This Week in Review and Your Weekend To-Do List, from the Washington State Democrats

This was a big week in national and Washington politics – but we’ll help you stay up to date on what’s going on, and what you can do to help out and advance the cause of progressive policies and politics.This is a week to be proud to be a Washington State Democrat! Washington is leading the national resistance to Trump, fighting back against his radical and unconstitutional policies. We were even recognized by the Washington Post as the “epicenter of resistance to Trump’s agenda”!1. 9th Circuit Court Rules Against Trump!This week, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Trump in the State of Washington v Donald Trump lawsuit challenging Trump’s travel ban on Muslims. This means that the restraining order preventing Trump’s ban from being implemented will stay in place – a big win for human rights. Thank you Gov. Jay Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson for your leadership in this effort, and to all those who have marched in the streets in support!And in big news, it appears that the Trump administration is considering NOT appealing the decision to the Supreme Court. While our fight for justice for our Muslim brothers and sisters is far from over, this shows the solid legal ground upon which our side stands.2. Democrats Leading On EducationDemocrats in the state House of Representatives held a hearing on their education funding plan this week – a comprehensive plan to fully fund education, raise teacher salaries, lower local property taxes, and invest in proven support for students like career & technical education, bilingual education, guidance counselors in schools and others. You can watch the hearing on the bill, HB 1843, on TVW here.3. Republicans Under Pressure At Town HallsAt town hall events across the country, Republicans are under major pressure from the public on issues like health care coverage and the Affordable Care Act. In Spokane, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers heard loud and clear from her constituents about the importance of health care just a few weeks ago.Our Washington State Republican delegation hasn’t yet announced a schedule of town hall events for the Congressional recess week of February 20th. It’s important that we take the opportunity to go to these events and remind Republican lawmakers of the importance of laws like the Affordable Care Act, which ensures insurance coverage for 32 million Americans and more than 750,000 Washingtonians.If you live in a Republican Congressional District, call and ask them to hold a public town hall meetingRep. Jaime Herrera-Butler - (202) 225-3536 - (360) 695-6292Rep. Dan Newhouse - (202) 225-5816 - (509) 452-3243Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers - 202-225-2006 - 509-353-2374Rep. Dave Reichert – 202-225-7761 or 425-677-7414What you can do1. Support the Voting Rights Act!The Washington Voting Rights Act will be voted on by an important committee in our state legislature next week, and legislators need to hear that the public supports this important policy! Our elections are too important to allow voices to be silenced, and the Voting Rights Act would help local governments reform their elections so that all votes count in elections and all voices can be fairly represented in government.You can call the legislative hotline at 1-800-562-6000 to be connected with the offices of your legislators, and say something like this:“Hello, my name is _________. As your constituent, I urge you to pass the Washington Voting Rights Act. It’s past time that we pass this bill and make sure that every vote is counted in every election across our state. Thank you.”2. Education Funding Moving ForwardNow that the state House of Representatives has passed their education funding plan out of committee, we need to let legislators know that the people of Washington support HB 1843, the Democratic plan to fully funding education!You can call the legislative hotline at 1-800-562-6000 to be connected with the offices of your legislators, and say something like this:“Hello, my name is _________. We need to pass a plan to fully fund education in Washington state, and HB 1843 is the right approach. The Democrat plan provides the resources that students and teachers need to succeed and at the hearing, it’s clearly the plan that Washingtonians support. Thank you!”3. Help fund our grassroots organizing – join the DEM club!We’re looking to expand our communications program and hire organizers to help the grassroots activate against Donald Trump and the Republicans. Joining our Democrats Every Month club (the DEM club!) is a great way to make a small monthly commitment to support Democratic organizing and progressive politics.If you’ve already signed up for the DEM club, send this link or forward this email to a friend and encourage them to join us! This is the most important thing we can do to build our Party and the progressive movement.Thank you for your support!