Announcing our 2023 Legislative Priorities!
We are so excited to jump into the 2023 Legislative Session! Read about our priorities below.
Democracy Done Right
We are stoked to be leading on three priorities: Statewide Democracy Voucher program for Legislative races, Updating Online Voter Registration (5208) to make it more accessible, and a Constitutional Amendment to allow 16 and 17 year old voting!
Also look out for:
- Automatic Voter Registration (SB 5112), a bill we backed last year and that is making some movement right off the bat! It had a hearing last week in the policy committee and passed out of committee.
- Even Year Elections, a bill we’re keeping an eye out for this one to return to the state house after passing it in King County this Fall!
PreK-BA, Slay
- Cost Free College: We’re working with Communities For our Colleges to get a bill that would make community and technical colleges cost free for all!
- Free School Meals for K-12 students (HB 1238/SB 5339) No student should go hungry at school, and no kid should be in debt for food, which is why we’re supporting OSPI’s push to make all school meals free for all students!
Tax the Rich, Fund the People
- Guaranteed Basic Income Pilot Program (HB 1045), which we were proud to support last year is back with a pilot program! This program would give people experiencing poverty a monthly cash payment that’s enough to cover fair market rent in their county, because no one should struggle to stay housed.
- Wealth Tax (SB 5486 /HB 1473) Our state has the most regressive tax structure in the entire United States. This bill includes people with more than a quarter of a billion dollars in a modest wealth tax will also be coming up soon this session! (A gentle reminder that if you were trying to save up $250,000,000 and saved $100 a day it would take 6,850 years to reach a quarter billion dollars. We’re still talking about an astronomical amount of money.)
Let Youth Thrive
Look out next month to find out what our Winterns want to advocate for under our Let Youth Thrive bucket! They set the agenda here!
Check out the document below for more details.
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