While we will be recognizing our Maggies recipients at the January State Committee Meeting in Bellingham as we have done in the past, we are also taking the Maggies on the road this year! We want to recognize the awardees in the very communities on whose behalf they have worked so hard. Washington Democrats Chair Tina Podlodowski will be touring the state to honor Maggies Awards recipients starting tomorrow and continuing all week.
Maggies Awards & Statewide Volunteer Appreciation Tour 
Each year the Washington State Democrats honor our most dedicated activists through the Magnuson Awards, also known as the “Maggies.” In this annual tradition we pay tribute to Democrats whose dedication and vision have moved the Democratic Party and our communities forward. Winners are nominated by their peers around Washington State, and this year we had many fantastic nominations!
GOP Tax Scam Passes Senate 
Rise & Organize
The winners of the 2017 Magnuson Awards are:
Chair of the Year: Brian Gunn, 31st LD
Central WA Organizer of the Year: Mary Lopez, Yakima
Central WA Candidates of the Year: Blanche Barajas, Steve Lee, and Kate Moran, Tri-Cities
Eastern WA Organizer of the Year: Eric Fejeran, Pullman
Eastern WA Candidates of the Year: Karen Hardy and Susan Swanson, 7th LD
Western WA Organizer of the Year: Sarah Perry, 5th LD
Western WA Candidates of the Year: Michelle Rylands, 31st LD and Manka Dhingra, 45th LD
Allies of the Year: 8th CD Alliance and 8th CD Indivisible
Trailblazers of the Year: Burien Fantastic Four – Krystal Marx, Nancy Tosta, Pedro Olguin, and Jimmy Matta
We will also be hosting volunteer appreciation events during the tour to thank our many volunteers across the state for all the work that led to our 2017 successes and for their commitment to making 2018 an even better year for Democrats. Stay tuned for updates from the upcoming tour!
Late last night, the Republican Tax Scam passed the U.S. Senate with all Republicans except for Bob Corker voting for the bill and all Democrats voting against it. We’re still in the process of finding out what was actually in the bill that passed the Senate. That’s because Republicans rushed the process in an effort to get to 51 votes.
Even those who voted for the bill didn’t even know what was in it, as parts of the bill were hammered out in backroom deals between Republicans and scribbled in handwriting just before the vote. That was good enough for the GOP, despite the fact that Democrats and the American people pleaded with Republicans to slow down, be transparent in the legislative process, and enact reform that would benefit all Americans.
On Tuesday, Washington State’s Senator Maria Cantwell teamed up with Senator Bernie Sanders to publicly condemn the bill in a debate aired on CNN against Republican Senators Tim Scott and Ted Cruz.
Senator Cantwell began the debate on Tuesday by throwing down the gauntlet. “Raising taxes on the middle class is wrong. And that’s what this bill does.”
What we do know about the bill that passed the Senate last night is this: Republicans in the Senate have decreed that middle class Americans will pay $5,000,000,000 of their hard-earned money to corporations and the very wealthiest of individuals. About ⅔ of all middle-income families will pay more in taxes under this bill. To add insult to injury, health insurance premiums will begin to rise for middle-class Americans starting in 2019 as the bill repeals the individual mandate and sabotages the bipartisan improvements to the Affordable Care Act that Senator Patty Murray had been championing. The bill jeopardizes American jobs, incentivizing corporations to ship them overseas. Small business owners have condemned this bill.
Why would Republicans pass such a lousy piece of legislation? Is it out of some sense of fiscal conservatism? No, it’s not. Even the most generous estimates predict that the bill will add at least $1 trillion to the deficit. That’s a one followed by twelve zeros.
The reason Republicans supported this bill is because they wanted to enact the Trump/Ryan/McMorris Rodgers agenda and pad the pockets of extremely wealthy individuals and corporations.
Republicans sided with an embattled president instead of with the American people. Yesterday, Trump’s first National Security Adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, and he is reported to be willing to testify against Donald Trump himself.
Republicans in the Senate and House Republicans like Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Jaime Herrera Beutler, Dan Newhouse, and Dave Reichert have made absolutely clear where their loyalty lies by voting for this tax scam — and it is not to their constituents.
