Recommended Actions for the Week of 20171204

Source: RC Member

Description: Attend and speak in support for the creation of a stormwater service area around Lake Whatcom on Tuesday, Dec. 5th at 7:00p.m. in the County Courthouse, Council Chambers, 311 Grand Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225.  Whether or not you can attend, read about the Lake Whatcom Service area in ReSources’ FAQ, and send an email to council!

Background: The Whatcom County Council is making a big decision on Tuesday, Dec. 5th about the drinking water from Lake Whatcom. They’ll be voting whether to form a stormwater service area around the county portion of the Lake Whatcom watershed. This is long overdue and the City did this years ago for the city portion of the lake.

Fees won’t be assessed for the stormwater service area until after an extensive outreach process is finished in 2018. The hope is that fees will be assessed based on the amount of impervious surfaces (rooftops, driveways) and the lack of native vegetation on a property. It must be fair and equitable!

Contact Information: If you cannot attend, an email to the Council will do also: however, a comment is more effective and the Council can always use moral support. Send your email to council@co.whatcom.wa.us.

Suggested Script: Click here to view the sample script to email the Council.

Additional Information: Click here for the FAQ’s on the Lake Whatcom Service area.

Source: RC

Description: On Tuesday, December 5, The Whatcom County Council will discuss the Climate Impact Advisory Committee and possible vote on its establishment. It will be discussed in the Finance Committee at 11AM and is scheduled for a possible vote during the evening session. Showing support at the meeting will be important! Comments can be made during the “Open Session” in the evening, following a number of hearings that include the Lake Whatcom Stormwater District and the Critical Area Ordinance.

Background:

In 2016, the Whatcom County Council added Policy 10D-6 to the Comprehensive Plan calling for the creation of the Climate Impact Advisory Committee to in part review the implementation of the 2007 Climate Action Plan. This resolution would establish that committee.

The Committee would evaluate and report on Whatcom County’s compliance with meeting greenhouse gas reduction targets set forth in the 2007 Climate Action Plan, periodically recommend new or revised targets, update the Climate Action Plan every 5 years at a minimum, make recommendations to the Council about policies and budget priorities that will support a stable and just transition, and review available science, in addition to a few other duties described in Exhibit A of the proposed legislation.

Additional Information:

Click here to view a copy of the proposed legislation sponsored by Councilmember Weimer.

Source: RC

Description: The City of Bellingham (COB) City Council will be holding two public hearings on December 4 and January 25 to help foster more equitable and inclusive neighborhoods. Local organizers will be standing together to fight back against some of the root causes of homelessness in our community: discrimination by landlords against tenants using housing assistance and neighborhood segregation.

ON DECEMBER 4: The Bellingham City Council will be conducting a public hearing on proposed legislation that will help protect tenants and their rights to basic housing. The legislation will outlaw source of income discrimination, or the practice of landlords refusing to house tenants using housing choice vouchers (“Section 8”), veterans benefits, and other forms of housing assistance. In addition, the legislation will require advance notice of rent increases. 

Facebook Event Link: https://www.facebook.com/events/336758733456895/

Additional Information:

For more information on the Council’s work, click here.

Source: Alliance for Jobs and Clean Energy

Description:

Contact Information: 

Click here or navigate to this link to sign:

https://act.myngp.com/Forms/-5223264964754273280

Source: Indivisible Guide and 5calls.org.

Description: Call Senators Murray and Cantwell and your rep Larsen or DelBene and ask if they have committed to passing a clean DREAM Act! 

Background:

While the deadline to find a legislative replacement for DACA isn’t until March, DACA will likely be a key bargaining chip in the upcoming 2018 budget discussions. A funding agreement must be passed by December 8th to avoid a goverment shutdown.

In September, Trump rescinded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, effectively turning 800,000 American lives into fodder for his for-profit deportation machine. There are 19,180 DACA recipients in Washington alone, and each year they contribute $51,272,000 in State and local taxes. Donald Trump has betrayed our values and unraveled our promise to these young immigrants who grew up calling the United States home. It’s up to your members in Congress to stand up to Trump’s hateful decision and secure the futures of all DREAMers with a legislative fix: The DREAM Act.

Contact Information:

Senator Patty Murray: WA (206) 553-5545, DC (202) 224-2621

Senator Maria Cantwell:  WA (206) 220-6400, DC (202) 224-3441

Congressman Rick Larsen:  WA 360-733-4500, DC (202) 225-2605

Congresswoman Suzan DelBene WA (360) 416-7879, DC (202) 225-6311

Suggested Script: “Hello my name is ___________ and I am a constituent from __________.  I am disappointed that {MoC} failed to protect DREAMers in the budget process.  When will she publicly announce her commitment to the Dreamer Pledge, an to supporting a clean DREAM Act while rejecting Trump’s demands to include massive, unnecessary spending on border security to the bill? It is unfair and immoral to use the lives of hundreds of thousands of young DACA recipients as bargaining chips to score political gains.”

Source: Indivisible Guide

Description:

Background: The Tax Scam is not yet law. Republicans have two options for how to get the Tax Scam across the finish line, and then they have to immediately attend to funding the government. Here’s what comes next.  Going to conference will mean something more like regular order and will likely take a couple of weeks, which is why republicans are likely to try to pass the senate bill AS IS.  This could happen TODAY.  Even though Republicans have all said they want to go to conference, it would save them a ton of time and trouble to go this route instead. If the votes are there in the House to pass the Senate bill, they will.  There is currently a vote scheduled on Monday, December 4 to “instruct conferees” (tell the members of the Conference Committee what to do)—but this could easily be turned into a vote on the Senate bill itself if the votes are there.

Contact Information:

Congresswoman Suzan DelBene WA (360) 416-7879, DC (202) 225-6311

Congressman Rick Larsen:  WA 360-733-4500, DC (202) 225-2605

Suggested Script: Hello my name is ___________ and I am a constituent from __________.  I’m calling to ask representative DelBene/Larsen to fight for the tax bill to go to conference rather than passing the Senate version.

Additional Information: Use 5calls.org?  Here’s their suggestion for this.

Source: 5calls.org and battleforthenet.com

Description:  

The FCC has confirmed that they will vote on 12/14 to abolish the regulations that prevent internet service providers from blocking access to certain sites, throttling internet speeds, and otherwise controlling what websites and online services are available to their customers.

Internet users scored a significant victory in 2014 when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) installed protections for net neutrality and the “open Internet.” Net neutrality allows all users to have equal access to everything available on the Internet, and prevents Internet Service Providers (ISPs) from essentially turning the internet into cable television — creating fast and slow speeds for sites of their choosing and charging consumers premium prices for upgraded access. Without net neutrality, small businesses, low-income individuals, and much of rural America would lose access to affordable, reasonably-fast internet service.

The four major ISPs (Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Verizon, and AT&T) have been lobbying against the 2014 net neutrality regulations, frustrated by the constraints placed on their ability to profit from those who need their services the most. They have specifically targeted the classification of ISPs as Title II services, a category that requires more strict federal oversight. In response to their lobbying efforts, the new FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has pledged to roll back these net neutrality protections with a softer Title I classification and will allow ISPs to instead make voluntary, unenforceable commitments that they will maintain the open Internet.

Contact Information:

Ajit Pai, FCC Chairman 202-418-1000

Suggested Script: 

“Hi, my name is [NAME] and I’m a concerned customer from Bellingham.

I’m calling to express my disapproval that the FCC is trying to kill net neutrality and the strong Title II oversight of Internet Service Providers. Preserving an open internet is crucial for fair and equal access to the resources and information available on it.”

Additional Information: