Climate Action This Week: Climate Commitment Act - Cap and Invest; Washington Strong; Capital Gains Tax; Wealth Tax; Transportation Spending; and Stopping an arbitrary end to the Eviction Moratorium.
 
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* 1. Climate Commitment Act - SB 5126

This deeply flawed bill passed the Senate by a single vote, cast with a plea that the House fix the bill. We respectfully disagree; the bill is beyond repair.

We have opposed this bill since introduction because, among many reasons, it allows GHG emitters to continue their polluting activities and similar schemes have failed to reduce emissions. The most recent version of SB 5126 is even worse. In addition to its other faults, it now severely handicaps the Department of Ecology’s Greenhouse Gas Assessment of Projects, currently in rulemaking.

Scheduled for a public hearing in the House Committee on Environment and Energy on Wednesday, April 14 at 8:00 AM. 

Follow the link to provide written comment on SB 5126 by Thursday, April 15, 7:00 AM

Position - please select “Con”. The first sentence of the written comment should be: I strongly oppose SB 5126. 

Then choose 1-2 additional sentences from the options below or feel free to write your own. 
  • We need to enforce our state greenhouse gas reduction targets but SB 5126 is not the best way to do that.
  • Recent amendments work against the Department of Ecology’s Greenhouse Gas Assessment of Projects, currently in rulemaking. The bill will codify a weaker analysis of GHG emissions, remove the ability to mitigate impacts of emissions beyond the cap and trade program, and remove the ability to litigate on GHG emitting entities covered by the cap and trade program. This is unacceptable.
  • California’s cap and trade system has failed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and has allowed polluters to continue to harm overburdened communities.
  • One reason California’s pollution trading system is failing is because it has too many pollution “allowances”. If we join their system, California’s extra allowances will dilute our ability to regulate Washington polluters. No thanks!
  • Cap and invest systems rely on offsets. British Petroleum, currently bankrolling the SB 5126 advocacy campaign, is one of the world's biggest carbon-credit traders. Meanwhile in California, regulators are resigning in protest over the failure of their offset program. 
  • Offsets and allowances allow polluters to continue their emissions-producing activities in BIPOC and low-income communities, with resulting adverse impacts on their health and wellness.

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* 2. Washington Strong - SB 5373

This bill will immediately generate revenue dedicated to transitioning to a sustainable economy without leaving anyone behind. It will raise an estimated $16 billion over the first ten years, by issuing “green” bonds backed by an economy-wide carbon tax linked to the state’s emission reduction goals.

This bill will be more effective at reducing our transportation emissions, jumpstarting our economy, improving climate resiliency and helping frontline communities than the problematic Cap and Invest bill, SB 5126. 

Follow this link to provide written comment on SB 5373. 

Ask both of your Representatives to sign on to the letter being circulated by Rep. Emily Wicks (D-38). Be sure to ask both of your Representatives for a response.

Script: "Please sign on to the letter being circulated by Rep. Emily Wicks asking Caucus Leadership to give SB 5373 Washington Strong equal consideration."

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* 3. There are two bills in the House Committee on Finance that need to be scheduled for a vote: 
These two capital gains tax bills would add a 7% tax (9.9% for certain assets in the House bill) on high-end capital gains only, above a certain level with many exemptions and a deductible. (The details of the two bills vary and will need to be reconciled.) The bills will raise funds for early learning programs (the House bill), the education legacy trust (the Senate bill) and other programs.

Please call or email the following members of the Finance Committee and ask them to ensure these bills are passed out of committee. Suggested talking points are below.  

Follow this link to email the three committee members.

If this link does not work, here is their contact information.

Chair, Rep. Noel Frame (D-36) – (360) 786-7814 or (206) 962-5098 – Noel.Frame@leg.wa.gov
Vice Chair, Rep. April Berg (D-44) – (425) 939-8423 – April.Berg@leg.wa.gov
Vice Chair, Rep. Amy Walen (D-48) – (425) 883-3366 – Amy.Walen@leg.wa.gov

If you’re calling and you reach voicemail, be sure to speak slowly and clearly and say the bill numbers. And be sure to let them know if you are a constituent of their district!

 Script: “Hello, my name is [Name] and I am calling to urge Rep. [Name] to do all they can to ensure the following two bills receive a floor vote. May I give you the bill numbers?”
Then choose 1-2 additional sentences from the options below or feel free to write your own.
  • Washington is the worst in the nation when it comes to making millionaires and billionaires pay their share like the rest of us.
  • During this pandemic the wealthy have become even richer, while the average Washingtonians struggle to make rent and keep food on the table.
  • While legislators are making progress on reducing the tax burden on working and middle class families, they must also make sure those at the top share the responsibility of funding the things we all rely on, like schools, early learning, hospitals and roads.
  • Now is the time to reform Washington’s tax code to ensure that all Washingtonians contribute to Washington’s future.

  Chair, Rep. Noel Frame Vice Chair, Rep. April Berg Vice Chair, Rep. Amy Walen
I called
I emailed

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* 4. Wealth Tax - HB 1406

This proposed Wealth Tax is a modest 1% (just one cent!) tax on financial intangible assets over $1 billion and will raise over $2 billion per year for our state. The revenue would be used to offer credits against the lower end of property taxes and would also fund various public services.

Please call or email the following members of the Appropriations Committee and ask them to ensure this bill is given a hearing and passed out of committee. The script is below. 

Click here to send an email to members of the committee. 

If the above link did not work, please address your emails to:

Chair, Rep. Timm Ormsby (D-03) – (509) 458-2122 – Timm.Ormsby@leg.wa.gov
Vice Chair, Rep. Steve Bergquist (D-11) – (253) 214-3275 – Steve.Bergquist@leg.wa.gov
Vice Chair, Rep. Mia Gregerson (D-33) – (253) 395-0865 – Mia.Gregerson@leg.wa.gov
Vice Chair, Rep. Nicole Macri (D-43) – (206) 333-4228 – Nicole.Macri@leg.wa.gov

If you’re calling and you reach voicemail, be sure to speak slowly and clearly and say the bill number. And be sure to let them know if you are a constituent of their district!

Script: “Hello, my name is [Name] and I am contacting Rep. [Name]  to request that HB 1406 receive both a public hearing and receive a floor vote in the Appropriations Committee in order to move the bill forward.”

  Chair, Rep. Timm Ormsby Vice Chair, Rep. Steve Bergquist Vice Chair, Rep. Mia Gregerson Vice Chair, Rep. Nicole Macri
I called
I emailed
5. Transportation Spending

A lot is happening in the state legislature on the transportation front. Check out the graphic below for a quick read on the Senate and House transportation budgets. You’ll see right away that these proposals fall far short of what we need to reduce the climate pollution from our transportation system.

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* Both House and Senate budgets would lock in billions and billions of car-centered highway spending for the next 16 years! The increases in climate-friendly transit and infrastructure for folks walking, biking and rolling, while a step forward, are a small fraction of the total, and nothing like action at the scale of the climate crisis. Sixteen years from now, it will be too late.

We are asking you to take two different actions to support a clean and just transportation system. These letters will be more effective if you personalize them!

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* 6. Right to legal aid and payment plans for renters - SB 5160

This bill provides indigent renters facing eviction with the right to counsel, requires landlords to offer reasonable repayment plans and offers other protections to help both tenants and renters.  SB 5160 has passed both houses! The bad news is that a last-minute amendment added a provision ending the eviction moratorium on June 30, 2021!

We need to ask key members of Senate Leadership to remove the amendment when the bill returns to the Senate for Concurrence.

Click here to send an email to four key Senators.

If the above link did not work, please address your email to:

Majority Leader, Sen. Andy Billig (D-03) – (360) 786-7604 – andy.billig@leg.wa.gov
Floor Leader, Sen. Marko Liias (D-21) – (360) 786-7640 – Marko.Liias@leg.wa.gov
Majority Caucus Leader, Sen. Bob Hasegawa (D-11) – (360) 786-7616 – Bob.Hasegawa@leg.wa.gov
Sen. Patty Kuderer (D-48) – (360) 786-7694 – Patty.Kuderer@leg.wa.gov

If you’re calling and you reach voicemail, be sure to speak slowly and clearly and say the bill number. And be sure to let them know if you are a constituent of their district!

Script: I’m contacting you to ask that SB 5160, Tenant Protections and Right to Counsel be amended to remove the amendment added in the House that requires the current eviction moratorium to end by June 30, 2021.

  Majority Leader Sen. Andy Billig Floor Leader, Sen. Marko Liias Majority Caucus Leader, Sen. Bob Hasegawa Sen. Patty Kuderer
I called
I emailed

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* How did that go?

Thanks for hanging in with us! Less than two weeks left in the 2021 session!

-- The 350 WA Civic Action Team

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