Quote of the Week:“Whether making cars in Detroit or making us laugh in Hollywood, working people didn’t just tell us – they showed us – that the many can in fact stand up to the money. In doing so, they challenged deeply embedded storylines in this country.” – Anat Shenker-Osorio, Words to Win By Legislative Actions: If you're new to Take Action Network (TAN):
Sign in PRO Support HB 2065 (Fixing Unjust Sentencing Laws): Sign in "Pro" for Senate Law & Justice's Public Hearing DEADLINE: Feb 19 • 9:30am Automatically lengthening adult sentences based upon juvenile adjudications has disproportionately impacted BIPOC communities and does not comport with modern brain science. This bill ensures that people already harmed by this practice have opportunities for resentencing. Sign in "Pro" to Support SB 6121 (Biochar production) DEADLINE: Feb 19 • 12:30pm Regulating and encouraging biochar production from agricultural and forestry biomass. Sign in "Pro" to Support SB 6092 (SB 6092 Requiring a report of greenhouse gas emissions) DEADLINE: Feb 19 • 12:30pm Requiring large businesses to report all their associated greenhouse gas emissions. Protect Pollinators and our food supplies by restricting neonicotinoid pesticide use: Sign in "Pro" for House Agriculture & Natural Resources's Public Hearing DEADLINE: Feb 20 • 9:30am No bees = no harvests. Protect pollinators by eliminating neonicotinoid pesticides except for certain agricultural uses. Sign in Pro and support SB 6151 to regulate ultrasounds and prevent emotional manipulation of pregnant people at crisis pregnancy centers. DEADLINE: Feb 20 • 12:30pm Washington is home to 34 crisis pregnancy centers. HB 6151 would effectively ban these facilities from using sonograms to emotionally abuse, manipulate and shame pregnant people from choosing to have an abortion under the guise of informing or diagnosing them. One more time! Sign in PRO for Rent Stabilization (HB 2114) in the Senate Ways & Means hearing DEADLINE: Feb 22 • 12:30pm Support (HB 2114) for rent stabilization to protect residential and manufactured/mobile home renters. Require more notice of rent hikes and limit rent increases to 7%. Sign in "Pro" for HB 2118 (Creating a Gun Dealer Code of Conduct) DEADLINE: Feb 19 • 9:30am Require gun dealers to secure their inventory against theft, have general liability insurance, and maintain sales records to aid investigations of gun crimes. This will go a long way towards keeping guns out of the illegal market Sign in PRO HB 1903 (Requiring firearm owners to report lost or stolen guns within 24 hours DEADLINE: Feb 19 • 9:30am Washington should protect communities by requiring gun owners to report any loss or theft of firearms to local law enforcement within 24 hours of discovering it. This is common sense gun safety. Sign in PRO for HB 2021 Give WA State Patrol authority to destroy firearms after they've been confiscated so they stay out of circulation DEADLINE: Feb 19 • 9:30am As the current law is written, Washington State Patrol is not afforded that same flexibility. Instead, they are forced to auction or trade a majority of these firearms to licensed dealers. This bill allows WSP the same level of flexibility that our local law enforcement agencies. Sign in PRO or provide Written Testimony on HB 1368 (Transition to Zero-Emission School Buses) to the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education (support) DEADLINE: Feb 20 • 1:30pm This bill makes it easier for Washington's school districts to begin replacing polluting diesel school buses with zero emission buses, benefiting our children's health, local air quality, and the climate. Contact the Legislature Support SB 5241 "Keep Our Care Act" to create public oversight in hospital mergers and retain vital healthcare services. DEADLINE: Feb 20 • 9:30am Keep Our Care Act creates a system of public oversight ensuring that when hospitals merge, access to vital services for rural and low-income communities, people of color, women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and terminally-ill patients remain intact. It will protect against price hikes for existing services. Local Actions:Thurston Conservation District Board of Supervisors Election 2024 The Thurston Conservation District (TCD) has a governing board of five supervisors, of whom three are elected and two are appointed. The District 1 position, currently held by Helen Wheatley, is up for election. Helen has moved out of Thurston County, so she will not be running for re-election. Candidates. Two candidates have filed for this position, Marianne Tompkins and Muhammad Ayub. Olympia Indivisible’s Endorsement team does not take on TCD Board of Supervisor elections because the TCD electoral deadlines are too compressed. The OI Steering Committee has consulted with trusted individuals currently involved with the Thurston Conservation District. Marianne Tompkins appears to be a particularly good fit for the 2024 aspirations and agenda of the TCD, whose staff and Board are operating with unprecedented productivity, financial stability, and harmonious working relations. Important: Please be aware that you must request a ballot from the Thurston Conservation District in order to vote in this election. You cannot request, pick up, or return a ballot with the Thurston County Auditor’s Offices. Action 1: Request your ballot by mail or in person. Option A: Request your ballot with one click in Take Action Network (TAN) Ask for Your Thurston Conservation District Ballot Option B: Get your ballot in person March 13-15 and March 18-19 between 8am and 4:30pm from elections staff at the Thurston Conservation District offices (582 Tilley Ct SE, Suite 152, Tumwater, WA 98501) Action 2: Return Your Ballot
Postage is provided and there’s a ballot drop box outside the TCD Offices M-F from 8 am-4:30 pm through March 19th. Eligible voters must be registered to vote in Thurston County and live within the Conservation District Boundaries. Some parts of Yelm, Rainier, and Tenino do not qualify. See the map below.  Write Letters to Voters with Vote Forward! This letter writing event is co-hosted by Olympia Indivisible GOTV Writing Team and The United Churches of Olympia Uprooting Racism Team. Our aim and the aim of Vote Forward is to increase civic participation among the members of historically underrepresented communities. What: Join us for this in-person letters to voters event When: Monday March 11th, 4:00-6:00pm Where: The United Churches of Olympia Action: Save the date and join us on March 11th. How can you prepare between now and then?
Federal Actions:Support Universal Health Care Act The Washington Universal Health Care Commission needs a waiver from the federal government before it can establish a universal system of health care for all residents. We need our federal representatives to support H.R.6270 - State-Based Universal Health Care Act of 2023. Action: Email or call Marilyn Strickland to Support State-Based Universal Health Care Have You Scheduled These Events?Action Cafe 2024, Taking a Break this Monday (Feb 19) Typically each Monday, OI members meet, make new friends, and take actions together. Every Cafe comes with a side order of live music and a heapin’ helpin’ of good cheer! Cafe patrons receive an email on Sunday with a sneak-peek at what we'll do at the cafe the next day. On Monday morning, Chef Lisa will send you a pdf "Menu" which has links to the actions we'll take together at the Cafe. Action: You can Register HERE for future events. You will be sent a Zoom link and each Monday morning, Chef Lisa will send your "menu." _________________________________________ National Indivisible Training Series 2024: Persuasion to Power: Know your Audience w/Loretta Ross on February 21st at 5 pm PST  Photo Credit: Loretta Ross Source: Wikimedia Commons. The Laura Flanders Show. Join Indivisible and veteran activist Loretta Ross (featured in The Persuaders!) for a conversation on how to assess and adjust our communication approaches based on the person we’re talking to and how closely they already align with our goals. Action: Sign up here You Might Also Like to Attend:Poor People’s March at the Capitol The Poor People’s Campaign, a national call for moral revival, is uniting people across Washington to challenge the evils of systemic racism, poverty, the war economy, ecological devastation and the nation’s distorted morality of religious nationalism. The Washington State Poor People's Campaign, in conjunction with their sibling campaigns across the nation, will gather at the state capital on Saturday, March 2nd, 2024 for a Mass Poor People's & Low Wage Workers' State House Assembly to shift the narrative and demand public policies that fully address the interlocking injustices of systemic poverty, systemic racism, militarism, and ecological devastation. More than 2.5 million Washingtonians experience poverty or low wealth here in one of the wealthiest states of the nation. RSVP today to see the timeline for the assembly and march. Please view the organizer’s Covenant of Nonviolence prior to joining them on March 2nd. Overnight Hosts Needed for Friday, March 1st The Poor People’s Campaign has reached out to Olympia Indivisible to see if members might be willing to offer overnight hosting on Friday, March 1st for people coming from other parts of the state to participate in the March 2nd march. Your availability and preference of guidelines such as non-smoker, no pets, etc. can be directed to the housing organizer, Kim Murillo at [email protected] or text her at 206-898-5134. Your Work Pays Off:Thurston County School Levies Pass!
Thank you to all of you who voted YES on the renewal of your school district levy, and cheers to those of you who emailed or spoke with family, friends and neighbors to ask them to do the same. With the exception of Centralia School District No. 401 and Yelm Community School, Thurston County residents voted to renew school levies in all the County districts. Strong public schools build strong neighborhoods and are a cornerstone of democracy. Take a bow! ______________________________ EPA Finalizes Stronger Standards for Harmful Soot Pollution On Feb. 7, 2024, the Biden-Harris Administration on Wednesday finalized a significantly stronger air quality standard that will better protect America’s families, workers, and communities from the health effects of fine particle pollution, also known as soot. By strengthening the annual health-based national ambient air quality standard for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) from a level of 12mg/m3 to 9mg/m3, the Environmental Protection Agency’s updated standard will save lives — preventing up to 4,500 premature deaths and 290,000 lost workdays, yielding up to $46 billion in net health benefits in 2032. For every $1 spent from this action, there could be as much as $77 in human health benefits in 2032. Since August 2022, Olympia Indivisible members have repeatedly urged the Biden/Harris administration to take these steps. This past week, we are seeing results. To all of you who wrote letters to the Biden/Harris administration or the EPA on this matter, take a bow! Comments are closed.
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