On July 9th, Olympia Indivisible, Grey Indivisible Lacey and Indivisible Tacoma held a rally at the State Capitol calling for support and swift passage of the federal bill known as For the People Act (S.1).

The rally brought participants from throughout Congressional District 10 and featured retired senior state administrator and author Merritt Long, Mason County Auditor Paddy McGuire, League of Women Voters Thurston County President Karen Tvedt, Legislative District 22 Representative Jessica Bateman, and United Students for America co-founders Grace Playstead and Taj Herzer-Baptiste.

“Our speakers represent a wide range of ages, experience, and backgrounds but share a single, united message: For the People Act (S.1) must be passed this summer to protect America’s democracy, get big money out of politics, ensure our freedom to vote, and guarantee that congressional districts are drawn to give fair representation for all,” said Olympia Indivisible co-founder Lisa Ornstein.

Rally participants pledged to contact Washington Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell to urge them to use their leadership to ensure that the For the People Act is passed before the August recess. They also took selfies holding messages to this effect, flanked by lifesize cardboard cut-outs of the Senators.

The Indivisible movement is a network of thousands of local groups and millions of activists across every state working to build an inclusive democracy by fighting for bold, progressive policies and creating lasting grassroots power. Today’s “Deadline for Democracy” rally was one of 10 taking place across the state of Washington during the June 28-July 10 Congressional recess and is part of Declaration for American Democracy, a nationwide coordinated response among over 200 organizations across the country in support of the For the People Act..

Photo credits: Kelly Boochenski photo: Olympia Indivisible
Crowd shots: Garrett Tatsumi

Just before he died in July 2020, John Lewis wrote:

“Ordinary people with extraordinary vision can redeem the soul of America by getting in what I call good trouble, necessary trouble,” he wrote in his posthumous essay for the Times.

“Voting and participating in the democratic process are key. The vote is the most powerful nonviolent change agent you have in a democratic society. You must use it because it is not guaranteed. You can lose it.”

The late Congressman John Lewis shed his blood crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge to fight for the participation of Black voters in America’s electoral process and the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

On May 8, Indivisible Tacoma co-sponsored one of 150 simultaneous Votercades nationwide in response to a tsunami of new voter suppression legislation.

We rallied to demand the passage of the For the People Act, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, and D.C. Statehood and to address one of the greatest obstacles to the passage of these measures – and one of the last vestiges of slavery – the filibuster!

Damita, as lead organizer, made sure volunteers knew what to do and brought ALL the gear: banner, masks, shirts, signs – everything!

Thanks to Nina for organizing logistics, the map, and press notices, Louisa for handling the sound system, Ellen for introducing Rep. Kilmer, Nina and Liz for the registration table, Elaine for video recording, Julie for flyers, Kathy for social media, Tanya for managing arrivals, Russell for leading the Votercade, and all the volunteers who decorated cars!

And of course we have to thank everyone who showed up in person, were with us in spirit, or watched online.

Co-sponsors for Tacoma’s Votercade were FUSE WA and the A. Phillip Randolph Institute.

Tune in to KTAH 101.9 Radio Tacoma for information on what local citizens are doing to make the world better. The Washington State Indivisible Podcast also airs on Radio Tacoma.

IT Member Eileen’s video:

http://bit.ly/EventDayVideo

Tacoma’s Votercade caught the attention of local TV news, KPCQ 13 video coverage:

https://spaces.hightail.com/receive/f5MdODZ0Ig 

Day of Action Around the Nation Compilation video

https://www.johnlewisdayofaction.org/?fbclid=IwAR1c6qy_4oo_kH0tMkfCmrI2wfkGdMGxvjr-bdUo8yN61CDT8fa8cjv-WSg

Senator Murray video

https://fb.watch/5JiZKy53IH/

Following the record-breaking Black, Brown, and Youth voter turnout in the Georgia Runoff election, at least 361 new laws have been proposed in 47 states to restrict voter access to the ballot box.

Measures include:

• reducing time frames for voting by mail

• reducing early in-person voting dates

• ending, reducing or restricting access to drop boxes

• more restrictive identification requirements to vote, and

• denying the distribution of food or water to voters waiting in line for hours on Election Day

• The sole purpose of implementing these voter suppression tactics is to decrease the votes of millions of Black, Brown, Indigenous and People of Color. An attack on the voting rights of any one state has a direct and consequential effect on the voting rights of every other state. 

Thanks to the Transformative Justice Coalition for organizing the event across the US. https://tjcoalition.org/

Hashtags: #Vote4Action  #May8ActionDay

Stay tuned and get involved in the planning of future events, including the Black Voters Matter Freedom Ride ending in DC on June 26; nationwide actions during the July recess (July 3-11), a potential mobilization to DC towards the end of July.

Members worked hard contacting their state representatives during the 2021 Session!

We list favored bills that passed and those that we will need work in 2022.

Indivisible Tacoma 2021 WA State Legislative Session Report

IT advocated for or followed the bills listed below which have been passed by both chambers. Some are awaiting the Governor’s signature. Underlined bills have been signed by the Governor by May 1st. We sent out 294 calls to action via email and social media, and Indivisible Tacoma documented 1186 legislator contacts in Take Action Network (TAN). It is likely that IT actually made three times as many contacts as many actions were not documented. Statewide Indivisibles made over 10,000 documented legislator contacts, which also would likely be 3 times more. (TAN was created by FUSE and WA Indivisible Legislative Action (WILA) increased its effectiveness immensely.

Environment/Climate
1050 Prohibit certain fluorinated gases
1091 Clean Fuels will reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) by reducing carbon intensity of trans- portation fuel. Aims to reduce transportation GHG 20% below 2017 levels by 2035
1168 Long term forest health and wildfire prevention.
5000 Hydrogen electric vehicles
5022 Managing solid waste through prohibitions on expanded polystyrene, providing for food service ware upon customer request, and addressing plastic packaging.
5026 Zero emissions cargo handling equipment at the ports
5126 Carbon cap & trade bill allows polluters to buy pollution “credits” that would shrink over time. We wanted a stronger bill. Climate groups disagreed on this bill.
5141 (HEAL Act) uses a racial & equity justice lens for plans & implementation of environmental actions.

Police Reforms
1267 Creates an office of Independent Investigations within the Governor’s office to investigate deadly force incidents involving police officers.
5055 Establishes a statewide roster for arbitrating law enforcement disciplinary grievances and publishing decisions. (ACLU & IT supported a stronger bill- still this is a victory).
1054 Police Tactics – Bans chokeholds, no knock warrants, limits police use of military equipment, places restrictions on use of tear gas, vehicular pursuits, and police dogs
1088 Police Impeachment disclosures. Prosecutors must disclose to the defense any prior misconduct by a police officer that would discredit their testimony.
1089 Compliance Audits of law enforcement agencies by the State Auditor
1140 Juvenile Access to Attorney
1310 Establishes a statewide standard for police use of force, requires de-escalation and use of less lethal methods when possible
5051 Increases state oversight/accountability of peace and corrections officers, including background investigations of applicants and expanding the conduct that can result in decertification. Increases civilians on Criminal Justice Training Commission
5066 Requires police officers to intervene if other officers engage in excessive force or misconduct.
5259 Law enforcement data collection on police uses of deadly force. (Nobles – Primary sponsor)
5263 Allows people to bring civil lawsuits against police for personal injury, even if the person injured was said to be committing a felony
5353 Creates a partnership model to facilitate community engagement with law enforcement (Sen. Conway – primary sponsor).

Social Justice
1016 Makes Juneteenth a state holiday (Rep. Morgan is the primary sponsor
1078 Restores voting rights to felons no longer in total confinement.
1090 Bans private detention centers.
5015 Bans fraudulent ballot boxes.
5038 Bans open carry of firearms at demonstrations and at the capitol
5135 Racist 911 Calls. Criminal charges for false reports, victims can bring civil action
5183 Non-Fatal Strangulation – increases forensic nurse training and makes examinations free of charge for victims (Sen. Nobles is the primary sponsor)
5226 Driving While Poor – failure to pay a traffic infraction will no longer result in license suspension. Makes payment plans available.
5293 Mental health sentencing alternatives
5476 Blake v. State bill – Makes possession of personal amounts of controlled substances a misdemeanor instead of a felony and prioritizes treatment.

Education
1166 A pilot program to provide resources to homeless and former foster care students attending college. (Rep. Leavitt is primary sponsor)
1370 Grants for early learning facilities.
5184 Provides support for foster care students in schools. (Sen, Nobles – Primary sponsor)
1044 Reduce incarceration through education in prison. (Rep. Leavitt – primary sponsor)
1139 Requires testing for lead in school drinking water.
5044 Equity training in public schools.
5237 Fair Start for Kids – Expands accessible, affordable child care.
5321 Expanding access to the College Bound scholarships. (Sen. Nobles – primary sponsor)

Health
1276 Allows EMTs to work in diversion centers providing short-term placement and shelter to homeless adults with a substance use disorder or other behavioral health issues, diverting them from incarceration toward treatment. (Rep. Bronoske – primary sponsor).
5068 Expands postpartum Medicaid.
5052 Requires the WA Department of Health to designate health equity zones based on health disparity data and to work with community groups to address these inequalities.
5140 Protect the Pregnant Patient Act. Hospitals cannot prevent providers from providing medically appropriate miscarriage care.
5203 Allows the Health Care Authority to enter into partnerships to purchase generic drugs.
5399 Universal Healthcare Commission to explore pathways to assure comprehensive, affordable healthcare to all WA residents.

Tax Equity/ Economic Relief
1151 Bolster economic recovery and provide food and cash assistance to families in need. Rep. Leavitt – primary sponsor)
1297 Working Families Tax exemption-provides low income families a larger tax refund, based on income and number of children.
5096 Capital Gains Tax- imposes a 7% excise tax on capital gains over $250,000 from the sales of stocks, bonds and other large capital assets. Affects the top 0.5% of households to increase tax equity. Retirement accounts, homes and family businesses are exempt.

Housing:
5160 Provides tenant protections during the public health emergency, providing for legal representation in eviction cases, establishing an eviction resolution pilot program for nonpayment of rent cases, and authorizing landlord access to certain rental assistance programs. Gov signed with line item veto. 1220 Includes planning for homeless shelters and low income housing in the Growth Management Act
1236 Just Cause Evictions – Tenants cannot be evicted unless there is just cause.
1277 Creates a $100 document processing fee, with the funds being used for rental assistance and eviction prevention. We lobbied to exempt sewer and water districts from the fee and the amendment was passed.

Broadband
1336 Public Broadband- Allows public entities to provide broadband services.
1457 Broadband on limited access highways.

Privacy We vigorously lobbied against 5062, a corporate-supported bad privacy bill, and it did not pass. A victory!

Bills we will try to pass during 2022 legislative session

Environment/Climate

1046 Community Solar
1084 Reducing GHG emissions by decarbonization of buildings, moving away from fossil fuels and increasing energy efficiency of buildings.
1117 Promoting Salmon Recovery
1537 Ending Fossil Fuel Tax Exemptions
5312 Funds to facilitate transit oriented development

Economic/Tax Equity
1406 Wealth Tax
1465 Make the estate tax more progressive
5010 Preventing the use of credit scores in setting insurance rates.(requested by the insurance commissioner)
5188 State Public Bank
5448 Sen Nobles car tab payment plan

Health
1141 Increase access to the Death with Dignity Act
1160 Preventing healthcare monopolies
5204 Whole Washington Health trust

Police Accountability
1202 The bill would remove barriers for victims and their families to sue and hold officers and departments civilly liable for misconduct and eliminate qualified immunity as a defense. Police accountability agenda loses some teeth in WA Legislature | Crosscut
1203 Civilian community oversight boards for police Police accountability agenda loses some teeth in WA

Legislature | Crosscut
1202 The bill would remove barriers for victims and their families to sue and hold officers and departments civilly liable for misconduct and eliminate qualified immunity as a defense. Police accountability agenda loses some teeth in WA Legislature | Crosscut
1203 Civilian community oversight boards for police Police accountability agenda loses some teeth in WA 

Good Government
1156 Ranked Choice Voting-A priority of LWV
1433 People’s Privacy Act. The ACLU and Tech Equity Coalition worked with Sen Kloba on this bill with strong data privacy provisions.
5170 Government officials should take a break before becoming lobbyists-Priority of LWV
5182 Eliminate advisory votes-Priority of LWV

Labor
1076 Worker Protection Act-Rep. Bronoske’s bill-Allows whistleblowers to bring action on behalf of the state for violations of workplace protections. Corporations were strongly opposed.

Gun Control
1229/5217 Ban assault rifles
5078 Ban high capacity magazines

More bills passed and more people testified than usual in this mostly virtual session!

Washington State Indivisible Podcast, recorded May 1:

Panel: What the Hell Happened in Olympia This Year? A Legislative Wrap-Up by The Washington State Indivisible Podcast (soundcloud.com)

Panelists:
– Shasti Conrad (Chair of the King County Democrats)
– Rich Smith (The Stranger)

We did it!

Indivisible National offered to match donations up to a level of $500 during April. Our dedicated and generous Indivisible Tacoma members put us over the top!  

Donations totaled $730. With the matching funds, we were able to deposit $1200 to use for this year’s expenses.

A huge and heartfelt thank-you to all who participated.

Don’t forget to sign up for Wednesday’s IT Town Hall with WA Supreme Court Justice Mary Yu, Patty Lally and Cynthia Delostrinos: Racial Justice Consortium

Indivisible Tacoma members condemn all abuse of power by law enforcement personnel.

The Resolution below will be shared with public officials, media, and our allies who are planning actions. Members should express their support for Troyer’s resignation by calling and writing to officials, media (letters to the editor,) and fellow Pierce County residents.

INDIVISIBLE TACOMA RESOLUTION REGARDING SHERIFF TROYER

DEMANDING THE RESIGNATION OF PIERCE COUNTY SHERIFF ED TROYER

WHEREAS, National Indivisible and Indivisible Tacoma stand for law enforcement to be held accountable for abusive practices; and 

WHEREAS, in January of 2021, Sedrick Altheimer, a Black man working a newspaper delivery route in Tacoma, was subject to racist and classist profiling from Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer who believed he looked suspicious despite a lack of evidence and who then made false statements about the incident which he later admitted; and 

WHEREAS, more than 40 officers responded to Sheriff Troyer’s 911 call despite Sedrick Altheimer doing nothing but his delivery job, creating a risk of escalation and death; and 

WHEREAS, just as he has been with his handling of the death of Manuel Ellis, Sheriff Troyer has been inconsistent and untruthful in statements to the media since the event took place, and has also shown through his actions that he is incapable of treating members of the community with impartiality; and 

WHEREAS, in the spirit of holding police accountable for abusive practices and demanding courageous conversations in our communities as expressed in core Indivisible principles.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Indivisible Tacoma demands the resignation of Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer, effective immediately; and 

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that, if Ed Troyer refuses to step down from his position, Indivisible Tacoma will pursue a variety of methods to support investigations of him, oversight of him, and other actions to remove him from office, including a certification review hearing by the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission; and

THEREFORE BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that Indivisible Tacoma will continue to demand accountability and reform of law enforcement in Tacoma and around Pierce County, even when it results in politically uncomfortable conversations, and will support elected officials who take steps to bring justice.

Indivisible Tacoma condemns all abuse of power by law enforcement personnel.

Troyer committed a crime and needs to resign.

Members should contact County and City officials and write letters to the editor to apply public pressure.

Indivisible Tacoma is in communication with allied groups who are planning actions, including a possible recall effort.

We will participate in these actions and will mobilize volunteers.

Audio of Tacoma PD officer and Dispatch after the incident:

https://www.seattletimes.com/video/1tjlOyrq/dispatcher-and-officer-discuss-the-gravity-of-pierce-county-sheriffs-call-about-man-threatening-to-kill-him/

Brief report on the incident:

https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/conflicting-accounts-after-pierce-county-sheriff-calls-police-black-delivery-driver/RPYBK2PANVBWZBTAU476SZZJUA/?fbclid=IwAR3bIw86Gv1jHB_HEB0jc8KAGc33L84kdD6B83CrE_NPg3vwmfbdOnT2VYQ