Attend your legislators’ town halls this week

(March 10, 2015) — Many Washington state legislators will be holding town hall meetings and constituent listening sessions around the state this week. (See the schedule below.)

The Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO is urging union members and community supporters to attend their local events and urge their lawmakers to support pro-working family legislation — like the House-approved minimum wage and paid safe and sick days bills and a “clean” transportation funding package — and to oppose legislation that undermines public employee collective bargaining rights and weakens the workers’ compensation safety net for injured workers.

(Also look for this week’s WSLC Legislative Update newsletter on Thursday, which will describe which bills survive tomorrow’s cutoff deadline for bills to pass their houses of origin.)

Here are some Town Hall tips:

► Each town hall handles questions a little differently. Some will ask you submit questions on a 3×5 notecard and some will have you come up to a mic and ask your question(s) directly. Figure out the format when you arrive.

► If you will be lining up to ask a question, you’ll need to get in line quickly. Often there will be some introductory remarks and the legislators will highlight things they are working on, and then ask for questions. They might only be able to take 10-12 (or fewer!) questions.

► Share a little about why it matters to you. For example, on the minimum wage, you could say, “No one who works full time should be forced to live in poverty.” And then share a personal story about yourself, a family member, or friend who’s struggling to make ends meet on the minimum wage.

► Then ask them a specific question, i.e. “Will you commit to supporting the minimum wage bill (HB 1355)? Will you talk to your colleagues about voting ‘yes’?”

► Write down what they say! This is valuable information, so please send it to us at The Stand so we can help keep track of who supports what.

Here is a list of upcoming town hall meetings. (if you know of others not listed here, please let us know) If you don’t see your district on the list, check with your local legislators to see if they have one planned this weekend or sometime soon.

THURSDAY, MARCH 12

25th District: Rep. Zeiger and Rep. Stambaugh (telephone town hall) — 6 to 7 p.m. — Dial: 1-253-561-0087

FRIDAY, MARCH 13

9th District: Rep. Fagan constituent coffee — 3 to 5 p.m. — Harvest Moon Restaurant, 20 South 1st St., Rockford

26th District (1 of 4): Rep. Young — 6 to 7 p.m. — Norm Dicks Government Center, 345 6th St., Bremerton

SATURDAY, MARCH 14

1st District: Sen. McAuliffe and Reps. Stanford and Moscoso — 10 a.m. to noon — Northshore Senior Center in the Wellness Center, 10212 East Riverside Drive, Bothell

3rd District: Sen. Billig and Reps. Ormsby and Riccelli — 1 to 2:30 p.m. — WSU-Spokane Riverpoint Campus, 600 N. Riverpoint Blvd, Academic Center Auditorium, Rm #20, Spokane

5th District (3): Reps. Rodne and Magendanz — Maple Valley from 10 to 11 a.m. — Maple Valley Community Center, 22010 SE 248th St.; Issaquah from 1 to 2 p.m. — Issaquah Fire Department, Station 71, 190 East Sunset Way; and North Bend from 3 to 4 p.m. — Mount Si Senior Center, 411 Main Ave. S.

10th District (2): Sen. Bailey and Reps. Smith and Hayes — Coupeville from 10 to 11:30 a.m. (10-10:30 – Meet and Greet and 10:30-11:30 – Town Hall) — Coupeville Rec Hall, 901 NW Alexander St.; and Mount Vernon from 2 to 3:30 p.m. (2-2:30 – Meet and Greet and 2:30-3:30 – Town Hall) — Conway School, 19710 SR 524

11th District: Sen. Hasegawa and Reps. Hudgins and Bergquist — 1 – 3 p.m. — Regional Communications & Emergency Coordination Center (RCECC), 3511 NE 2nd St., Renton

17th District: Sen. Benton and Reps. Harris and Wilson– 9:30 to 11 a.m. — DoubleTree Hotel, Columbia Room, 12712 S.E. Second Circle, Vancouver

21st District: Sen. Liias and Reps. Ortiz-Self and Peterson — 10:30 a.m. to noon — Meadowdale High School, Great Hall, 6002 168th Street SW, Lynnwood

23rd District (2): Sen. Rolfes and Reps. Appleton and Hansen — Bainbridge Island from 9:30 to 11 a.m. — Bainbridge Island City Council Chambers, 280 Madison Ave. N, Bainbridge Island; and Silverdale from 2 to 3:30 p.m., The Jenne-Wright Administration Center, Central Kitsap School District, 9210 Silverdale Way NW, Silverdale

26th District (3 of 4): Rep. Young — Port Orchard from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.  — Port Orchard City Hall, 216 Prospect Street, Port Orchard; Key Peninsula from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. — Key Peninsula Civic Center, 17010 South Vaughn Road KPN, Vaughn; and Gig Harbor from 6 to 7 p.m. — Gig Harbor City Hall, 3510 Grandview Street, Gig Harbor

27th District: Sen. Darneille and Reps. Jenkins and Fey —  10 a.m. to noon — Evergreen State College – Tacoma Campus, 1210 6th Ave., Tacoma

29th District: Sen. Conway — 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. — Garfield Book Co. at Pacific Lutheran University, 208 Garfield Street South #101, Tacoma

30th District (2): Sen. Miloscia and Reps. Gregory and Kochmar — Federal Way from 10 to 11:30 a.m. — Federal Way City Hall, Council Chambers, 33325 8th Ave. S., Federal Way; and Milton from 12:30 to 2 p.m. — Milton City Hall, 1000 Laurel St., Milton

32nd District: Sen. Chase and Rep. Ryu — 2 to 3:30 p.m. — Shoreline Fire Department, 17525 Aurora Ave. N., Shoreline

35th District: Rep. MacEwen and Rep. Griffey — 2 to 3:30 p.m. — The Pavilion at Sentry Park, 190 W. Sentry Drive, Shelton

36th District: Sen. Kohl-Welles and Reps. Carlyle and Tarleton — 10 a.m. to noon — Phinney Neighborhood Association, community room, 6532 Phinney Avenue North, Seattle

38th District: Sen. McCoy and Reps. Sells and Robinson — 10 to 11 a.m. — Everett Community Resource Center, Port Gardner Room, 3900 Broadway Ave., Everett

41st District: Sen. Litzow and Reps. Senn and Clibborn — 10 a.m. to noon — Somerset Elementary School, 14100 Somerset Blvd., Bellevue

42nd District: Sen. Ericksen and Reps. Buys and VanWerven — 1 to 3 p.m. — Whatcom Community College, Syre Student Center, 237 W Kellogg Road, Bellingham

43rd District: Sen. Pedersen and Reps. Chopp and Walkinshaw — 1 to 2:30 p.m. — Seattle Central College, Erickson Theater, 1524 Harvard Avenue, Seattle

45th District: Sen. Hill and Reps. Goodman and Springer — 10 to 11:30 a.m. — Woodinville High School Auditorium, 19819 136th Ave. NE, Woodinville

48th District: Sen. Habib and Reps. Hunter and McBride — 10 a.m. — Redmond City Hall, 15670 NE 85th St., Redmond

SATURDAY, MARCH 21

47th District: Sen. Fain and Reps. Sullivan and Hargrove — 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. — Golden Steer Steak n’ Rib House, 23826 104th Ave. SE, Kent