Washington State PTA Opposes Initiative IL26-001
Washington State PTA (WSPTA), founded in 1905 as the Washington Congress of Mothers, is the oldest and largest volunteer child advocacy association in the state. For more than 120 years we have supported strong parent and family engagement in education and promoted environments in which families are valued as primary influences in their children’s lives…
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Advocacy
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Legislative
FAQs: WSPTA’s Opposition to Initiatives IL26-001 and IL26-638
Contents Part 1: Initiative IL26-001 1. What is IL26-001? 2. What would IL26-001 actually change? 3. Why is WSPTA opposing a measure about parental rights? 4. What would IL26-001 add to current law? 5. How would IL26-001 change parental rights that already exist? 6. What would IL26-001 remove from the parental rights law?…
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Advocacy
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Legislative
Washington State PTA Opposes Initiative IL26-638
Washington State PTA (WSPTA), founded in 1905, is the oldest and largest volunteer child-advocacy association in the state. Our more than 80,000 members advocate for the health, safety, and well-being of every child; for schools in which all students are safe and free to participate equitably; and for children’s access to scientifically rigorous, evidence-based health care (1). WSPTA opposes…
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Advocacy
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Legislative
And That’s a Wrap: Legislature Adjourns
By Marie Sullivan, legconsultant@wastatepta.org After an exceptionally tough and challenging session, the Washington State Legislature adjourned around 6:30 PM on April 27th, the final day of the regularly scheduled 105-day session. When the 2025-27 operating budget was revealed by the Conference Committee on Saturday, April 26th, one of the best bits of news was that…
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Advocacy
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Legislative
Advocacy in Action: No Harmful Budget Gimmicks
Advocacy in Action! Danica Noble testified against HB 2050, a bill that would shift apportionment payments from February, March, and April and replace the funds in August. This budget gimmick would help the state balance its fiscal issues, but will create a cash flow problem for school districts, and worsen their financial instability. Listen to Danica here.
Week 13: Capital Budgets Released, Governor Says “No Go” on Wealth Tax
By Marie Sullivan, legconsultant@wastatepta.org View our comprehensive bill tracker looking ahead to week 13 here. Over the past few weeks, lawmakers have been focused on releasing their proposed House and Senate biennial budgets for operations, transportation and construction and narrowing down the number of bills under consideration that will make it to Governor Bob Ferguson’s…
Bring On the Budgets (and the Revenue Ideas!)
By Marie Sullivan, legconsultant@wastatepta.org Be sure to check out our comprehensive Week 11 Bill Tracker to see how bills we support have fared. Last week the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council reported that anticipated revenue collections would be down by nearly $900 million over the next four fiscal years: $479 million in 2025-27, and $420…
Hs Civil Rights & Judiciary SB 5098
Advocacy Committee member Dr. Gwen Loosmore testified in favor of E2SSB 5098, restricting the possession of weapons on the premises of state or local public buildings, parks or playground facilities where children are likely to be present, and county fairs and county fair facilities. Gwen said that a simple restriction like those presented in the…
WA Faces Revenue Decline in New Budget Outlook
By Advocacy Committee, ptaadvocacydir@wastatepta.org On March 18, the Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council released the latest revenue forecast. The figures further worsened the state’s financial outlook, adding to an already projected operating budget shortfall of up to $15 billion over the next four years. The latest forecast projects nearly $900 million less for…
Week 10: Senate Advances Special Education Bill
By Marie Sullivan, legconsultant@wastatepta.org Be sure to check out our comprehensive Week 10 Bill Tracker to see how bills we support have fared. Wednesday, March 12 was the deadline for bills to pass out of the chamber in which they began. The Senate celebrated the cutoff by passing E2SSB 5263 by a vote of 48-0…