Lobbying in Olympia

Hi MLEA Friends,

Last Tuesday the 27th I went over to Olympia with the WEA-Eastern Members Lobby Team (MLT) to meet with the legislators from the 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 7th legislative districts, which essentially covers Spokane and all points north.

It was an ugly day on the hill in more ways than one. This picture that I put up on my Facebook profile was the view from the hotel room that morning; the sort of skiff of snow that we would all shrug off but had districts over there opening two hours late. Later in the day the snow turned into that familiar western Washington rain/mist combination that is absolutely miserable for someone like me who wears glasses. Fun times! :-P

The meetings with the legislators were very rewarding. The day opened with Rep. Joel Kretz, a Republican out of Okanogan County who is also the deputy leader of the House Republicans. He was very interested in hearing our thoughts on levy equalization, which is a funding source that means an awful lot to districts here in Eastern Washington. Rep. Kevin Parker (R, Spokane) is new to the house and listened very intently to what we had to say about class size, why HB1410 deserves to fail, and the importance of de-linking the WASL from graduation.

Towards the end of the day we went to visit with Sen. Bob McCaslin (R, Spokane Valley), where we found that his Chief of Staff has a local connection to us here in Medical Lake. Senator McCaslin has been working to pass SB5212 for a couple of years now, which would help military parents who have to make changes to parenting plans while overseas. He's highly interested in military families, and I thank him for his commitment!

I also was in on the meetings with Rep. Shelly Short and Sen. Bob Morton (both of the 7th LD), Rep. Timm Ormbsby (3rd), and Rep. John Driscoll (6th); Matt Shea (4th), Alex Wood (3rd), and Lisa Brown (3rd) were all covered by other members of the MLT. The only local legislator we weren't able to meet with was Rep. Larry Crouse out of the 4th, so we'll redouble our efforts to meet with him the next time around.

It's an interesting time, with the state budget deficit getting that much worse but with potential for federal money on the horizong that could help a big piece of the situation. I'll keep you up-to-date as things evolve!

With thanks,

--Ryan--

I'll see your COLA, and raise you 5.5%

It's a critically important time for cyber-lobbying.

The House budget which passed on Monday includes a 3.9% COLA increase in teacher salary, plus a 1% catch-up to make up for one of the years with no raise we endured a few years back, plus another .6% in levy equalization money for districts (like us!) that weren't grandfathered in under the higher levy lid rate. The end sum is a possible 5.5% raise, IF we can get it through the Senate and the Governor.

That's where you come in. Please take a few minutes to follow the link off of this page and send an email to your state senator letting him or her know that the increased COLA is important to you. If you live in the 3rd or 6th legislative districts (Senators Lisa Brown and Chris Marr, respectively) it's especially important, and they seem to be on the fence right now.

Contacts from people who live in their district make a world of difference. Please take a few minutes (not from your work computer!) and let your voice be heard!

It's Time to Do Some Cyber-Lobbying!

It's a big, big week for our legislative priorities in Olympia.

First, the bad news: HB2458, which would have added money to lower class size in grades K through 3, failed to make it out of committee. What we heard from our legislators was that it was just too expensive for now, but it's an issue that will certainly come up again in the full session next year.

The good news, though, is that our drive to restore the COLA that was cut in 2004 still has a good shot of making it through. The revenue forecast that was released on Friday doesn't help, but note that we still have a healthy state surplus, and a big part of that surplus is there because of the suspended COLA. Basically, it's our money that's floating their reserve.

What can you do? Please go here to send an email to your legislators and let them know that you support restoring the lost COLA this coming year. It's particularly important for us here in Eastern Washington to step up and let our legislators know what we want; if they don't hear from us, it's that much easier for them to vote no. The WEA form above is very easy and only takes a minute--give it a go!

Let Your Voice Be Heard in Olympia

We're reaching a critical time in this legislative session. There's a big revenue forecast coming out on Friday, and the Senate is set to release their education budget next week. One of our major goals for this session was to restore the COLA that was cuta few years back, and you can help that happen.

I can tell you honestly that the emails you send to the legislature make a difference; in the meetings that I had in Olympia earlier this week several of the politicians we sat down with talked about how getting that feedback from teachers made an impact. Dan Brown, president of WEA-Eastern, gives some of the basics on cyber lobbying here, and you can follow this link to go to a great, intuitive website that the WEA has set up that makes emailing your elected representatives a breeze. If you don't know your Senator or Representative, don't sweat it--put in your address and the site will figure it out for you.

One important thing: DO NOT SEND POLITICAL EMAILS FROM YOUR SCHOOL EMAIL ADDRESS OR DURING SCHOOL HOURS. This runs afoul of all sorts of campiagn finance law, and it gets noticed. Also, if you read the message from Dan above, cc the email to him and you'll be entered into a drawing to win a small cash prize. That said, the satisfaction of being a part of the process is priceless, so you come out ahead no matter what happens.

Thanks!

Lobbying in Olympia

Hello MLEA friends, Ryan the VP here.

One of the things that I've been able to do this year as a part of my duties with WEA-Eastern is to go to Olympia and spend a couple of days lobbying as part of the WEA Legislative Action Team. It's been a great time, meeting with people that I've seen on the ballot, and it's a neat look at the process that goes into passing the laws that effect us in the classroom. Some pictures from our trips that I wanted to share:


From left to right you're looking at:

• Dan Brown, our WEA-Eastern council president. He's a school psychologist from Deer Park getting ready to retire at the end of the year.
  
• Maureen Ramos, president of the Spokane EA.
  
• Rebecca, a staffer with the Spokane EA.
  
• Debbie Rose, a 5th grade teacher from Mead, who is our current WEA-PAC chair and coordinates all of the political activities for our council.
  
• Me, and
  
• Bev Shaefer, council vice president, from the East Valley School district.

One more: me at the capital building.

Cyber-Lobbying

Mad as hell and not going to take it any more? Have we got an outlet for you!

If you click on over to the WEA website and look in the bar on the right hand side, you'll see a button with an American flag that says "Contact Congress Now!" Click it, and you'll be taken to the NEA's Legislative Action Center, where you can email your US Senators and Representatives to let them know what you think about the education issues of the day, including the upcoming reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind act.

It's amazing how easy they've made it. By typing in your zip code they'll be able to direct an email to your representative; you can either type in your own thoughts or click on phrases that work for you and they'll get dropped right into the body of the message. There are also links to official NEA positions on issues like merit pay, which could be a great resource for those out there working on their graduate credentials.

You can be heard in three minutes, and that's power.

(Note: Please only send political emails from your home computer!)