Climate Action This Week: 
  • Oppose incentivizing cities and counties to hire more police officers
  • Reducing mercury in lighting products
  • Protecting tenants by prohibiting predatory practices and making remedies under the consumer protection act easier
  • Responsible environmental management of batteries
  • Energy in buildings (a state-wide informational navigator program)
  • Eliminating part of the public utility tax exemption for interstate petroleum and crude oil shipments
  • On-premises energy generation (net metering for solar panels)
  • Oppose planning for advanced nuclear reactor technology in Washington
  • Creating a private right of action for harm from violations of law by peace officers
  • Attorney General investigations and legal actions against law enforcement and corrections agencies to address systemic misconduct
If you're viewing this on a smartphone, make sure you're in your browser, and when calling or emailing, be sure to mention if you are in the representative or senator’s district. Copy and paste is not supported on mobile devices.

Question Title

* Your information

The first two actions require you to sign in with Comments. If these seem time-consuming don’t lose heart, the remaining actions are much quicker. And remember, pick as many or as few actions as you’d like -- there’s no need to do them all. Just scroll down and click the orange “DONE” button when you finish.

Thank you for taking action with the Civic Action Team!
We think these first two actions will take 10 to 15 minutes.

Question Title

* 📜 1. Incentivizing cities and counties to increase employment of commissioned law enforcement officers - SB 5361

This bill would allow jurisdictions to collect a sales tax which would have to be spent on hiring additional police officers If the municipality has fewer per capita officers per population than the national per capita level, regardless of the jurisdiction’s actual needs. If the number employed reaches the national per capita level, the fund must still be used for specific criminal justice purposes. The bill would also eliminate local jurisdictions’ obligation to contribute 25% of the cost of training its officers.

We are following the lead of People Power, Washington Coalition for Police Accountability (WCPA) and 350 WA CAT on this bill. 

Scheduled for a public hearing in the Senate Committee on Law and Justice on Monday, January 23, 10:30 AM.

✏️ Please sign in here to oppose SB 5361 before Tuesday, January 24, 10:30 AM and select “Con” in the position button. You have 24 hours after a committee hearing to submit comments.

The first sentence of the written comment should be: “I strongly oppose SB 5361.” Then choose 1-2 additional sentences from the options below or feel free to write your own.

📑 Talking Points: 
  • Tying local municipalities to an arbitrary national per capita officer rate does not allow municipalities to respond responsibly to public safety needs which vary by jurisdiction. 
  • Employing a fixed number of officers per capita of population has not been shown to cause a significant reduction in crime rates. 
  • Despite a precipitous overall decline in violent crime since the 1990's police spending has steadily increased. Research indicates that how a police department chooses to spend money is more relevant than per capita officers. 
  • By transferring training costs to the state, local municipalities will be further incentivized to hire more officers.
  • This bill would limit the ability of local jurisdictions to provide prevention services and respond to dynamic public safety needs because the money collected can only be used for criminal justice.
  • Local jurisdictions need to develop, plan, and fund public safety initiatives that address the unique needs of their communities. These include addressing the affordable housing crisis; preventing the record number of deaths of unhoused neighbors; providing substance use disorder treatment and safe injection sites to address record number of fentanyl deaths; providing gun violence prevention programs which reduce violent crime 30-50%.

Question Title

* 📜 2. Reducing environmental impacts associated with lighting products - HB 1185

This bill extends the existing producer-provided recycling program for mercury-containing lights beyond its scheduled 2025 sunset date; expands the program to include all types of lights; and phases out the sale of most mercury-containing lights.

We are following the lead of Zero Waste Washington on this bill.

Scheduled for a public hearing in the House Committee on Environment & Energy on Monday, January 23, 1:30 PM.

✏️ Please sign in here to support HB 1185 TODAY before Monday, January 23, 12:30 PM and select “Pro” in the position button. This time is not a typo - the sign-in must be sent at least one hour BEFORE the hearing.

Miss this deadline? You can still sign in “Pro” here and provide a written comment in support of HB 1185 before Tuesday, January 24, 1:30 PM.

The first sentence of the written comment should be: “I strongly support HB 1185." Then choose 1-2 additional sentences from the options below or feel free to write your own.

📑 Talking Points: 
  • This bill will phase out the sale of most mercury-containing lights. New types of light bulbs available now are more energy efficient and will also save money for consumers, businesses, and schools.
  • Fluorescent bulbs and tubes contain mercury, a potent neurotoxin that is a significant human health risk and environmental concern. By phasing out the sale of these lights, the bill will reduce exposure to mercury.
  • Unless extended, the recycling program provided by producers for mercury-containing lights will sunset in 2025 due to a provision in existing law. The mercury-containing lights, however, have not gone away. They are still being sold and will remain in use for years even after they are phased out. This bill will extend the producer-provided program so that mercury-containing lights can continue to be safely and conveniently collected and recycled.
  • The bill will also expand the recycling program to include lights other than mercury-containing lights that contain valuable materials that can and should be recycled.

All done? Don’t forget to scroll to the bottom and click the orange “DONE” button to submit your actions!

Got time for more? For these next five bills we just ask you to sign in “Pro”. We reckon they will take you about 10 to 15 minutes.

Question Title

* 📜 3. Protecting tenants by prohibiting predatory residential rent practices and by applying the consumer protection act to the residential landlord-tenant act and the manufactured/mobile home landlord-tenant act - HB 1388

This bill will cap rent increases for certain renters at either the rate of inflation or 3%, whichever is greater. It does not allow an annual rent increase over 7%. It also prevents certain landlords from charging different rates of rent for month-to-month renters versus those with longer leases. The bill empowers the attorney general to investigate and enforce excessive rent increases and other predatory practices. If landlords do not comply, they can be fined. The bill also helps renters bring an action under the Consumer Protection Act.

350 WA CAT recommends this action.

Scheduled for a public hearing in the House Committee on Housing on Tuesday, January 24, 4:00 PM.

✏️ Please sign in here to support HB 1388 before Tuesday, January 24, 3:00 PM and select “Pro” in the position button.

Question Title

* 📜 4. Providing for responsible environmental management of batteries - SB 5144

Batteries are becoming increasingly important as we move into a renewable energy future. This bill aims to put in place a system requiring battery manufacturers to manage and pay for a recycling program for single use and rechargeable batteries which will be convenient, free and accessible for Washington residents. By making manufacturers responsible for their lifecycle, the bill creates a financial incentive for manufacturers to make batteries that last longer or are easier to recycle. The bill will also in future ban batteries from the trash where they can leak toxic material and cause fires in collection trucks and solid waste facilities, placing workers at risk. By reducing the need to mine raw materials, the bill will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions and landscape destruction. For more information see Zero Waste Washington’s factsheet.

We are following the lead of Zero Waste Washington on this bill.

Scheduled for a public hearing in the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy & Technology on Tuesday, January 24, 1:30 PM.

✏️ Please sign in here to support SB 5144 before Tuesday, January 24, 12:30 PM and select “Pro” in the position button.

Question Title

* 📜 5. Concerning energy in buildings - HB 1391

This bill would establish and oversee a statewide building energy upgrade “navigator program” to assist building owners with accessing electrification services and energy efficiency services, funding, and any other assistance that will result in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, job creation, business opportunities, and workforce development in the building sector. The bill aims to provide a reliable resource for homeowners to: access information about transitioning their homes to use clean sources of energy, find related services and understand available incentives. This resource will help our workforce and businesses transition and help develop a clean energy job market in the building sector.

We are following the lead of Shift Zero on this bill.

Scheduled for a public hearing in the House Committee on Environment & Energy on Tuesday, January 24, 4:00 PM.

✏️ Please sign in here to support HB 1391 before Tuesday, January 24, 3:00 PM and select “Pro” in the position button.

Question Title

* 📜 6. Eliminating the state public utility tax deduction for the instate portion of interstate transport of petroleum products and crude oil - SB 5309

The law currently exempts the gross income from certain interstate shipments of petroleum products and crude oil from the state public utility tax. This exemption perpetuates the use of these fossil fuels. This bill will eliminate that exemption for the in-state portion of those shipments. We should be using taxpayer money to promote clean energy, not fossil fuels.

350 WA CAT recommends this action.

Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means on Tuesday, January 24, 4:00 PM.

✏️ Please sign in here to support SB 5309 before Tuesday, January 24, 3:00 PM and select “Pro” in the position button.

Question Title

* 📜 7. Concerning on-premises energy generation - HB 1427

This bill extends and makes other changes to the state’s net metering for renewable energy, helping to ensure that rooftop solar production continues to be a viable option for building owners. In addition, this bill provides that any unused credit must be distributed annually to low-income customers (in addition to existing funds for this purpose). The law currently provides that any unused credits for kilowatt-hours accumulated during the previous year are granted to the electric utility, without any compensation to the customer-generator. More information is available here: Net Metering.

We are following the lead of Spark Northwest on this bill.

Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Environment & Energy on Tuesday, January 24, 4:00 PM.

✏️ Please sign in here to support HB 1427 before Tuesday, January 24, 3:00 PM and select “Pro” in the position button.

All done? Don’t forget to scroll to the bottom and click the orange “DONE” button to submit your actions!

Time for more? These next 3 actions will take about 5 to 10 minutes.

Question Title

* 📜 8. Planning for advanced nuclear reactor technology in Washington - SB 5129

This bill would amend a guiding principle for the development of the State Energy Strategy to include consideration of advanced nuclear reactor technology in Washington as a cleaner energy source. Although nuclear energy doesn’t produce greenhouse gas, it is NOT clean. Small modular reactors (SMRs) are untested for both safety and reliability. Further, nuclear energy increases the risk of nuclear proliferation and creates high-level radioactive waste which remains deadly to biological life for hundreds of thousands of years. There is still no place to safely store it.

For more information see this false solutions page produced by 350 Seattle.

350 Seattle recommends this action.

Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy & Technology on Wednesday, January 25, 8:00 AM.

✏️ Please sign in here to oppose SB 5129 before Wednesday, January 25, 7:00 AM and select “Con” in the position button.

Question Title

* 📜 9. Creating a private right of action for harm from violations of the state Constitution or state law by peace officers - HB 1025

This bill follows states like California, Colorado, Connecticut, and New Mexico to provide a legal remedy to people whose rights have been violated by law enforcement. The bill would allow victims of police violence to bring an action against individual officers and their employers for monetary damages, attorney fees and costs. Law enforcement should be treated like other public servants and be accountable if they violate someone’s rights. See also WCPA Access to Fairness.

There has been an effort to pass this bill for several years. In the past, cities have argued that the bill would increase their liabilities and alleged that it could open a floodgate of frivolous lawsuits. Notably they have typically not argued that people’s civil rights are not violated. Further, California and Colorado passed similar legislation without seeing a flood of meritless lawsuits.

We are following the lead of Washington Coalition for Police Accountability (WCPA) on this bill.

Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Civil Rights and Judiciary on Wednesday, January 25, 8:00 AM.

✏️ Please sign in here to support HB 1025 before Wednesday, January 25, 7:00 AM and select “Pro” in the position button.

Question Title

* 📜 10. Concerning law enforcement and local corrections agency misconduct through investigations and legal actions - HB 1445

This bill strengthens and clarifies the Washington Attorney General’s ability to both investigate and sue an agency or department for systemic practices that violate citizen rights under the Washington Constitution or state laws and to make systemic changes to police departments. The focus of this approach is on widespread or systemic misconduct, as opposed to isolated or sporadic instances of wrongdoing. The bill aims for the creation of minimum standards and systems to keep police departments accountable and to bring their policies, practices, training, discipline, and outcomes into compliance with the Washington constitution and state law.  

The bill follows California, Colorado, Virginia, and Nevada, and is similar to the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) consent decree authority but on the state level.

Follow both these links for more information. WCPA; People Power

We are following the lead of Washington Coalition for Police Accountability (WCPA) on this bill.

Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Civil Rights and Judiciary on Wednesday, January 25, 8:00 AM.

✏️ Please sign in here to support HB 1445 before Wednesday, January 25, 7:00 AM and select “Pro” in the position button.

Question Title

* Phew! You made it -- that was a lot of bills! Thank you for taking action! And please let us know how having this many bills affected you, or of any other issues!

-- The 350 WA Civic Action Team

P.S. Not on the CAT email list? Sign up here!

T