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Action Alert from Tri Cities Tea Party

Received via Martha; the Tri-Cities TEA Party sent this to their membership.  I edited the text to reflect Walla Walla:

REQUEST YOUR IMMEDIATE ACTION

WITH THE WASHINGTON STATE LEGISLATURE

Action Alert Topic:   Vote No on House Bill 1366

The Hearing will be on Monday, January 24 at 1:30 p.m.

Act Now!

Membership Action Needed:  The Tri-Cities TEA Party Board and Legislative Committee urgently request that all TEA Party members voice their concerns by contacting the House Health Care and Wellness Committee members and their respective representatives by email, and then phone them directly to confirm those concerns.  The following message may be conveyed more or less in your own words.  We suggest that your email subject line be “Vote NO on HB 1366”. 

As a citizen of the State of Washington and a member of the Walla Walla TEA Party, I strongly disagree with HB 1366, and request that you and the respective Health Care and Wellness Committee members withdraw their support for this bill.  I consider the premise of the drafted bill to be false, and its intent is to add unnecessary regulations and liabilities to these so called “limited service pregnancy centers”.  We view this bill as a potential special interest effort to force closure of centers that benefit women and families throughout our state.

Description :   This is a heavily Democrat supported bill with only one Republican (Walsh) out of 36 representatives supporting HB 1366, now being heard by the House Health Care and Wellness Committee.  It involves the so called "limited service pregnancy centers." 

Bill HB 1366 would add extensive disclosure requirements to be given verbally first, then posted in center entries, and on the center's website and on any advertisements.  All of this disclosure must be provided in English and the women's primary language, which includes as a minimum of but not limited to English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian, and Chinese.

The bill also provides for legal / civil action against the centers if they don't meet the full letter of the legislation.  That would benefit the lawyers and certainly damage the centers.  Matt Shea, R-Spokane, is very concerned with the potential impacts of this bill on our local communities.  These centers are a tremendous resource.  Some of them have maternity homes where young, pregnant girls have a place to stay and learn important life skills, such as how to cook, budget and take care of their children.  They also provide counseling services.  Many of these centers are paid for through private donations.  House Bill 1366 could result in the closure of faith-based, pro-life pregnancy resource centers and medical clinics across our state.

See  http://apps.leg.wa.gov/documents/billdocs/2011-12/Pdf/Bills/House%20Bills/1366.pdf  for details concerning this outrageous bill.

Please Contact these Legislators in Near By Districts:

District 8 (North Benton)

Rep. Brad Klippert, R          (360) 786-7882        klippert.brad@leg.wa.gov

Rep. Larry Haler, R             (360) 786-7986        haler.larry@leg.wa.gov

District 9 (Franklin, Adams, Whitman, Garfield and South Spokane)

Rep. Susan Fagan, R           (360) 786-7942        fagan.susan@leg.wa.gov

Rep. Joe Schmick, R           (360) 786-7844        schmick.joe@leg.wa.gov

District 16 (South Benton, Walla Walla and Columbia)

Rep. Maureen Walsh, R       (360) 786-7836        walsh.maureen@leg.wa.gov

Rep. Terry Nealey, R           (360) 786-7828        nealey.terry@leg.wa.gov

Please contact these Legislators on the  

Health Care and Wellness Committee:

Blog Changes!

Good evening!

I've added a lot of new links to the web in the side bar, courtesy of Martha, who picked them up from another Tea Party leader.

And there's a new page: Key Members of Congress.  The permanent link is on the sidebar as well.  This contains contact information for all of the leadership of the current Congressional.  It currently lacks e-mail addresses, but I'll get those included this weekend.

UPDATE:  According to the  House web site, there's no direct electronic contact to members of Congress by non-constituents.  From the "Write Your Representative" page:

"Can I send a message to a Member who does not represent my congressional district? -- Congressional courtesy dictates that Representatives be given the opportunity to assist their own constituents. The Write Your Representative service does not allow for the processing of messages to a Member that does not represent the state and zipcode entered. If direct contact with a specific Member that does not represent your district is required, the Clerk of the House maintains addresses and phone numbers of all House Members and Committees, or you may call (202)225-3121 for the U.S. House switchboard operator."

The Senate page is organized differently, but it's safe to assume that a similar policy is in effect.

So if you wish to contact anyone other than Senator Murray, Senator Cantwell, or Congresswoman McMorris-Rodgers, use telephone, snail mail, or facsimile.

Jeff Stidham, Blog Admin

Bill Watch List for Important Legislation

From Martha:

Research Mom has been reviewing key legislation for over seven years.  I am forwarding you an email from her with a list of bills we need to be aware of.  Please review and contact your representatives accordingly.  We must be ever diligent in our efforts.

=================================

 

Below is a list of bills that need special attention as of the 4^th day of session.  Whether you are at home, in your office, or able to come down to Olympia, please notify your district legislators on how you want them to vote.  You can simply call the Hotline 1-800-562-6000 or send an email.  In addition to notifying your own legislators (2 Representatives and 1 Senator) you can notify the committee chairman and the entire committee members. 

For updates on bills please go to ResearchMom.homestead.com legislative page.  Links to legislators can also be found at “tools” or ASK RESEARCH MOM for a excel data sheet that you can use to sort for committee members contact info, tel number, email addresses, and more.

If you are unsure of what you can do, sign up for one of the workshops listed at the end of this email. Contact edresearch -at- hotmail.com (change "-at-" to "@") for info.

BILL WATCH LIST

All bills numbers are linked to bill summary webpage

Check for new bills on ResearchMom.homestead.com

SCHOOLS:

HB 1004 - Providing for social emotional learning in public schools

ELECTIONS:

HB 1002 - Adopting voting by mail

HB 1079 - Modifying elections by mail provisions

LAND/PROPERTY

SB 5012 - Revising standard of review by GMA hearings board

SB 5096 - Withdrawing the state from participation in the western climate initiative

TRANSPORTATION:

HB 1071 - Creating a complete streets grant program

SUMMARY OF BILLS

SB 1004 – Providing for social emotional learning in public schools

Two years ago an education bill was introduced that would force the State to be in charge of teaching emotions, values, and relationships including a system of curriculum, standards, and assessments.  The bill was not based on requests from parents, teachers, or schools, but the proponents did stand to gain financially if the bill passed.  Today, the bill will mandate the teaching of “Social emotional learning” as part of the definition of basic education to create the “global citizen”.  Although it requests no money, there are non-profit NGO’s, (Non-governmental organizations) prepared to pour in the dollars needed to program your child to a government set of emotions and values.  Experience shows that programs in schools that teach relationships, tolerance, and peace have gone against the cultural values of families and creates a secular one-size-fits-all standard of “feeling”.  Reviewing the information of the original bill HB 1162 will help you formulate your thoughts - click on bill reports at the bottom of the Bill Summary page. 

HB 1002 - Adopting voting by mail

HB 1079 - Modifying elections by mail provisions

Currently Pierce County is the only county that has polling places.  There are bureaucrats that want to force Pierce County to an all mail ballot process.  These two bills effectively shut down poll voting by removing all language regulating the system of poll voting, specifically the word “poll”.

Not only will this backdoor method shut down the will of a county, but it creates a permanent method to never allow citizens to vote in person at a poll.  The concept of provisional ballots is based upon a valid voter’s name not being in a listing at a “polling place” but still is registered under state law as qualified to vote.  The new language may indicate that a “voter” has rights even if that person is not listed in the “voter registration database”.  Clarity is needed to insure that more rights are not given to persons that have not legally followed rules to be listed in the updated version of the Statewide voter registration database.

SB 5012 - Revising standard of review by GMA hearings board

This short bill changes the way decisions are made at Growth Management hearings to empower the “board” to over-ride the rights of a local government.  Many policies set by the Growth Management board, state agencies, and other governing boards have been created by a top down approach to follow a national/global one-size-fits-all system without any regard to the dynamics of a community.  For example forcing a town with many hills and icy weather to spend taxpayer’s money to create bike paths thereby causing vehicle congestion, removing parking, and taking away land from nearby property owners to justify a state campaign for bike paths may not fit the needs of that community.  This bill could take away their rights to not comply.

SB 5096 - Withdrawing the state from participation in the WCI

The Western Climate Initiative signed by Gov Gregoire has been the basis for Washington State’s commitment to “build a green community” and reduce “greenhouse gas emissions”.  To accomplish this goal Washington must have a “cap and trade” program, force citizens to reduce driving (Exec. Order 07-02), control energy and water  use,  increase mass transportation plans (despite low ridership),  and many more.  Find more information on the Western Climate Initative at:

http://www.westernclimateinitiative.org/

Read about Washington State’s plans to implement WCI.

http://www.ecy.wa.gov/climatechange/interimreport.htm

HB 1071 - Creating a complete streets grant program

The complete street concept was created by bicycle groups who want to remove motorized vehicles from the roads.  In the name of being fair to pedestrians, bicycles, and other users, roads are being changed to a non-motorized vehicle agenda.  The state will be following the one-size-fits-all guidelines of a national/global agenda and pressure local communities to comply by dangling the carrot called “money”.  In times of critical budget crisis we should not be considering such measures.  The bill also carries an added pressure of requesting all local communities to follow a national/global plan when they plan their cities. It states that “all urban main streets should be designed to provide safe access to all users” but it favors walkers, bicycle riders, and not vehicles.  They define “Sound engineering principles” as following the guidelines developed by an engineering NGO (Institute of Transportation Engineers) titled “Context Sensitive Solutions in Designing Major Urban Thoroughfares for Walkable Communities”.  The document details how all cities will look like and the goal is an out-come based approach to cookie cutter cities.

Learn more about Complete Streets from completestreets.org

CALL TODAY  - OLYMPIA HOTLINE

    1-800-562-6000

New session of the Constitution Class!

Good Afternoon,

There will be another session of the Constitution Class this winter at Walla Walla Community College.

Here are the details of the class:

Wednesdays January 19 through February 23
6:30 PM to 8:00 PM
Course number:  3201/CEC 006
Cost:  $59
Students may register by calling 527-4443, register on-line, or print and mail this application.

Martha Sends!

Good Afternoon,

 

Please Note: The day and location for our 2011 monthly meetings have been changed.  We will now meet at 7:00 pm on the second Monday of each month in the Walla Walla Regional Airport conference room.   

 

Now that the 112th Congress has convened for the first time and new governors and county officials are being sworn in around the Nation, the hard work really begins!

 

Please join us Monday, January 10th at 7:00 pm. Your input is needed as we continue work on our goals and objectives for 2011.  We will be breaking into our new committee groups and spend time working on the specific action items for each group. 

 

Motivated volunteers are needed to help Walla Walla Tea Party Patriots continue to make a difference on the Local, State and National levels!   

 

Monday, January 10, 2011

7 PM - 8 PM

Walla Walla Regional Airport Conference Room

 

Hope to see you there!

  

Time to settle down for the long haul

Soldiers have been known to point out that "You can win a battle while losing the war".

While we aren't in a genuine war, we are fighting for the future of America, and the electoral victories last November was but one battle, and we have more ahead of us.  Congress has to be kept moving in the right directions, something that won't happen without citizen involvement.  And the 2012 elections are coming up; we're already seeing Presidential debates being scheduled. 

So a group of Walla Walla Tea Party Patriots formed what's best described as an Executive Committee, and have started organizing for the long haul here.  We did an excellent job in 2010, but it was off the cuff, and focused on one objective: getting the conservatives to VOTE.  Now we have other objectives as well, and it will take time and effort to achieve.  Even if you loathe committees (as I do), please consider volunteering for one.  And if you have volunteered (as I have), thank you!

The committee descriptions and objectives are available here.  If you are interested, contact us (addresses are on the sidebar, at the top).

Jeff Stidham

Happy New Year!

Good day, Tea Partiers!

 I hope that you all had a Merry Christmas with friends and family, and will enjoy the new year to come!  We certainly have reason for "hope and change" (ahem) in 2011 after the November elections, and in spite of the Congressional lame duck session.

I am taking over the blogging duties for this site.  I don't expect to post on a daily basis, but I will post regularly.  If you have questions, comments, or requests, please let me or Martha know by e-mailing!

The main purpose of this blog is to post information relevant to anyone committed to the founding principles of these United States as set forth in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.  However, discussions are not hosted at this time, so comments will remain closed on posts.  This may change, depending on how things pan out with the IT and Executive Committees.

In the meantime,we have three sources of on-line information for you:  

• This blog (RSS feeds are enabled)
• If you have a Facebook account, see our Facebook page (or search for "Walla Walla Tea Party Patriots")
• E-mail announcements (sign up for these with Martha, a/k/a "Liberty Bell", her address is on the side, at the top)

Thanks for your support.  God Bless America!

Jeff Stidham