Washington Indivisible Podcast

Democrat Hilary Franz is Washington's Commissioner of Public Lands, and she joins us to talk about her 2024 campaign for governor.

Show Notes:

https://www.hilaryfranz.com/

Does sending postcards to potential voters in swing states have an impact? The numbers are in!

Reid McCollum is the director for Postcards to Swing States, part of the Progressive Turnout Project, and he joins us to talk about his two postcard-writing campaigns for the 2023 election--the legislative race in Virginia, and the governor’s race in Kentucky--and he reveals his organization's new metrics showing the effectiveness of sending postcards to voters.

Show Notes:

https://www.turnoutpac.org/postcards

In Washington State, BIPOC communities comprise more than 36% of the population, but only 19% of our elected officials are actually from these communities, meaning that people of color in Washington are consistently underrepresented in our government.

Addressing this imbalance is First Mile Circle, a grassroots fundraising organization takes donations at any dollar amount and distributes those funds to progressive candidates of color in down-ballot races across Washington state.

Guest: Dionne Foster, Executive Director of Progress Alliance of Washington, the founding organization for First Mile.

Join and donate at: firstmilecircle.org

45th LD Senator Manka Dhingra is Chair of the Senate Law and Justice Committee, Deputy Majority Leader of the State Senate, and a 20-year Senior Deputy King County Prosecutor. She joins us this week to talk about her recently launched campaign for WA Attorney General, replacing outgoing AG Bob Ferguson.

In September of last year, 22-year old Mahsa Amini died in police custody in Iran after being arrested for allegedly not wearing hijab in accordance with government standards. After months of worldwide protests, conditions for women in Iran continue to be dire, and this week's guests are dedicated to keeping the issue front and center by creating awareness and taking action here in Washington.

Arezou Bagan - Human rights activist and founder and board member of Voice of Iran, a non-partisan, multi-faith advocacy group that supports and amplifies the voice of the Iranian people as they fight for basic human rights and a secular democracy.

And Azadeh Forouzandeh - Healthcare worker and also a grassroots activist who works as the communications manager for Voice of Iran.

http://www.voiceofiran.org

Democrats in Washington’s state legislature went into this year’s long session with a lot of expectations, especially after picking up a seat in each chamber in last year’s election. Groups like Indivisible and Fuse Washington worked hard to advocate for legislation in areas like housing, gun safety, voting rights, healthcare, and a lot more.

Reiny Cohen is the Communications Hub Director with Fuse Washington, and she joins us to talk about what got accomplished this year–-and some of what didn’t.

If you followed Kevin McCarthy’s prolonged confirmation process to become speaker, you're familiar with the many concessions he made to the MAGA wing in Congress, specifically those empowering members who want to default on the national debt, something that, if successful, would have catastrophic consequences for the US and even global economy.

As the vote gets closer, Indivisible is asking groups across the country to call attention to the dangers of this MAGA default crisis by hosting a series of events from May 19th through the 26th.

Indivisible’s National Advocacy Director, Mary Small, joins us to talk about the details of the crisis, about how to message around it, and about how your group can create an event to call attention to this crucial issue.

SHOW NOTES:

http://www.magadefaultcrisis.org

Video Replay of the National Activist Call: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy6jv90cd1c

Slide Deck from National Activist Call about the MAGA Default Crisis: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1i8uE-sGLfH0WJ7dfJZl_BMXPLQ_iGBamlcDMd-t_wUU/edit?emci=ec5fa2fc-d62a-ec11-981f-c896653b9208&emdi=7e8a9566-ddda-ed11-8e8b-00224832eb73&ceid=10327#slide=id.g22ceceab7ed_1_190

Week of Action Toolkit: https://click.everyaction.com/k/61793117/401213228/2113431474?nvep=ew0KICAiVGVuYW50VXJpIjogIm5ncHZhbjovL3Zhbi9UU00vVFNNSVYvMS82ODE0OSIsDQogICJEaXN0cmlidXRpb25VbmlxdWVJZCI6ICI3ZThhOTU2Ni1kZGRhLWVkMTEtOGU4Yi0wMDIyNDgzMmViNzMiLA0KICAiRW1haWxBZGRyZXNzIjogInN0ZXBoYW5jb3hAZ21haWwuY29tIg0KfQ%3D%3D&hmac=MnBlE0FTZbKAZfLYYp9Oo7rQrlvpLpDy8EMkVmpuxI4=&emci=ec5fa2fc-d62a-ec11-981f-c896653b9208&emdi=7e8a9566-ddda-ed11-8e8b-00224832eb73&ceid=10327

How to Register your upcoming event: https://click.everyaction.com/k/61793118/401213229/-2073411041?nvep=ew0KICAiVGVuYW50VXJpIjogIm5ncHZhbjovL3Zhbi9UU00vVFNNSVYvMS82ODE0OSIsDQogICJEaXN0cmlidXRpb25VbmlxdWVJZCI6ICI3ZThhOTU2Ni1kZGRhLWVkMTEtOGU4Yi0wMDIyNDgzMmViNzMiLA0KICAiRW1haWxBZGRyZXNzIjogInN0ZXBoYW5jb3hAZ21haWwuY29tIg0KfQ%3D%3D&hmac=MnBlE0FTZbKAZfLYYp9Oo7rQrlvpLpDy8EMkVmpuxI4=&emci=ec5fa2fc-d62a-ec11-981f-c896653b9208&emdi=7e8a9566-ddda-ed11-8e8b-00224832eb73&ceid=10327

How to apply for reimbursement for your event: https://click.everyaction.com/k/61793119/401213230/-783638457?nvep=ew0KICAiVGVuYW50VXJpIjogIm5ncHZhbjovL3Zhbi9UU00vVFNNSVYvMS82ODE0OSIsDQogICJEaXN0cmlidXRpb25VbmlxdWVJZCI6ICI3ZThhOTU2Ni1kZGRhLWVkMTEtOGU4Yi0wMDIyNDgzMmViNzMiLA0KICAiRW1haWxBZGRyZXNzIjogInN0ZXBoYW5jb3hAZ21haWwuY29tIg0KfQ%3D%3D&hmac=MnBlE0FTZbKAZfLYYp9Oo7rQrlvpLpDy8EMkVmpuxI4=&emci=ec5fa2fc-d62a-ec11-981f-c896653b9208&emdi=7e8a9566-ddda-ed11-8e8b-00224832eb73&ceid=10327

Attend the May 4th workshop: https://click.everyaction.com/k/61793120/401213231/-947012178?nvep=ew0KICAiVGVuYW50VXJpIjogIm5ncHZhbjovL3Zhbi9UU00vVFNNSVYvMS82ODE0OSIsDQogICJEaXN0cmlidXRpb25VbmlxdWVJZCI6ICI3ZThhOTU2Ni1kZGRhLWVkMTEtOGU4Yi0wMDIyNDgzMmViNzMiLA0KICAiRW1haWxBZGRyZXNzIjogInN0ZXBoYW5jb3hAZ21haWwuY29tIg0KfQ%3D%3D&hmac=MnBlE0FTZbKAZfLYYp9Oo7rQrlvpLpDy8EMkVmpuxI4=&emci=ec5fa2fc-d62a-ec11-981f-c896653b9208&emdi=7e8a9566-ddda-ed11-8e8b-00224832eb73&ceid=10327#/registration

School board races are front and center in this year’s election, and for good reason. The stakes could not be higher. We know that the vast majority of Americans support an honest public education for our children, even at a time when that education is under assault. So this week, we hear from Washington Superintendent of Public Education, Chris Reykdal.

He spoke recently at a meeting put on by Indivisible Tacoma to address the importance of this year’s election, among many other issues facing our schools. We’re proud to bring you the entirety of that conversation here.

No matter your political affiliation, the vast majority of Americans believe in preserving honest public education. But public schools everywhere are under attack by extremists who are infiltrating school boards to push for things like book bans and prohibition on subjects like slavery, racism, and LGBTQ issues.

One of the most impactful ways you can push back is to run for school board, and our guests have written a nonpartisan guide on how to do it.

Petra Hoy, founder and head of Be the Change 509

Louise Pathe. steering committee for the Washington Indivisible Network, and co-founder of the WIN Schools Workgroup

Op ed on the value of public education

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/apr/02/jeanne-baynes-and-pui-yan-lam-full-us-story-must-b

Guide: bit.ly/RunForSchoolBoardGuideWA

Progressive Addendum: bit.ly/RunForSchoolBoardAddendum

As you’ve probably heard, Democratic legislators in this year’s session are working to pass a wealth tax for Washington, which would levy a 1% tax on residents with assets above $250 million. The bill is considered necessary to implement this year’s budget, so advocates are working to raise awareness and put pressure on our legislators in advance of the passing of the annual budget.

Talking about why this tax would be a game changer for Washington is Carolyn Brotherton, PhD, the Progressive Revenue Policy Associate with the Economic Opportunity Institute.