32nd District Democrats

The Washington Post: Breaking News: House passes landmark health-care reform bill, 220-215

News Alert
11:14 PM EST Saturday, November 7, 2009

House passes landmark health-care reform bill, 220-215

The House has passed sweeping health-care legislation, hours after President Obama visited the Capitol to make a personal closing argument for his most important domestic policy initiative.

For more information, visit washingtonpost.com - http://link.email.washingtonpost.com/

Snohomish County

King County

Washington Secretary of State

Click here for the 32nd District Endorsed Candidates

Do you know how you are voting on Referendum 71?

Referendum 71 is a statewide vote on Washington's domestic partnership law that will be on the November ballot, and we have to make sure voters understand and approve it.

Here's four things you need to know about R. 71:

• The Progressive vote is to Approve R. 71.

   

• Approving R. 71 will keep the domestic partnership law so that all committed couples in Washington State are treated equally under state law.

   

• More than 12,000 people are registered as domestic partners in Washington state, in every county of the state.¹

   

• Domestic partnership rights and obligations for committed partners mean things like the right to use sick leave to care for a seriously ill partner, and death benefits for the partners of police and firefighters killed in the line of duty.²

   

We believe that it's only fair to protect people equally under the law and that families who take responsibility for each other should be able to protect themselves, especially in times of crisis.

Do you agree? Can you pledge your vote to approve R. 71 right now? We have to eliminate confusion and lock in progressive voters early on this one to make sure we win. Click on the link to vote yes, and please share this information with your families and friends.

http://www.fusewashington.org/page/s/pledge71

We also want to clear up a point of confusion. Why are we voting "Approve" on a referendum that the radical right placed on the ballot with a petition campaign?  Here's the simple explanation: They put Washington's Domestic Partnership law on the ballot because they want to repeal it.

But we want to keep the Domestic Partnership law approved by our state Legislature. That's why we must vote to APPROVE Referendum 71.

In Washington State referenda always ask the same question: should a law be approved or rejected? When you open your ballot, you be asked the following question:

This bill would expand the rights, responsibilities, and obligations accorded state-registered same-sex and senior domestic partners to be equivalent to those of married spouses, except that a domestic partnership is not a marriage. Should this bill be:  Approved ___ Rejected ___

To protect domestic partner rights and protect all Washington families Vote to APPROVE Referendum 71. 

Our opponents will run a campaign that confuses voters about what's really at stake here. Our job is to make sure our friends, colleagues, and family members understand what they are voting on. Click here to pledge your approval for R. 71 and for easy tools to spread the word about APPROVING Referendum 71:

http://www.fusewashington.org/page/s/pledge71


Thanks for all your support,

Aaron Ostrom and the entire team at Fuse

Dear members,

 We have endorsed King County Charter Amendment 4, on your November ballot.  The Open Space Amendment (OSA) will provide enhanced protection for approximately 156,000 acres of natural open space owned by King County.

  Through a new section in the county charter, the OSA strengthens protection of certain high conservation value properties by requiring a 28-day public comment period, a finding of facts, and a supermajority vote (7 of 9) of the County Council before the property could be sold or transferred. This public process will help to safeguard our most cherished green spaces for future generations.

 These properties are among our most treasured conservation and recreation spaces. County lands to receive additional protection include Squak Mountain/Tiger Mountain Corridor, Cedar River Waterways, Cougar Mountain, the Upper Raging River Forest, and the Snoqualmie Forest.

The properties protected by the OSA are already owned or held in a conservation easement by King County – the amendment involves no new land purchases or direct costs.

The OSA is unanimously supported by the King County Democrats, 8 legislative district Democratic groups, including the 32nd District Democrats, the County Council, County Executive, Seattle Times, League of Women Voters, many environmental groups, and community leaders. You can see a full list of endorsements and learn more about the Open Space Amendment at www.openspaceamendment.org.  

We urge you to vote Yes on King County Charter Amendment 4!

Join with us at our phonebanking party to Approve R. 71:   PHONE BANK TO APPROVE R. 71     Look at our opponents' yard sign: We can't let them win.

Dear Friend,

In just four weeks voting will begin on Referendum 71, the domestic partnership law. If we had any doubt that this was going to be an ugly fight, there's no doubt about it now. Just look to the right to see our opponents' yard sign.

If California's battle over Prop 8 last year taught us one thing, its never underestimate the resources and unethical campaign tactics of America's hard line right wing. You can bet more of these tactics are coming to Washington State.

Please help push back against these tactics. We have to make sure voters understand and approve R. 71 and aren't misled by our opponents.¹ It has never been more important to get involved.

Click here right now to volunteer at our pizza and phonebank party next Wednesday at Fuse's downtown Seattle office:

Yes I can make it Wednesday at 5:30

I can't make it then, but I want to help

Fuse and Washington Families Standing Together are launching an ambitious organizing effort to push back against the radical right and stand up for fairness and equality. Please help us launch this critical outreach effort with a phonebanking party at Fuse's downtown office on Wednesday evening. We will be calling and educating likely voters about Referendum 71.

We don't have a moment to spare - it's time to go all in.

The Fuse pizza and phonebanking party will take place from 5:30 to 8pm. We will be calling likely voters explaining that voting to "Approve" on R. 71 is the only way you support domestic partnerships. This phonebank is critical. Many supporters of equal rights are confused by this referendum and the best thing we can do is spread the word to our base of supporters. They need to hear from you.

Click here to let us know you will join:

http://www.fusewashington.org/page/s/R71phone


Thanks for all you do,

- Erik and the entire team at Fuse.

¹Some people are understandably confused about voting "Approve" on a referendum that the radical right placed on the ballot with a petition campaign. Here's the simple explanation: They put Washington's Domestic Partnership law on the ballot because they want to repeal it. But we want to keep the Domestic Partnership law approved by our state Legislature. That's why we must vote to APPROVE Referendum 71. In Washington State referenda always ask the same question: should a law be approved or rejected?

www.fusewashington.org

Dear Party Leaders,

We have been asked by the No on 1033 Campaign to gather endorsements from Democratic leaders across the state.

As you probably know, I-1033 is the latest government bashing bomb lobbed by Tim Eyman, narcissist extraordinaire.  Here is what the Spokane Spokesman Review says about 1033:

"But Eyman's latest plan is dangerous for Washingtonians. After an adjustment based on the annual inflation rate plus population growth, the measure would return the "excess revenue" for city, county and state governments via lower property taxes. There's already a 1 percent annual cap on total property tax increases, courtesy of Initiative 747, which was tossed by the courts but reinstated by a cowed Legislature.  Health care, labor and energy costs rise much faster than 1 percent annually, which means government must continually cut services to balance budgets. I-1033 would exacerbate this decline."

Please support the latest attempt to bury this regressive measure.

To send your endorsement back via e-mail, download and open this Word document and type in your information.  Then save it, then attach it in an e-mail to aislingmkerins@gmail.com.

To send a hard copy in the mail, print out the Word document, sign it, and mail it to:  No on I-1033 Committee  •  603 Stewart St, #819  •  Seattle, WA 98101

Democrats have defeated Eyman time after time.  Let's do it again.

Sincerely,

Dwight Pelz

Please join Representative Jay Inslee for an in-person town-hall meeting on August 30, 2009. Representative Inslee will be discussing proposals for reforms to America's health insurance and health care. Attendees are asked to RSVP via email to inslee.rsvp@mail.house.gov, or by phone at 206-361-0233. 

Edmonds town-hall meeting
1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 30, 2009
Edmonds-Woodway High School
The Gymnasium
7600 212th St SW Edmonds

Sign the KCDCC Health Care Reform Petition Today

Cuts don't Cut it!

Message from King County Democrats Legislative Action Committee.

The budget crisis is forcing the Governor and the Legislature to cut services for our most vulnerable citizens. Please help us get the message to Gov. Gregoire and our leadership on Olympia that we need to consider raising revenue instead of letting services get cut as far as is being proposed.

• Please read and sign the petition!  (http://wa-demchairs.org/kcdems/)