The first week of the 2019 Legislative Session has ended. This will be a tough year for Republicans, and indeed, all taxpayers in the state of Washington. Unlike the past 6 years, the Republicans are in a distinct minority. There have already been many bills introduced that indicate we are in a battle against new taxes and restrictions on our 1st and 2nd Amendment rights.
You will see many more bills introduced over the coming weeks. Bear in mind that over two thousand bills will likely be introduced, but only about 300 – 400 will be passed. There is a long process for each bill to go through before it can become law, and it can die at any of those multiple steps along the way. However, we all need to remain vigilant and let our legislators know what our views are on issues that are important to us.
I’m including a link to another website that is very helpful in finding out what legislation is being introduced and how each legislator has voted on each bill.
https://www.washingtonvotes.org/
You can choose a specific legislator and look at all the bills he/she has introduced and co-sponsored, you can enter a specific keyword such as “firearms”, “childcare”, or “tax” to get a list of all bills that are related to that subject, and you can find out more obscure information like bills from previous sessions, votes that are missed by your legislator, votes against the legislator’s party, etc. There is an enormous amount of information on this site, and when you find a bill of interest to you, you will find a link that will take you to the actual bill, so you can read the language of the bill, find out where it is in the process, and get information on bill hearings, so you can testify.
I will try to post occasionally to give you some of the most important bills going through the process as the session progresses. If you have a subject that is of particular interest to you, let me know – there are probably others who have that same interest, and it will give me an idea of what topics to cover. My email is BoistfortPCO@gmail.com.