Editor’s Note: The League of Women Voters (LWV) of Washington sent this legislative newsletter on Apr. 16, 2023. Our mission at the Voter Interests Project is to monitor elected officials and ballot measures; we generally do not report on the activities of non-profit organizations. However, the LWV Whidbey Island chapter conducts candidate forums during most election cycles, and are therefore of particular interest to voters. The LWV of Washington’s website states, “The League is a Nonpartisan Source You Can Trust”; however, the LWV does take positions on public policy. Our observation is that their policy positions inform their management of voter forums. Therefore, we believe it to be of interest to our readers to know the positions for which the LWV advocates.

Action Alerts

Click on the links below to learn more about bills currently being reviewed in the state legislature. You can “take action” on these most pressing bills by following the links below.

Protect Our Health Data. Keep it Private!

Urge your legislators to support the Senate version, the strongest version of ESHB 1155, the Washington My Health, My Data bill, and send it to the Governor’s desk.

Privacy protections for health care data are always important, but now, in a post-Roe world, they are particularly critical. These Privacy protections are a necessary part of defending and extending access to abortion and gender-affirming care. As lawmakers in some states move to criminalize health care access, Washington must act firmly to defend it. While many people think that the federal Health Information Portability and Accountability Act law (HIPAA) protects all of their private health data, HIPAA actually only covers data collected by specific health care entities. Health data collected by websites and apps, and other sources of data, are not protected by HIPAA. As a result, our health data is left vulnerable to be used by anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQIA2S+ groups, or used in prosecutions, or employed for targeted advertising.

Click here to ask your legislator to support the Senate version of ESHB 1155—add your own comments to the suggested message for a more impactful letter!

This Week in the Legislature

One More Week—An Important One!

We really are on the homestretch! But this week is very important because the three budgets, the operational, transportation and capital, will be finalized and voted upon.

This last week is generally a period of negotiation, much of it behind the scenes, and will probably continue until the very end of the session.

Also, when different versions of a bill have been passed in the House and the Senate, a process of reconciliation between the two versions must take place. There can still be some surprises!

There will be no newsletter next Sunday, the last day of this session, April 23rd, but there will be a final one on April 30th, containing some summary (and celebratory!) information. And then a final-final note identifying bills that the governor has signed or vetoed. This will be mid-May, since the governor has a period of time after the end of session to decide about signing bills that have been passed by the legislature. Also, look for some detailed follow-up in an upcoming League newsletter, the Evergreen Voter, describing successes and failures, and how our League priority legislation fared.

Be sure to note the Action Alert at the top of this page, and take action.

Thanks so much for your valued and consequential participation this session—it matters and it counted!

There are several other ways you can follow the hearings and legislative process:

• Via TVW (Washington State’s public affairs TV network), and
• On the Washington State Legislature website.

Check out the weekly updates for each issue (below) for information on how to testify, and how to sign on PRO or CON to proposed legislation.

The 2023 Legislative Issues

LWVWA Legislative Issues From the 2023 Washington State Legislative Session

Click on an issue to learn more about session results on bills the League supported and “This Week’s Updates” to read the issue chair’s report on this past week.

Democracy

Elections | Issue Overview | Read this week’s update

Money in Politics | Issue Overview | Read this week’s update

Education | Issue Overview | Read this week’s update

Redistricting | Issue Overview | New task force underway – see updates

Environment

Climate Crisis and Energy | Issue Overview | Read this week’s update

Forests | Issue Overview | Read this week’s update

Growth Management | Issue Overview | Read this week’s update

Solid Waste Management | Issue Overview | Read this week’s update

Transportation | Issue Overview | Read this week’s update

Social and Economic Policy

Housing and Homelessness | Issue Overview | Read this week’s update

Health Care | Issue Overview | Read this week’s update

Behavioral Health | Issue Overview | Read this week’s update

Children’s Services | Issue Overview | Read this week’s update

Early Care and Education of Young Children | Issue Overview | Read this week’s update

Criminal Justice | Issue Overview | Read this week’s update

Revenue | Issue Overview | Read this week’s update

Gun Safety | Issue Overview | Read this week’s update