Washington State Democratic Party 2019 Legislative Priorities
Washington State Democrats, as citizens of the planet, place the well-being of the people as our highest priority. We believe in the values of community, empathy, equality, tolerance, opportunity, and the common good of the
interdependent world we share.
These are our 2019 Washington State legislative priorities.
Climate Action & Environmental Protection
• Protect our salmon, orcas, and tribal fishing rights by speeding up removal of barriers to fish passage
• Mandate a transition to a one hundred percent clean electric grid by 2045
• Restrict the use of neonicotinoids to save our pollinators from annihilation
• Require single-use plastic bags, straws, and containers to be phased out of stores and restaurants
Fiscal Responsibility & Revenue Reform
• Levy a capital gains tax on the wealthy to fund K-12 schools and higher education
• Develop a fair and equitable property tax code to replace Eyman’s I-747 and the 2017 levy swipe scheme
• Create the Washington State Investment Trust so we have our own publicly-owned state bank
• Abolish indefensible corporate tax loopholes and impose accountability measures for those that remain
Healthcare
• Create the Washington Health Security Trust to bring single-payer healthcare to all Washingtonians
• Adopt legislation to address prescription drug cost transparency
• Provide help to those struggling with opioid addiction by expanding substance abuse treatment programs
• Make substantive mental and behavioral health investments to end the practice of psychiatric boarding
• Ensure everyone has affordable and equitable access to reproductive and sexual health care, including contraception and abortion, regardless of gender, gender identity, citizenship status, or income
Technology
• Reduce the “digital divide” in Washington State authorizing public utility districts and rural and urban port districts to provide retail ISP and telecommunications services
• Adopt the Washington Internet Privacy Protection Act
• Strengthen our state’s digital defenses to protect critical data like our voter rolls
• Secure public cyber resources and means of gathering public input against abuse by bots
Economic Security, Labor, and Corporate Accountability
• Increase monetary penalties for crimes committed by corporations
• Empower local governments to fight homelessness and protect renters by investing in affordable housing
• Strengthen fines for wage theft and bolster employment and training standards
• Protect good jobs and voter-approved Sound Transit 3 projects by fully replacing (on a 1:1 basis) any revenue lost due to vehicle fee formula changes
Public Safety
• Advance human rights and community safety by abolishing the death penalty
• Implement recommendations of the Use of Deadly Force in Community Policing task force, including the establishment of crisis intervention response team pilot projects • Increase funding for geologic hazards mapping plus earthquake, tsunami, and landslide readiness
• Create a civilian review board to implement sentencing reforms
Education
• Fully fund special education and ramp up our investments in early learning and preschool
• Enact the Washington Promise free community college tuition initiative
• Amend the State Constitution to lower the threshold for passage of school bonds to a simple majority
• Empower schools to offer more vocational training opportunities and better civics courses
• Establish disciplinary protocols that eliminate the practice of educational exclusion for children of color
• Track the impact of RCW 28A.600.015 and its effect on the school to prison pipeline (rates of suspension and expulsion) in the state of our schools
• Enact Language Equality and Acquisition for Deaf Kids (LEAD-K) legislation to ensure Washington’s deaf and hard of hearing children have a fluent first language by the time they start kindergarten
Electoral Reform
• Improve Washington’s presidential primary so it protects our First Amendment right to free assembly
• Repeal Tim Eyman’s push polls (erroneously called advisory votes)
• Make postage-free ballot return envelopes permanently available to all Washington voters
• Increase funding for the PDC and expose dark money with tough new transparency laws
Approved by the Washington State Democratic Central Committee on September 16th, 2018
