Survey of Experience with Political Action: How many of you have ever:

Written a letter to a legislator? 
Sent an email to a legislator?
Made a phone call to a legislator?
Supported a political candidate for the legislature?  
Attended a legislator’s Town Hall Meeting?
Attended a school board meeting?
Contributed to a candidate’s election campaign?
Volunteered for a candidate’s campaign?
Would like to learn more about what you could be doing to support our kids?
Which of these options would you most like to learn to do? 

Bicameral Legislatures:  These are two chamber legislatures, the most common in America, since they follow the example of the US Constitution.
House of Representatives:  

• These legislators are elected for two year terms and each district has two of them
• The entire House of Representatives is up for election every two years
• The Presiding Officer is the Speaker of the House, who is selected at the beginning of each Long Session (odd numbered year) by vote of the Representative
• The winner is most often a member of the Majority Caucus, as they have more votes
  

Senate:  

• These legislators are elected for four year terms and each district has one of them
• Half of the entire Senate is up for election every two years
• The Presiding Officer of the Senate is the Lt. Governor, who is elected state-wide
• Members of the Majority Caucus are often chosen to temporarily fulfill these duties on any given day

What are the Legislative “Caucuses”?

1. Caucuses are collections of legislators with a common interest; there are party caucuses, ethnic caucuses, & issue caucuses that work to pass legislation.  
2. What is a Majority Caucus: This caucus is made up of members of the party which hold the majority in the chamber; currently that is the Democrats. 
3. What is a Minority Caucus: This caucus is made up of members of the party which hold the lesser number of seats; currently that is the Republicans.
   

What powers do the caucuses have: 

• Election of their own leaders, 
• Assign members to various committees, 
• Discuss bills and positions the caucus will take on those  bills, 
• Make public announcements and circulate newsletters, 
• Research topics of interest to the caucus and a great deal more.  
  

How do caucuses affect “committee work”:

• Chairpersons are appointed by the majority caucus
• Chairpersons control the committee calendar and scheduling
• Chairpersons also determine what bills will get hearings, & if and when votes will be taken on bills. 
  
  

What are “Standing Committees”? 

These are committees in each chamber that continue, year after year.

• House: [Bold letters designate more powerful committees]
  Appropriations; Capital Budget; Civil Rights & Judiciary; Community Safety, Justice, & Reentry; Consumer Protection & Business; Education; Environment & Energy; Finance; Health Care & Wellness; Housing; Human Services, Youth, & Early Learning; Innovation, Community & Economic Development, & Veterans; Labor & Workplace Standards; Local Government; Postsecondary Education & Workforce; Regulated Substances & Gaming; Rules; State Government & Tribal Relations; Transportation
  
• Senate: Agriculture, Water Natural Resources & Parks; Business, Financial Services, Gaming & Trade; Early Learning & K-12 Education; Environment, Energy & Technology; Health & Long Term Care; Higher Education & Workforce Development; Housing; Human Services; Labor & Commerce; Law & Justice
  Local Government, Land Use & Tribal Affairs; Rules; State Government & Elections; Transportation; Ways & Means
  

For our purposes, which committees are the most powerful?  

1. House: 
   • Rules: This committee is a gatekeeper committee; made up of both parties in proportion to their membership in the chamber, receives from committees all bills headed for the floor of the chamber; it can establish the rules under which the bill will be debated and how it will be voted upon
     
   • Appropriations: Hears all bills that will require state funding and recommends levels of funding; they control the state’s allocations, “the purse strings”. 
     
   • Finance:  Hears all bills that have to do with raising money for the state through taxes, fees, etc.
   • Education: Since this is the “paramount duty” of the state, it decides how educational services will be delivered and at what level of funding.
2. Senate: 
   • Rules: Same gatekeeper role as the House
     
   • Ways & Means: combines appropriations and finance functions.
   • Education: Same “paramount duty” functions.

How do committees function: 

• Proposed bills are “assigned” to appropriate committees by leadership teams
• Committee chairs select which bills will be given hearings first and which will have to wait for a slot later on.
  
• Committees first schedule “hearings” at which legislators, lobbyists, and private citizens may testify either “Pro” or “CON” or “Other”
  
• Because time is limited at hearings, most people testify for two minutes or less
  
• Anyone may submit written testimony on a bill, which is shared with committee members. 
  
• Committee chairs will next select which bills will be voted upon, which is called “executive action”.  
  
• Committee members may share their opinions with the committee before a vote. 
  
• It takes a majority of the committee members to pass a bill out of committee.
  
• After passage, a bill may be assigned to yet another committee, where the hearing and executive process is repeated
  
• Or the bill may go directly to the Rules Committee, to await access to the chamber’s Floor. 

Who does most of the day-to-day work of the legislature? How can you make that work for you? 

• Each legislator has a staff member or staff members who handle the day to day functions.
  
• This staff person is usually the one who answers the phone at the legislator’s office.
  
• Building a “functional rapport” with these staff members can expedite your communications with legislators; therefore, it’s good practice to get to know them and have them get to know you.  
  
• Leadership teams maintain additional staff to expedite the functions of the chamber. 
  
• Each caucus maintains additional staff to expedite their efforts to influence legislation. 

When a bill reaches the floor of the House or Senate:

1. Rules Committees have sent a selection of bills to the floor for consideration & designated the rules upon which the debate will take place.
   
2. Presiding Officer: decides the order in which bills will be discussed/debated; may designate a majority caucus member as acting presiding officer. 
   
3. House:  Speaker, usually elected from the majority caucus 
   
4. Senate: Lt. Gov, as specified by our constitution, is elected by the people.
   

Debated: 

1. In order of sequence established by presiding officer; 
   
2. Limitations may be set upon the amount of time allotted for debate, rules of decorum apply.
   

Amendments:  

1. Each party will have a list of proposed amendments to a bill being discussed; 
   
2. Those who wish to make the bill stronger than it was coming out of committee will seeked to have their amendments passed, majority party can influence which way this will go
   
3. Those who wish to kill the bill will try to add amendments that will make it less acceptable to the majority, a tricky business at best; or they may use adverse amendments to establish arguing points about the bill when discussed in the media or during re-election campaigns.  
   

Voting:  presiding officer schedules a bill’s voting date and time; may choose not to bring it up for a vote at all, if his/her caucus does not have the votes to pass it or kill it; voting is done electronically or by voice vote.  

Passage: 

• Bills that receive a majority vote on the floor are then sent to the other chamber, and the process starts over.
  
• Bills must pass both chambers with the exact same language, words, punctuation, everything.
  
• Bills which lack concurrence (agreement in both chambers) can be sent to a “Conference Committee” where the differences are (hopefully) ironed out. Then the bill is returned to each chamber for passage; a vote against the bill at this point will likely kill it completely. 
  
• Once a bill has passed both chambers, it can be sent to the governor for signature or veto (and that’s a whole different ball game!)

Where does a bill go next:

Governor:

Bills are sent to the Governor when they have been passed in exactly the same language in both chambers. 
Governor’s Options: 
Sign the bill into law
Veto the bill and send it back to the legislature
Veto parts of the bill (Line Item Veto) then sign it into law
Take no action and allow the bill to become law without the Governor’s signature. 


Expediting the volume of work: 

Cut Off Calendar:  Deadlines for various legislative actions. Dates mentioned here are for the 2024 Session only. 

• 1st Cut Off: Jan. 31st: Last day to read in committee reports (pass bills out of committee and read them into the record on the floor) in house of origin, except House fiscal committees and Senate Ways & Means and Transportation committees.
  
• 2nd Cut Off: Feb. 5th: Last day to read in committee reports (pass bills out of committee and read them into the record on the floor) from House fiscal committees and Senate Ways & Means and Transportation committees in house of origin. 
  
• 3rd Cut Off: Feb. 13th: Last day to consider (pass) bills in house of origin (5 p.m.).
  
• 4th Cut Off: Feb. 21st: Last day to read in committee reports (pass bills out of committee and read them into the record on the floor) from the opposite house, except House fiscal committees and Senate Ways & Means and Transportation committees.
  
• 5th Cut Off: Feb. 26th: Last day to read in opposite house committee reports (pass bills out of committee and read them into the record on the floor) from House fiscal committees and Senate Ways & Means and Transportation committees.
  
• 6th Cut Off: Mar. 1st: Last day to consider (pass) opposite house bills (5 p.m.) (except initiatives and alternatives to initiatives, budgets and matters necessary to implement budgets, differences between the houses, and matters incident to the interim and closing of the session).
  
• 7th Cut Off: Mar. 7th:  Last day to consider (pass) opposite house bills (5 p.m.) (except initiatives and alternatives to initiatives, budgets and matters necessary to implement budgets, differences between the houses, and matters incident to the interim and closing of the session).
  

Adjournment: 

• Long Session (odd numbered years): adjournment comes after 106 days
  
• Short Session (Even numbered years): adjournment come after 60 days

Legislators serving Shadow Lake Elementary School’s area. 

47th District: (Subject to change in the 2024 election)
House: JLOB =John L. O’Brien House Office Bldg

-Rep. Debra Entenman; 305 JLOB; 360-786-7918;
debra.entenman@leg.wa.gov; Postsecondary Education & Workforce (V.Chr); Civil Rights & Judiciary; Housing; Transportation. 
Legislative Aide Meynuna Abdalla; Meynuna.Abdalla@leg.wa.gov 

-Rep. Chris Stearns; 306 JLOB; 360-786-7858; Chris.Stearns@leg.wa.gov 
Legislative Aide Darci Suttle; darci.suttle@leg.wa.gov; Regulated Substances & Gaming (V.Chr); State Government & Tribal Relations (V.Chr);  Capital Budget. 

Senate: 
-Sen. Claudia Kauffman; 218 John A. Cherberg Building; 360-786-7692
claudia.kauffman@leg.wa.gov; Human Services; Local Government, Land Use & Tribal Affairs; Transportation
Legislative Aide Jade Sierra, Jade.Sierra@leg.wa.gov 

5th District:  (Subject to change in the 2024 election)
House: JLOB = John L. O’Brien House Office Bldg
-Rep. Lisa Callan; 335 JLOB; 360-786-7876; lisa.callan@leg.wa.gov; 

Capital Budget, V. Chr.; Education, Human Services, Youth, & Early Education.
Legislative Aide Erika Boyd, erika.boyd@leg.wa.gov 

 
-Rep. Bill Ramos;  325 JLOB; 360-786-7852, Rep.Bill.RAmos@leg.wa.gov 
Legislative Aide Hunter Cooper, hunter.cooper@leg.wa.gov; State Government & Tribal Relations (Chr); Community Safety, Justice, & Reentry; Transportation. 

Senate:  
-Sen. Mark Mullet; 415 Legislative Bldg; 360-786-7608;
mark.mullet@leg.wa.gov.; Ways & Means, V. Chr/Capital Budget; Business, Financial Services, Gaming & Trade; Early Learning & K-12 Education 
Legislative Aide Connor Prieve, Connor.Prieve@leg.wa.gov 


Which District are you in? 
Go to this web address and enter your home address; it will tell you which district you are in. 
https://app.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/ 

WA’s citizens have been provided with several methods of communicating with their legislators. 

Writing a letter to your legislator:

This method takes the longest time, as the document goes through many hands before being delivered to the legislator’s office.  It has the advantage of allowing you to be more specific and offer examples and rationales. 
Letters are more effective if they are written in a polite and organized manner. Include bill numbers when you have them. Refrain from making accusations or threats. 
Legislators’ addresses are generic; in addition to the info listed in “Players on the Field”, all addresses are Olympia, WA 98504

Call your legislator: Phone numbers are listed in “Players on the Field”.

This is when building rapport with the legislator’s aide begins to help you. 
Identify yourself and the subject of your concern.
Be polite and organized. Have notes ready to help you stay focused & be concise. Include bill numbers, when you have them.  Refrain from accusations and/or threats. 
The aide will share your concerns with the legislator and is probably  keeping a list of pro/con on certain topics to guide the legislator in making decisions. 
Thank the aide for his/her time. 

Call the Legislative Hotline:  

1-800-562-6000
Callers to the Hotline can leave a brief message for their district legislators on issues of concern or on questions they may have about bills or laws

Town Hall Meeting:

District legislators often hold public meetings about midway through the session.  It is an open forum and often consists of the legislators answering questions submitted in writing by attendees of the meeting. Cards are usually provided before the meeting upon which to write your question or questions. 
These meetings most often take place during the long session (105 days), though sometimes they can occur during a short session.
The 2024 Short Legislative Session saw 5th District legislators having a Town Meeting at Tahoma H. S. Regrettably, the 47th District legislators did not have a Town Meeting during the session this year.