The first major deadline for 2019 legislation on Friday. For a bill to stay active in this year's session, it has to have cleared the bill's committee of origin by Friday unless it is in one of the fiscal committees (Such as Senate Ways & Means, House Finance and House Appropriations.).  The fiscal committee deadline is March 1.  Some important activities will benefit from your active participation. 

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Working Families Tax Credit Gets Senate Hearing - Advocacy Work Needed
The Senate Ways & Means Committee will hear SB 5810, the Senate version of the Working Families Tax Credit bill on Thursday, February 21 at 3:30 p.m. The House bill received a positive hearing in House Finance Committee earlier in the month. Because this bill has a budget impact (fiscal note pending), its important to generate early support for this legislation. The Statewide Poverty Action Network has set up an advocacy page that makes it easy to contact your legislators in support of these bills.  You can even personalize the message. 

Second Round of Hearings for Local Government Revenue Sharing for Housing - Advocacy Work Needed
House and Senate Committees will be hearing bills on February 21 that will allow for a portion of sales tax to be generated and retained at the local level to fund affordable or supportive housing. The Senate Ways & Means Committee will hear SB 5646 and the House Finance Committee will hear its companion bill HB 1406. Both of these bills already have been approved by House and Senate committees dealing with housing issues.  At the earlier hearings, a number of housing advocates as well as the Association of Washington Cities testified for the bill. Here's the Association's affordable housing advocacy sheet.  You can support these bills by leaving comments on the Legislative website for HB 1406 and SB 5646 or contacting your legislators directly.

Action Alert for Early Education Proposals - Advocacy Work Needed
The Washington Association of Head Start and ECEAP is organizing advocacy support for the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) Eligibility bills (HB1351/SB 5437) which are in the fiscal committees of the House and Senate respectively. You can indicate your support for these bills by going to the association's advocacy web page or by going to the link for each bill number and clicking the comment tab on the right side of those pages.

The United Ways of Washington's Lobby Day is February 28 - Register Here.