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Betsy DeVos vote tomorrow!

Tonight, the House Appropriations Committee in our state House of Representatives is holding a hearing on two important education bills – the Republican plan to cut funding for schools across the state, which is SB 5607, and the Democratic plan to raise teacher salaries and fully fund education, HB 1843.

The Republican plan would cut school funding for 605,000 students, raise the largest property tax increase in state history on middle class families, and hurt teachers and students by cutting standards across the state and opening the door to privatization of our entire school system. By contrast, the Democratic plan would invest $7.5 billion in raising teacher salaries, lowering class sizes, and reducing local levies to save local taxpayers money on their property tax bills. While the Republican bill is paid for with a regressive property tax, the Democratic proposal could be paid for with a capital gains tax on the richest 1%, a carbon tax on big polluting corporations, reforming our B&O tax or closing tax breaks.

At the hearing, teachers, parents, school administers, and education advocates all weighed in to support the Democratic proposal. But our legislators need to hear from you too. Both bills are in the House Appropriations Committee – the phone numbers of the members of the committee are:

Vincent Buys-R        LD 42, Lynden        360-786-7854

Michelle Caldier-R    LD 26, Port Orrchard    360-786-7802

Bruce Chandler-R    LD 15, Granger        360-786-7960

Cary Condotta-R    LD 12, Wenatchee    360-786-7954

Larry Haler-R        LD 8, Richland        360-786-7986

Paul Harris-R        LD 17, Vancouver    360-786-7976

Drew MacEwen-R    LD 35, Union        360-786-7902

Matt Manweller-R    LD 13, Ellensburg    360-786-7808

Terry Nealey-R        LD 16, Dayton        360-786-7828

Joe Schmick-R        LD 9, Colfax        360-786-7844

Drew Stokesbary-R    LD 31, Auburn        360-786-7846

David Taylor-R        LD 15, Moxee        360-786-7874

Brandon Vick-R        LD 18, Felida        360-786-7850

Mike Volz-R        LD 6, Spokane        360-786-7922

J.T. Wilcox-R        LD 2, Yelm        360-786-7912

Steve Bergquist-D    LD 11, Renton        360-786-7862

Eileen Cody-D        LD 34, Seattle        360-786-7978

Joe Fitzgibbon-D    LD 34, Burien        360-786-7952

Drew Hansen-D        LD 23, Bainbridge Island    360-786-7842

Zack Hudgins-D        LD 11, Tukwila        360-786-7956

Laurie Jinkins-D        LD 27, Tacoma        360-786-7930

Ruth Kagi-D        LD 32, Seattle        360-786-7910

Kristine Lytton-D    LD 40, Anacortes    360-786-7800

Timm Ormsby-D    LD 3, Spokane        360-786-7946

Eric Pettigrew-D    LD 37, Seattle        360-786-7838

Gerry Pollet-D        LD 46, Seattle        360-786-7886

June Robinson-D    LD 38, Everett        360-786-7864

David Sawyer-D        LD 29, Parkland        360-786-7906

Tana Senn-D        LD 41, Mercer Island    360-786-7894

Larry Springer-D    LD 45, Kirkland        360-786-7822

Derek Stanford-D    LD 1, Bothell         360-786-7928

Pat Sullivan-D        LD 47, Covington    360-786-7858

Steve Tharinger-D    LD 24, Dungeness    360-786-7904

 

CALL and let them know that you support the HB 1843, the Democratic plan to improve our schools, not the GOP Senate plan to cut funding for hundreds of thousands of Washington students and punish our teachers.

 

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