Official Daily Action for Wednesday April 24, 2019
The Reproductive Health for All Act was passed out of the WA Senate with provisions that benefited undocumented immigrants, trans individuals, as well as victims of sexual assault and rape. The WA House opted to remove a section that would provide family planning to people who aren’t eligible for Medicare due to immigration status, and to only fund that care for one year.
Because the Senate and House passed different versions of the RHAA bill (one unamended and one amended), they have to go through an extra process to reconcile the differences and determine what goes to Gov. Inslee’s desk for his signature. The Senate so far has refused to concur with the House amendments, meaning that the bill will go to Conference Committee (see http://leg.wa.gov/legislature/Pages/Overview.aspx) to find a solution that both chambers can agree on.
Today’s action is to thank the State Senate and ask them to hold strong to keep the unamended program in place, and to ask lawmakers in both houses to adopt the Senate bill with the full funding.
THE EARLIER YOU CAN CALL, THE BETTER! This may go to the Conference Committee today.
Action 1
Call the Washington State Legislative Hotline at 1-800-562-6000 (TTY for Hearing Impaired 800.833.6388). They will ask for your address, and leave a message for your state senator and legislators.
Script for legislative hotline:
“Hi, I’m [name] from [city, zip]. I’m calling about SB 5602. I support the Senate version of this bill, without the amendments offered by the House. I would like to thank my Senator for holding strong and keeping funding for care for all Washingtonians, regardless of immigration status. I want to ask my Representatives not to drop support for immigrants’ reproductive health in this legislation, and to pass the unamended Senate version of SB 5602.”
Action 2
Call House Speaker Chopp, and ask him to pass the unamended Senate version of the SB 5602.
Speaker Chopp (360) 786-7920
Frank Chopp represents the 43rd Legislative District. Constituent calls have more weight, but in his role as Speaker, he does take into account calls from the entire state.
Script for Speaker Chopp
“Hi, I’m [name] from [city, zip]. (If you live in the 43rd, say so). I’m calling about SB 5602. I support the Senate version of this bill, without the amendments offered by the House. I want to ask Speaker Chopp not to allow drop support for immigrants’ reproductive health in this legislation, and to pass the unamended Senate version of SB 5602.”
Background
