The effort to establish the Washington Investment Trust — discontinued earlier in this session — is experiencing some degree of rejuvenation. A new budget-related bill, HB 2040, has been introduced and has already had a hearing. Like the original bill, HB 2040 creates a task force to develop a means to use the state’s operating … Read more
FCWPP joins Earth Ministry in the following alert. April 5, 2011 | Earth Ministry Home | Washington Interfaith Power & Light | Contact Us | Donate Now | Blog Dear Friends of Faith in Washington: In a grace-filled moment, we recently reached a landmark agreement with the TransAlta Corporation and Governor Gregoire … Read more
Friends- Although we currently tax physical fitness services, tanning salon services, and tattoo parlor services, we do not tax elective cosmetic surgery. We also provide funding assistance for Washington seniors who lack the means to pay for prescription drugs necessary for their health and well-being. Most of the seniors in this group require financial assistance … Read more
HB 1847 repeals tax expenditures that shield those who own private aircraft from excise taxes, block taxes on elective cosmetic surgery, shelter bank profits on home mortgages and out-of-state coal used to produce electricity. The revenue raised by terminating these tax shelters or tax expenditures is dedicated to funding Basic Health to low-income state residents. … Read more
Basic Health, Disability Lifeline, and Apple Health for Kids: We need to talk to our neighbors who are doing well about the value of providing for our neighbors who are struggling. The value of our health care safety net (even after accounting for all its holes) is well recognized. (See: http://blog.senatedemocrats.wa.gov/brown/major-reform-health-care/) Keeping that net from … Read more
HB 1775, our Restorative Justice bill, is scheduled for a hearing in the Senate Human Services & Corrections Committee Friday, March 11th. SSB 5073, which reduces the potential that those prescribing or selling medicinal marijuana are jailed for their efforts while also formalizing the operation of medical marijuana distribution centers to minimize the potential marijuana … Read more
Supporters and opponents of 2SSB 5769 that required termination of coal fired electrical power generation reached a compromise that supported a vote in the Senate to pass the bill. Click here for more information… E2SSB 5769 has now been scheduled for a hearing in the House Environment Committee on March 15th. Action: Call members of … Read more
When coal is burned, reports Howard Frumkin, dean of the University of Washington School of Public Health, “the health risks pile up. Air pollutants such as oxides of sulfur and nitrogen threaten cardiac and respiratory health. Tiny particles – some that rise directly from the smokestacks, others that form in the air from combustion products … Read more
HB 1775, our Restorative Justice bill, was amended on the House Floor to increase the juvenile population eligible for diversion through Restorative Justice programs and passed by a 96:1 vote. EHB 1775 has now been put on first reading in the Senate Human Services & Corrections Committee. The Senate companion bill, SB 5706, remains in … Read more
Still no action has been taken last week on HB 1847 that generates more than $100 million/year to fund the Basic Health plan by closing tax loopholes. Action: Call House Ways & Means Committee Chair Ross Hunter and request he schedule a hearing for HB 1847. HB 1889, which requires review of all tax expenditures … Read more