Take a minute to [un]wind with our Sunday newsletter. Grab a cup of coffee and catch up on what you may have missed from [un]Divided this week.
Be your own best watchdog
With a full week of the legislative session behind us, we have a better idea of what bills are going to be prioritized (and which are not). Here are a few issues I discussed on the podcast this week that I hope you’ll take the time to voice your opinions on.
Whether you really like a bill or really dislike a bill, letting your legislators know about it is important. Before you read the list of issues below, here are a few ways to chime in:
You can call the toll-free legislative hotline at 1-800-562-6000 and ask to be transferred to your representatives (if you don’t know who they are, the operator will look it up for you using your address).
You can also find email addresses for your state legislators by plugging in your address here.
A fix for the pursuit law?
In a pleasant surprise on Friday, a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House and Senate dropped matching proposals to fix the disastrous police pursuit policy pushed through by Democrats in 2021.
The law passed in 2021 read as follows:
A peace officer may not engage in a vehicular pursuit, unless there is probable cause to believe that a person in the vehicle has committed or is committing a violent offense or sex offense as defined in RCW 9.94A.030, or an escape under chapter 9A.76 11 RCW; or there is reasonable suspicion a person in the vehicle has committed or is committing a driving under the influence offense 14 under RCW 46.61.502 (AND) The pursuit is necessary for the purpose of identifying or apprehending the person (AND) The person poses an imminent threat to the safety of others.
The new bills propose changing the law to this:
A peace officer may not conduct a vehicular pursuit, unless there is reasonable suspicion to believe that a person in the vehicle has committed or is committing a criminal offense and the safety risks of failing to apprehend or identify the person are considered to be greater than the safety risks of the vehicular pursuit under the circumstances.
If you want to read the full text of the new proposals or see what lawmakers signed onto them, you can read House Bill 1363 here and Senate Bill 5352 here.
While contacting your district legislators is a good start, I would also recommend contacting the chairs of the Senate Law & Justice Committee and House Public Safety Committee. They will ultimately decide whether these bills move. Please keep your emails civil – that’s very important.
Senator Manka Dhingra (D): [email protected]
Representative Roger Goodman (D): [email protected]
Legislative privilege
On Monday’s episode, we discussed how some lawmakers are claiming “legislative privilege” to withhold documents from the press and the public.
While legislative privilege is a protection provided to lawmakers in the state constitution, that privilege guarantees they don’t get sued for something said while debating over bills. It doesn’t, in my opinion, have any bearing on whether they must release internal documents or emails that are requested via public disclosure.
In 2018, the state legislature passed a law to exempt themselves from the Public Records Act. More than 20,000 Washingtonians called and emailed to share their objections, which resulted in Governor Jay Inslee vetoing the bill. Media organizations ushered the issue to the Washington State Supreme Court, which ruled in 2019 that lawmakers were, indeed, subject to disclosure.
So, let’s just say it’s more than a little annoying that we’re still fighting this fight three years later.
Reach out to the House Speaker and Senate Leader to demand their caucuses commit to stopping this practice.
A few other bills for your radar
I would also encourage you to share your opinion on these, if you feel so inclined:
Senate Bill 5063 is a bipartisan proposal to add checks and balances to the governor's emergency power. As we discussed on the Friday episode, the bill's sponsors have been told that the bill is dead on arrival. That sucks bigtime. If emergency power reform doesn't happen this session, I doubt it ever will.
Senate Bill 5082 is a Democrat-backed bill that would end with Advisory votes. Advisory votes allow Washingtonians to share their opinion on new taxes passed by the legislature. While they are nonbinding, why do they bother Democrats so much?
Senate Bill 5335 is a Democrat-backed bill that would raise the Capital Gains tax rate (despite an ongoing legal fight over it) and lower the threshold for who has to pay it. Remember, this was originally sold as a tax only for the super-rich. That won't be the case is this bill passes.
If you watch one thing from [un]Divided this week…
…make it my “Fridays with Friends” chat with Kristin Olson, host of the Rational in Portland Podcast. Kristin is a trial attorney (and former Progressive) who found herself frustrated with the state of her city.
Initially, she began speaking out under a pseudonym for fear of being vilified by the city’s alt-Left (sounds familiar, doesn’t it. Seattle and Portland activists have roughly the same playbook). Now her podcast has gone mainstream, with more and more guests willing to speak out about what is truly behind the homelessness crisis (drugs, not housing).
Kristin is whip smart and a great example of the difference citizens can make when they refuse to be bullied for telling the truth.
Housekeeping
Some of you have asked how you can hear me on KIRO Radio while I fill the 12-3 slot for a few weeks. Each hour is posted as its own podcast here.
Thank you for your commitment to giving common sense a comeback! Have a great week.
