Washington Indivisible Podcast

Following last year’s Dobbs decision overturning Roe v Wade, several states have worked to pass legislation codifying abortion access for state residents.

Here in Washington, Senator Yasmin Trudeau (LD 27) recently co-authored a bill (advancing as HB 1469: https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1469&Year=2023&Initiative=false ) that would additionally protect those who come from out of state for reproductive healthcare, as well as gender-affirming care.

Show Notes:

My Health My Data: Tell Law & Justice Committee to STRENGTHEN and PASS HB 1155

https://www.takeaction.network/xactions/33112?ref=51

Contact your members to let them know you want My Health My Data restored to its original form in the Senate, and House members to vote for it in concurrence.

Check your members’ pages for town halls (happening now throughout the state) and send in a comment in advance and/or attend to make sure they know you expect them to pass the Shield Law and My Health My Data with restored consumer privacy protections.

If you're looking for ways to message in support of key bills on housing, gun safety, income inequality, and more, we've got you covered. This week, we check in with Reiny Cohen, director of the Communications Hub at Fuse, to discuss how to talk about crucial bills at the midway point of this year's legislative session.

If you track our legislative sessions at all, you’ll know it’s hard to keep up, so if you’re looking for an all-in-one update on issues that concern Indivisible members, this episode is for you.

Lead members of the Washington Indivisible Legislative Action team (also known as WILA) recently joined Seattle Indivisible to give an update on key legislation concerning:

Criminal justice & police accountability (Deb Carstens, Wallingford Indivisible)

Healthcare (Jim Austin, Indivisible WA’s 8th District)

Gun safety (Stephen Wilhelm, Snohomish County Indivisible)

Climate & the environment (Sarah Richards, Kirkland Indivisible)

Housing (Ruth Lipscomb, Indivisible Eastside)

Special thanks to Lysondra Ludwig, and to Alex Fayer!

We are so excited to be bringing you our first conversation with Shasti Conrad in her new capacity as chair of the Washington State Democratic Party! Longtime listeners will know her as the former chair of the King County Democrats (and de facto co-host on the podcast--she's our most frequent guest and fill-in host ever).

In this wide-ranging discussion, we hear about her thoughts on her transformational role as the youngest person to ever be elected chair, as well as being the first woman of color in the position. We also discuss the work ahead for the 2023 and 2024 election cycles , and most importantly, we talk about how Shasti and the WA Dems will be actively listening to and working with grassroots groups like Indivisible.

Show Notes:

Contact Shasti: [email protected]

Contribution link: https://secure.ngpvan.com/-jiKjXwBDkmqGxT4RBrFog2

With over 150,000 people from South Asia now calling Washington State home, caste has become a political issue, with reports of caste-based discrimination in both the public and private sectors.

Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant has introduced an ordinance that would ban discrimination based on caste, and if passed, Seattle would become the first city in North America to pass such legislation. The council is set to vote on the measure on February 21st.

Guest: Raghav Kaushik, Microsoft tech worker

Show Notes:

Please go to http://tinyurl.com/seattlecasteally, which will create an email addressed to the Seattle City Council.

For Take Action Network users, here’s the action in TAN which includes loads of background info and links: https://www.takeaction.network/xactions/32668

In an effort to address the healthcare cost and access crisis here in Washington, the Economic Opportunity Institute (EOI) is endorsing a slate of bills in this year’s legislative session, taking aim at things like mergers, prescription drug costs, and protections for our frontline healthcare workers.

On today's podcast, EOI's healthcare policy advisor, Sam Hatzenbeler, explains the big issues for us.

Bills we discussed with current actions:

SB 5241 - Keep Our Care Act (preventing even more anti-competitive healthcare consolidation)

Bill info: https://www.takeaction.network/bills/6525

Senate action: Support SB 5241 (Keep Our Care Act) by Urging Legislators to Pass It Out of Committee Before this Week's Cutoff: Feb 10 - Feb 16 2023

Take action here: https://www.takeaction.network/xactions/32561?ref=51

SB 5179 / HB 1281 - Expanded Death With Dignity Act (removing barriers to access & making it more compatible with the law's intent)

SB 5179 bill info: https://www.takeaction.network/bills/6428

HB 1281 bill info: https://www.takeaction.network/bills/6631

Senate action: Support SB 5179 (Death with Dignity Act) and get this bill a floor vote: Feb 12-Feb 20 2023

Take action here: https://www.takeaction.network/xactions/32633?ref=51

House action: Support (HB 1281) Death with dignity act and ask Rules to move this important bill for a floor vote: Feb 12-Feb 20 2023

Take action here: https://www.takeaction.network/xactions/32632?ref=51

HB 1469 / SB 5489 - Shield Law (providing a shield to patients and providers of abortion or gender-affirming care. Prevents other states from using WA courts or judicial process to enforce their forced-birth laws; provides life-saving refuge to those seeking care.)

HB 1469 info: https://www.takeaction.network/bills/6999

SB 5489 info: https://www.takeaction.network/bills/7057

House action: Support Health care services/access (House: On Floor 2nd Reading): Feb 11-Feb 17 2023

Take action here: https://www.takeaction.network/xactions/32609?ref=51

Senate action: Let's get this reproductive justice bill a floor vote!: Feb 6-Feb 20 2023

Take action here: https://www.takeaction.network/xactions/32515?ref=51

Other bills & budget items also discussed:

SB 5393 / HB 1379 - Promote Fair Contracting Practices bill (stop unfair negotiating tactics)

HB 1508 - Healthcare Cost Transparency Board (HCCTB) (expands accountability mechanisms for healthcare pricing)

HB 1269 - Strengthening the Prescription Drug Affordability Board (making prescription drugs more affordable)

SB 5236 - Support Frontline Healthcare Workers, aka Washington Safe and Healthy (stops hospitals from balancing their budgets on the backs of their workers)

Budget items:

Cascade Care

Immigrant Healthcare Expansion

The Fair Health Prices campaign - visit the website to learn about this new campaign: https://fairhealthprices.org/

Every Washingtonian deserves to feel safe, both in their community and at the hands of law enforcement. In the wake of the murder of George Floyd by police officers, Washington State passed a number of laws aimed at reforming law enforcement, addressing things like vehicle pursuits, the use of physical force, and no-knock warrants.

But law enforcement, along with state Republicans and even some Democrats, has worked to roll back many of these reforms. Joining us to talk about this, and to also help unpack some newly proposed police reform legislation, are:

- Leslie Cushman, founder and head of the Washington Coalition for Police Accountability

- Enoka Herat, Counsel for Police Practices and Immigration with the ACLU of Washington

We are all too familiar with the cycle of gun violence in the United States. This year began with two horrific mass shootings in California. In January alone, there were 40 mass shootings in this country, with 60 deaths. Gun violence is now the leading cause of death among children in the United States.

But one of the places where we’ve seen some actual progress is here in Washington State. In the last two sessions, we saw new laws on things like ghost guns, high-capacity* magazines, and open carry. And this year's session is proposing landmark legislation on things like banning assault weapons, allowing lawsuits against gun manufacturers, and requiring permits, waiting periods, and training for firearm ownership.

Renee Hopkins, CEO of the Alliance for Gun Responsibility, joins us to discuss the legislation, and to talk about why she's hopeful that things are finally staring to shift on gun safety in this country.

*In the interview, I mistakenly refer to high-capacity magazines as high-caliber magazines. Thanks to listener Gordon Glasgow for spotting this!

Show Notes:

HB 1143 / SB 5211 Permit-to-Purchase

Action: Support HB 1143 (Firearms/purchase & transfer) by Signing in "Pro" to the House Appropriations's Public Hearing: https://www.takeaction.network/xactions/32479?ref=51

HB 1144 / SB 5232 Requires safety training, 10-day waiting period

Action: Support SB 5232 Again (Firearms/purchase & transfer) by Signing in "Pro" to the rescheduled Senate Law & Justice's Public Hearing: https://www.takeaction.network/xactions/32475?ref=51

Attend Moms Demand Action Advocacy Day in Olympia on Monday, March 13th as well as their statewide meeting Wednesday, February 8th from 7:00-8:00pm. RSVP here: https://forms.everytown.org/a/wa-february-statewide-meeting

We all know the danger that online disinformation poses. Everything from Russian election interference to the Big Lie and January 6th are the direct result of disinformation. But how do we push back? Two and a half years ago, Indivisible introduced the Truth Brigade, a group of online volunteers who actively counter disinformation.

You can learn more about Truth Brigade, with a kickoff event this Wednesday, February 8th, at 3:30 PM Pacific.

Guest: Co-creator of Truth Brigade, Indivisible senior manager, network support department, Jody Rein.

Show Notes:

https://indivisible.org/indivisible-truth-brigade

Join the Truth Brigade: https://act.indivisible.org/signup/indivisible-truth-brigade/

Join the call on Feb. 8, 6:30 ET, "Big Truths Big News: Truth Brigade 3.0 Kickoff" https://indivisi.org/3pIdEtS

The first in our series in which we meet newly elected state Democratic leadership. Today, we talk with the new chair of the King County Democrats, Carrie Barnes, who shares her vision for Democratic electoral and policy wins in 2023, 2024, and beyond.

Show Notes:

Lobby Day sign up: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdlod6k5DdW3fdq7avB_47IJ6k3WNFZG3rokvYFCf9YbqXnnA/viewform

Link for PCO training on Saturday, February 4th:

https://www.kcdems.org/event/pco-welcome-and-training/

Volunteer for KC Dems committees:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdZPsG_rakV3oHMMMjpS7HxBHSVp0JD-Wf18-OMZmBz60eu0Q/viewform