Chisme Politico: Week 5
February 12, 2021
ICYMI (In Case You Missed It) 👀
Hello friends of LCF and Progreso! (ICYMI: Here are the last few Chisme Politico newsletters if you need to catch up: https://progresowa2021.medium.com/)
Our Legislative Action Week has come to an end…but the advocacy keeps on going! LCF and Progreso will continue to share calls of action with you and brief you on all things Legislative Session as we finish up our own lobbying week. We are eternally grateful for our community partners from Seattle to Spokane, Pasco to Yakima, we enjoyed seeing folks participating in virtual lobbying and advocacy that is necessary for us to obtain fair representation.
Now…for some highlights of some of the calls we had with our state legislators this week:
Day 1
Raiz of Planned Parenthood fellows and Special Education advocates speak to Rep. McCaslin (4th LD) about the HEAL Act and individualized health plans for children with epileptic disorders.
Day 2
Latinx organizers and local activists from the Tri-Cities area spoke to Rep. Rude (16th LD) about the challenges with accessibility many students face during the pandemic and times of crisis.
Day 3
Raiz of Planned Parenthood lead Latinx organizer, Fernanda Mazcot, uplifts the stories of the youth she works with along with the importance of immigrant rights and prosperity as we move towards policy that works for all.
👋🏼 Speaker Spotlight: Silvia Carias-Centeno
*insert Tanya’s speaker spotlight graphic here*
How did you come to this work?
Seeing the systemic inequalities all around me have built me up to this point. In school, being the one Latina student, it felt like my youth voice was ignored. People treat us as if we don’t understand the ideas that are going on here. All systemic and political issues inevitably impact our families and lives, and you see that no matter how old you are. Our youth voice is so important.
How do you stay involved and engaged in the political process, and how does your experience as a young Latina intersect with that?
Involvement comes with passion. Young people really should be involved with politics. I take notice of what policies are in place because it’s ultimately what can shape our lives and what’s prioritized. I know other communities experience similar experiences like we do. You get more and more exposure to new ideas.
My parents work a lot, there’s definitely a language barrier and they work a lot, so sometimes they don’t know or understand what I’m up to. It seems like there’s this lack of value. It reinforces the idea that we should be at the table.
How does the Alianza program reinforce your love for political engagement?
They teach us a lot about our community. With school, I always learn but I like to take initiative on what they don’t teach me. With Alianza, I realized how much the Latinx community needs more advocacy. In learning about the Chicano movement, I already knew a little bit about the internal conflicts but Alianza unveiled what we didn’t know. For example I never knew Cesar Chavez’ name before Alianza. It made me question why they never taught me that in school. Mexicans were being lynched. They had their land taken away. Learning about the countries being exploited came with a lot of anger and sadness. Alianza empowered my identity as a Latina. It was nice to be around other Latinos where we could talk and process these things. Alianza really took off the blindfold.
Our Top Bills on our Radar 🔎and Actions For You To Take 💢
SB 5438 Unemployment Insurance for Immigrant Workers
Legislative Champions: Saldaña, Nobles, Cleveland, Darneille, Das, Dhingra, Hasegawa, Hunt, Kuderer, Liias, Lovelett, Nguyen, Robinson, Stanford, Wellman, Wilson, C.
Recent Developments:. There will be a hearing on Monday, February 15 at 9:30 AM in the Senate Labor, Commerce & Tribal Affairs Committee
What can you do:
- Take a couple of minutes to sign in PRO here!
- Find your district and email your legislator, asking them to support this bill.
SB 5141 HEAL Act
Legislative Champions: Saldaña, Lovelett, Carlyle, Das, Frockt, Hasegawa, Hunt, Keiser, Kuderer, Liias, Nobles, Pedersen, Rolfes, Stanford, Wilson, C.
Recent Developments: The HEAL Act has currently been passed out of the Environment, Energy, Technology committee this week and it will head to the Senate Ways and Means Committee next week. Feb 22nd will be the deadline to pass this bill out of the W&M committee.
What can you do:
- Signup for the HEAL Act Text Bank F&C is co-hosting the Environmental Priorities Coalition on Wed. Feb. 17, from 5:30–7:15 pm. We will be texting constituents who live in the districts of W&M members. You’ll just need an internet connection and computer. Share the event on Facebook!
- Email support letter to Ways and Means committee members and send an email altering your networks to take the same action. You can borrow from this template for language.
SB5226: End Debt-Based License Suspensions
Legislative Champions: Salomon, Saldaña, Das, Frockt, Hasegawa, Kuderer, Liias, Lovelett, Muzzall, Nguyen, Nobles, Pedersen, Randall, Wilson, C.
Recent developments: The bill has been postponed for an executive session on Monday at 9:30am but we have high hopes that it’ll pass from the committee.
What you can do: Sign onto this letter in support!
HB1297 Working Families Tax Credit (Companion Bill SB5387)
Legislative Champions: Thai, Stokesbary, Ramel, Ryu, Robertson, Leavitt, Bateman, Fitzgibbon, Shewmake, Chapman, Johnson, J., Senn, Frame, Riccelli, Chopp, Wylie, Wicks, Simmons, Boehnke, Berry, Davis, Tharinger, Walsh, Eslick, Goodman, Peterson, Santos, Valdez, Cody, Chambers, Kloba, Ramos, Kirby, Bronoske, Gregerson, Macri, Callan, Paul, Sells, Bergquist, Ormsby, Pollet, Slatter, Stonier, Taylor, Harris-Talley
Recent developments: Bill was referred to the Appropriations Committee
What you can do: Contact members of the committee to urge them to support a path to recovery for our working families!
Thanks for making it this far! We’ll see you next week.
If you have suggestions for our newsletter, please contact margot@progresowa.org.
