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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
The Legislature is approaching some very important deadlines. Friday, Feb. 22, is policy committee “cutoff.” That means bills must have passed their respective policy committees in their house of origin or they are considered “dead” for the session. A similar deadline is approaching March 1 for fiscal bills. Those measures that have not received a public hearing in their house of origin by that date are also considered “dead.” Bills necessary to implement the budget are exempt. Also, any bill could be “resurrected” when the Legislature is in session.
Why are these deadlines important to you?
Between now and March 13, lawmakers in the House and Senate will be voting on hundreds of bills that were sent to the floors of each chamber from their respective committees. This legislation could affect you, your families, your neighbors, your communities, your businesses, your employees, how much you pay to the government, and how many more rules and regulations are added.
You can choose to be silent on these issues. But you need to know that in Olympia, silence is considered agreement. In other words, say nothing about all these bills, and by default, it’s expected you agree with them – even though you may not.
From new gun control regulations to proposals to increase the state gas tax by 10 cents a gallon, and even mandated abortion insurance coverage, we will soon be voting on these bills.
Where do you stand on these issues? Now is the time to let your lawmakers know!
How do you get involved? Here are several ways.
First, become familiar with the bills. Don’t have time? We’ll make it easy for you.
- Following the cutoffs, we’ll post a “dead and alive” bill list on our House Republican Web site: houserepublicans.wa.gov.
- Go to: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/ and click on “House Floor Activity Report” to see which bills are ready for a floor vote. There’s also a link for the Senate floor activity.
- Sign up for my weekly e-news update: https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/WALEGHRCKRISTIANSEN/subscriber/new?topic_id=KRISTIANSEN
- Sign up for my chamber of commerce update: https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/WALEGHRCKRISTIANSEN/subscriber/new?topic_id=CHAMBER_NEWS
- Watch the debate live on TVW (www.tvw.org).
How do you speak up?
- Use the toll-free legislative hotline to leave a message for lawmakers: 1-800-562-6000.
- Go to www.leg.wa.gov and click on “Legislator Information” and then look for “Legislator E-mail Services” to e-mail your representatives and senators.
- Comment on bills: https://washingtonleg.granicusideas.com/widget/meetings/63rd-legislature-2013-regular-session
- Call my office at (360) 786-7967 and visit my Web site at houserepublicans.wa.gov/Kristiansen
Finally, I encourage you to participate in my telephone town hall meeting, tomorrow evening (Thursday, Feb. 21) from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Call me toll-free during that hour at 877-229-8493 and enter PIN number 15786.
Silence could be costly. Please, get involved now. Speak up and be heard!
In your service,
Dan Kristiansen
