|
FRIENDS COMMITTEE ON WASHINGTON STATE PUBLIC POLICY
LEGISLATIVE ACTION ALERT
January 25, 2003
�The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of
comfort
and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge andcontroversy.�
-- Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Governor�s budget hurts children and others most in need!
With all due respect to the challenges faced by Governor Gary Locke and
his
staff in their attempts to shape a workable budget in the context of a
vast
revenue shortfall, the budget they presented to the recently convened
58th
regular session of the Washington State Legislature is unacceptable. The
result of their budget�s implementation would mean severe suffering, and
even death, for the state�s most vulnerable citizens, including our
children.
Now is the time to tell the Governor and your Senator and Representatives that you cannot accept harming children, the mentally ill, and the needy
elderly and infirm, who are our neighbors in this affluent state, for the
sake of avoiding the perceived political costs of raising revenue. We
hope
that no one wants harm to come to those most in need of the support and
services that are being threatened by this harsh budget, but our elected
leaders need to hear that from their constituents. The public outcry is
not
being heard on the capitol campus. Lobbyists and advocacy groups do not
have
the same effect as messages from individual, concerned citizens and
voters.
If you do nothing else this session in response to these Alerts, I urge
you to:
1. Call or write to voice whatever sentiments you have that will get your
message across,
2. Insist that a basic safety net for the most vulnerable among us be
preserved, even during difficult fiscal times for Washington State.
3. Leave a message for Governor Locke, your State Senator and both
Representatives, using some of the talking points below. For help
determining who represents you, see the resources listed below or call
Alan at 360 556-2584.
ACTION: Call the Legislative Hotline at 1 800 562-6000 M-F 8am-12noon &
1pm-4:30pm or contact the Governor and your district�s state elected
officials directly by telephone, e-mail or letter. See below for contact
resources.
All messages to elected officials are valuable, with letters especially effective (legible, hand-written ones even more so). Letters from folks
who have never contacted the official before are the most effective of all.You
may have called or emailed your Representatives and Senator, if you�ve never
contacted the Governor before, write him a note on this one.
Although you should use your own words, when calling, writing, or sending e-mail, as suggested in the Alerts, please identify your self as a Friend
and as a member of FCWPP. Our effectiveness is enhanced when legislators hear from people who respond to our issues.
TALKING POINTS:
Express willingness to pay higher state taxes until the economy rebounds. Convey your hopes that we can craft a more equitable and adequate revenue
system for the future.
ASK TO RESTORE FUNDS FOR THE MOST NEEDY
A 9.6 million dollar cut to Children�s Administration will reduce one third
of the funding for ten programs that help sick infants, homeless youth, and
abused children.
MESSAGE : RESTORE CHILDREN�S ADMINISTRATION FUNDS FOR INFANTS AND
CHILDREN.
A $12 million dollar cut to Adoption Support Services will lower payments to
those who adopt children with special needs. Hard-to-place foster children
have been adopted at a greatly increased rate since these funds were initially made available in 1986.
MESSAGE: RESTORE ADOPTION SUPPORT.
The complete elimination of programs that serve abused and neglected children is ill advised and will come back to haunt us in costly ways.
Funding was completely eliminated in the Governor�s proposed budget for the
following programs:
1. The Washington Council for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (WCPCAN
serves as the state�s clearinghouse for people seeking resources about child
abuse prevention and family support. WCPCAN provides grants for local child
abuse prevention efforts across the state and leverages substantial local dollars for preventing harm to vulnerable children.
http://www.wcpcan.wa.gov
2. The Washington State Association of CASA/GAL Programs works with 30 local
court appointed special advocate (CASA) programs across the state to recruit, train and sustain volunteer advocates for abused and neglected
children in the court system. The State Association also provides a statewide network for training and technical support for the local
program staff and leverages private foundation dollars to assist with program
support. http://www.washingtonstatecasa.org
3. The mission of the Office of the Family and Children�s Ombudsman�s (OFCO)
is to protect children and parents from harmful agency action or inaction,
and to make agency officials and state policy makers aware of system wide issues in child protection and child welfare system so they can improve
services. http://www.governor.wa.gov/ofco
MESSAGE: DO NOT ELIMINATE FUNDING FOR
THE WASHINGTON COUNCIL FOR PREVENTION OF CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT,
THE WASHINGTON STATE ASSOCIATION OF CASA/GAL PROGRAMS, and
THE FAMILY AND CHILDREN�S OMBUDSMAN.
Expect more Alerts soon or call me about information specific to your concerns.
What do you know about that coincides with Friends� Legislative priorities?
Read our Policy Statement at http://www.quaker.org/fcwpp/Policy%20Statement.html
for many concerns that could become priorities � they just need champions!
Please call or e-mail me for information, help, or to go over legislative
issues that concern you. I appreciate hearing from Friends.
How to Contact Your Legislators:
Use http://dfind.leg.wa.gov/dfinder.cfm
to find out who your legislators are. Go to http://www.leg.wa.gov/wsladm/ses.htm
for extensive online information on legislators, legislation, our State Constitution and existing state law, among many other things.
Call the Legislative Hotline at 1-800-562-6000 or
Write your Senator and representatives at:
Senator _______________
PO Box 4048
Olympia, WA 98504-0482
Representative ___________
PO Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600
On the web at: http://www.leg.wa.gov/
follow the link to the Senate or House, and click on your member�s name to get their e-mail address.
Thank you,
Alan Mountjoy-Venning,
Friends Committee on Washington State Public Policy
P.O. Box 452
Olympia, WA 98507-0452
[email protected]
360 556-2584 cell
360 943-2503 home
Note: If you have questions, please contact
Alan Mountjoy-Venning, FCWPP Lobbyist, at [email protected]
or by calling 360 556-2584.
|