elected officials and the media are important, they are only part of the story. The third and equally important leg of the advocacy stool can be found just by looking in the mirror: it’s us, the people, grassroots, the many communities that democracy celebrates and gives voice to.
The list of my heroes in the process is long. It includes -- the many thoughtful elected officials in both parties who treat their constituents with respect, their conscience as a precious commodity, and representing all of us fairly as an honor; the countless Olympia staff who treat us all with remarkable courtesy and patience; the lobbyists who work on health, human services, civil rights, and low-income issues – often for little pay and terrible hours; and the media people who help make sense of it all for those of us who cannot be there everyday.
But my special heroes are all the people who speak up and show up even though they’ve never done it before, start out feeling some combination of intimidated/terrified/unqualified … and think they are likely to be ignored. Under the circumstances just showing up is incredibly hard, but because they care passionately (or because someone they trust has urged them to come), they come to Olympia to advocate for themselves and the people they care about.
- Consider the young people who are homeless or in foster care who took part in Youth Advocacy Day - many of whom have good reason to distrust adults. But they came, and in the words of one young man, “…the most amazing part…was, without a doubt, that there were so many people to advocate for foster children. If children in foster care saw how many people are advocating for them they wouldn’t feel so alone…. It was so nice to see people listening to me and taking in all of what I was.”
- Or think about people like the young woman who said she’d started out terrified, but got up her courage because her issue was a matter of social justice (affecting Native American children in the child welfare system). She got to meet with her Senator and asked for his vote – only to have him explain that the bill she mentioned was before the House of Representatives, and Senators don’t get to vote in the House. But “he was very nice,” she explained, and “said I shouldn’t feel embarrassed since this was my first time, and I’d done so many things right: I made an appointment, I came to Olympia, I cared about the issue, and I brought it to his attention. He was REALLY nice.” She’s already planning for 2009 “…and next time I’ll be better prepared.”
- Then there are all the Head Start/ECEAP parents and staff who came to put a face on the push for a Washington Head Start bill (it passed), the low-income members of VOICES and POWER who spoke up for a Working Families Credit or expanded access to anti-hunger programs (both passed), the shelter providers/volunteers/homeless people who spoke up for the Housing Trust Fund (the final budget has $80 million for the Trust Fund and homelessness-related programs), the service providers and family members who spoke up for all those needing long-term care or help in coping with disabilities (part of what was requested made it into the final budget), the domestic violence survivors and supporters who courageously spoke out in public about the need for additional protections (key DV bills passed), or the many new Americans who joined REWA to speak on behalf of refugee and immigrant women, some of whom get treated as virtual slaves after coming here (a New Americans Initiative was signed by the Governor). Plus many, many more than can be noted here.
As you read the wrap-up accounts in the media, pause for a moment to notice how many times the legislative and budgetary wins have primary beneficiaries who are the un-rich, un-fancy, un-schooled in the ways of the Capitol. Every total and partial victory should serve as a powerful reminder that we can help the system respond to the seemingly un-powerful.
A few last notes. International students who are studying in the US find an Olympia experience to be truly remarkable. One said she was going to call her father back in Asia to tell him about it… but she was sure he would never believe that she, an ordinary student, had just had a meeting with a Senator. Another commented that she didn’t get to meet with any legislators (they were caught up in Floor Action) but was not disappointed because, “in my country I would never have an opportunity like this… I would not even be allowed inside the building!”
Even born-and-raised American citizens are surprised. As one first-time Olympia visitor put it: “I was amazed at how accessible my government is, and how sorry that I didn’t know this sooner.” Or, another who discovered that, “I learned I could respect a legislator who will discuss an issue, disagree with me, and tell me why they disagree.” Yet a third: “The best part was going to Olympia with people who had been homeless – that’s truly empowering.”
But reading about it is not the same as doing. “I know you write in POLICY WATCH that it’s easy to talk to our elected officials,” reports one reader, “that the whole capitol campus is really accessible, that they WANT to hear from us. But I had to experience it to believe it. Now that I’ve been to Olympia - I’m hooked.” May her tribe increase.
The PROCESS – The Governor gets the last word (pretty much)
So it’s mostly over… just not quite. Final actions are now in the Governor’s Court. The Governor has 20 days, excluding Sundays, to consider whether to sign, veto, or partially veto bills passed by the Legislature during the Session’s last days. (Earlier in the Session the Governor had to act within five days of passage.) A veto override is possible, but because it would require that legislators return to Olympia for a Special Session, it is rare.
Overall, the Governor sounds pleased with the final outcome on the budget: she got a reserve fund almost as large as she’d requested; a budget with just $300 million in new spending (in a $34 billion budget); and a number of her priority bills. But she also signaled that she might cut more from the budget by exercising her “item veto” power: “I want to ask if there are new programs that can wait,” she told reporters.
OUR ROLE: That’s why the work of good advocates continues. The groups are sending out a final round of “alerts,” asking their members to send messages to the Governor in favor of, or opposing, specific items in the budget, or asking her to sign their priority bills. And to make it easy, most even include sample messages that can quickly be personalized by the reader.
In short: the citizen lobbyist’s work is not done till the bills and/or budget are finally signed.
Be sure to check the emails/websites of the advocacy groups monitoring the issues you care about, to know whether any last action is needed. And promise to speak up again next year.
Then -- get ready to VOTE in November. Remember that: bad officials are elected by ‘good’ citizens who fail to VOTE.
It is easy to send the Governor a quick message to convey your wishes.
- CALL (directly at 360-902-4111, or TOLL FREE 1-800-562-6000)
- EMAIL/WRITE (Go to: www.governor.wa.gov and click on “Contact the Governor”)
- TELL THE GOVERNOR how you feel about the bills that were passed. Remember, she has the power to sign, partial veto, or veto, any bill or budget item.
Now that the Session is over, the toll-free “Hot-line” goes from 15 operators down to 2, and is only open during normal work hours, on week days. But it remains the easiest, quickest way to convey a brief message.
**************************
SOME ISSUES -- Last UPDATE
Bills were introduced on such a broad range of issues that PW cannot mention them all. This simply tracks the progress of a few health/human services listed in previous weeks.
Some bills heading for the Governor to sign
BILL TOPIC Status
Some House Bills Committee or Chamber
HB 1421 Privacy Protect’s for DV victims Delivered to the Governor
HB 2474 Superv’n Require’t’s for Social Workers Delivered to the Governor
HB 2551 Juvenile Treatment Delivered to the Governor
HB 2602 Victims of Domestic Violence Delivered to the Governor
HB 2668 Expand’g Services for Long-Term Care Delivered to the Governor
HB 2679 Educa’l Outcomes for Foster Youth Delivered to the Governor
HB 3104 Expand’g Domestic Partner Rights Governor signed 3/12/08
Some Senate Bills
SB 6267 Nurse Practitioners Delivered to the Governor
SB 6333 Work Group on Health Care Delivered to the Governor
SB 6357 Protection Orders in Domestic Violence Delivered to the Governor
SB 6448 Behavior Supports for Children w/DD Survived as budget proviso
SB 6483 Local Farms/Healthy Kids Delivered to the Governor
SB 6809 Working Families Credit Delivered to the Governor
And much, much more…
In a few cases, a bill may die, but an activity will get funded and survive through a “budget proviso;” be sure to check this possibility with the group monitoring your issue closely.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------