In early March, the Legislature wrapped up a short, two-month session. The MVCC Action Fund sent out several action alerts during the session and saw a few priority bills pass that will clean up our air and help adapt us to the changing climate. The legislature also followed up on its climate commitment by funding an estimated $1.2 billion for climate action and healthy communities generated by the Climate Commitment Act (CCA) which was passed last legislative session.

As we enter the 5th week of the Legislative session we're tracking a few bills to take action on before Monday afternoon hearings as well as some vital funding that is needed to protect our incredible wildlife in Washington state.

1) Tell your Legislators to Support funding of SWAP, the State Wildlife Action Plan.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has an excellent State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) that helps conserves fish, wildlife and their habitats. This plan takes a much-needed proactive approach to protecting wildlife by focusing statewide conservation actions towards conserving species and habitats before they become rare and listed as endangered species. Unfortunately, WDFW has only 3 percent of the budget needed to implement this vital wildlife plan. 

Without adequate funding, WDFW won't be able to adequately protect Washington's incredible wildlife. We encourage you to reach out to your legislators and encourage them to provide WDFW with the full $47.6 million of its Restoring Washington’s Biodiversity request. The button below directs you to one of our partners, Conservation Northwest, who has a drafted an easy email you can sign onto (we encourage you to personalize it!). 

2)  SHB 1181– Planning for a Climate-Friendly Future

This Growth Management Act (GMA) climate bill will require local governments to incorporate climate-resiliency measures and reduce emissions equitably in their long-term plans. While Okanogan County is currently too small of a county to plan under the GMA, at its current rate of growth it won't be long before it is planning under the GMA (pop. threshold of 50,000). This is a priority bill of the Environmental Priorities Coalition which MVCCAF is a part of.

Sign in Pro before the public hearing on Monday, 2/6 at 4p.m. 

3) SHB 1170-Improving climate resilience through updates to the state's integrated climate response strategy.
This bill updates statewide, interagency strategy for addressing climate risks. It strengthens requirements for agencies to consider climate impacts in funding and activities, and improves cross-agency coordination of state response to federal climate resilience funding opportunities.

Sign in Pro before the public hearing on Monday, 2/6 at 4p.m. 

4) SHB 1085-Reducing plastic pollution

This bill will help to reduce plastic pollution by requiring refill fountains in new construction, so that people can easily refill their drinking water bottles. It will also phaseout hotel plastic-packaged mini-toiletries and the use of foam-filled floats that are used for docks. Each action taken to reduce plastic, reduces the amount of plastic that will find its way into our landfills, rivers and oceans. 

Sign in Pro before the public hearing on Monday, 2/6 at 4p.m. 

2022’s 60-day Legislative Session has come to a close! Thank you to everyone who participated in the session by calling and emailing senators and representatives and advocating on behalf of bills that will benefit our climate, natural environment and Methow Valley community.  As bills make their way to the Governor’s desk to be signed into law, we wanted to recap the bills we were tracking and sending out to you that made it through the gauntlet of the legislative process (313 bills passed of 1657 total bills proposed). We encourage you to take one final follow up action of thanking our Senator and Representatives for supporting some of the bills that we endorsed.

The MVCC Action Fund was created in August of 2020 to develop and advocate for legislation, policies, programs, and public officials that protect and improve the natural environment and rural quality of the Methow Valley and Okanogan County. During the short, 60-day legislative session of 2022, the Action Fund will be sending out weekly updates on a range of issues that could impact the Methow and Okanogan. In even-numbered years, lawmakers typically focus on limited policy proposals, but in this legislative session, Governor Inslee has announced a $626.5 million investment in a climate strategy that includes:

ACTION IS NEEDED BY OCTOBER 5TH

This call to action is a once in a ten year opportunity. The subject is redistricting, which is the process of redrawing the lines of our Legislative and Congressional districts based on the populations from the recent census.  We need to make sure that Okanogan County is included in a Legislative District (LD) that honors our regional relationship with neighboring counties. We also need to ensure that our community is kept together with other connected communities in our Congressional District (CD).

The 2021 Washington Legislative Session concluded on April 25^th and the Methow Valley Citizens Council Action Fund, along with many others, is celebrating bold and historic environmental progress. MVCC Action Fund holds a deep sense of gratitude for the work done by many diverse organizations and individuals this session to pass policy for Washingtonians, the climate, and people’s health. We are also grateful to the many voices from the Methow who consistently spoke up and advocated for good policy this session.

The climate and environmental legislation passed this session will have a lasting impact on the Methow Valley, providing important new programs that will help implement the Methow Valley’s climate action strategy. Several pieces of new legislation will greatly further the goals identified in the draft Methow Valley Climate Action Plan to create a resilient, carbon-neutral Methow and help our community adapt to the changes in our climate now and into the future.