Chisme Politico | Week 1

January 15, 2021

Introducing Chisme Politico

Hello, friends of LCF and Progreso! We are kicking off this year’s newsletter with weekly updates on what’s happening inside the virtual halls of the Capitol and the 2021 Legislative Session. With partners across the state, we want to make sure you are plugged in and have opportunities to engage with the policies that affect your communities, and the legislators that vowed to represent them. There will be different ways to get involved with us through the bills Progreso will be advocating for, so keep reading if you are ready to join us!

Week One of Legislative Session has Concluded

Monday, January 11th, was the first day of the 2021 Legislative Session, which means both newly sworn-in and incumbent legislators have convened virtually to begin a 105-day full session. Because of the pandemic and the nature of this session, this means the legislature has a reduced capacity to pass bills. This might mean it makes it more difficult for bills to make it to the floor. Despite the technical difficulties and the “new normal”, we hope the process remains smooth. You can check the schedule for Senate and House committee meetings and further news at https://www.tvw.org/schedule-main/.

Bill Spotlight: The HEAL Act

The HEAL Act was introduced in the state Senate yesterday, January 13th, and it’s one of our top priorities with our Front and Center partners in our Legislative Agenda. For context, the HEAL Act aims to center those most affected by pollution as Washington transitions to a greener and fairer economy. The HEAL Act does this by defining ‘environmental justice’ in state law, outlining how agencies should consider community needs and environmental justice in their work, establishing a permanent Environmental Justice Council to work with these agencies and help create environmental justice legislation, and expanding equitable community engagement and investment.

“Everyone deserves to live, work, and play in a safe and healthy environment,” said Sameer Ranade, Civic Engagement and Policy Manager with Front & Centered (F&C). “Input from those on the frontlines who are most impacted by climate change will help us create the most effective policy solutions and a path toward a Just Transition.”

A hearing on the HEAL Act is tentatively scheduled for January 20 at 8:00am in the Senate Environment, Energy & Technology Committee. (Taken from Front and Centered media release).

If you have interest in knowing more or would like to support the HEAL Act with your testimony please, contact margot@progresowa.org.

LCF and Progreso’s Legislative Action Week (February 9th-11th)

Finally, I hope you can join us over Zoom at our Legislative Action Week this February 9th through the 11th. Our policy team will be hosting legislators of your districts on three separate days so that you can give your testimony, tell your story, and get to know your legislators. If you are interested in collaborating on testimony or need help crafting yours, come to our workshops on January 25th and January 29th and we can walk you through the different ways of getting involved in the session, writing a compelling testimony, and more detailed analysis into our legislative agenda.

Whether it’s through writing testimony, making phone calls, or simply staying in the loop via email. Take some time to look over our legislative agenda items for 2021 and please fill out this form to tell us your commitment to this year’s legislative session.

Last but not least!

We want to hear from you — if you or a community member has engaged in the session through testimony and wants to tell their story and experience, please email us at margot@progresowa.org and we’d love to share in our newsletter.