Retired Public Employees Council of WA Working to protect and enhance the pension and health care benefits of Washington retired state, county and local government employees
RPEC Weekly ACTION Newsletter – 2-12-2021
IN THIS ISSUE
- Bill Status Update
- Weekly Legislative Update
- Legislative Day – Recap
Bill Status Update
In addition to our top priorities of protecting the PEBB Medicare Benefit and ensuring the full funding of the pension systems in the state budget, we are also tracking several bills that have been introduced during the Legislative Session. Several bills have been passed out of their initial committee and are poised for further action. Monday, February 15th is the last day to pass non-fiscal related bills out of committee in their house of origin.
The full list of cutoff dates can be found here: https://leg.wa.gov/legislature/pages/cutoff.aspx
The updated list of bills and their current status can be found here: https://rpecwa.org/bill-summary-2-12-2021/
The momentum around addressing Washington’s upside down tax code continued this week with a hearing on HB 1465, which would make the estate tax more progressive by exempting small estates, reducing estate taxes on medium estates, increasing the estate tax on larger estates.
Action:
Contact your legislator and ask them to address the upside tax code by passing progressive revenue. The state legislature switchboard is 1-800-562-6000. You can also locate their email address here: https://app.leg.wa.gov/memberemail/
For more information about why it is important for public sector retirees to support fixing Washington’s upside-down tax code, please see this article: https://rpecwa.org/rpec-supports-progressive-revenue-to-balance-washingtons-tax-code/
Weekly Legislative Update – Each Friday at 1pm
RPEC Executive Director James Cockburn will provide an update on the status of RPEC’s Legislative Priorities and answer questions from members. The calls will take place at 1pm each Friday through the end of the Legislative Session. The Zoom login information will be the same each week.
To join the weekly update calls:
Via Computer or tablet:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82866346713?pwd=NkVEY2NsL1J6Z0dmQ0xEdjQyTnFwQT09
Or, go to: https://zoom.us/join
Meeting ID: 828 6634 6713
Passcode: 205507
Via Phone:
Dial: (253) 215-8782
Meeting ID: 828 6634 6713
Passcode: 205507
Legislative Day Recap
Over 150 retirees from both RPEC and WEA-Retired met via Zoom on Monday to hear the latest updates on our Legislative Priorities and prepare talking points for meetings with their Legislators. Feedback from those meetings has been very positive and we appreciate all those who took the time to sign up to make their voices heard
