Please note that the presidential primaries will be held earlier this year. During the 2016 Washington State primary presidential elections were held in May after democratic and republican candidates were already decided in March 2016. Essentially by voting late this made the 2016 primary presidential election in Washington State irrelevant and costing tax payers $9 million dollars. These are the reasons the primary election will be held earlier. Ballots should be coming out to homes beginning February 22, 2020.
Please see the attached Columbian newspaper article link for full details:
Work with FAN on Census 2020!
FAN is hiring a part-time Census Coordinator to assist in outreach efforts thanks to a grant from the Washington Census Equity Fund, managed by Philanthropy Northwest. The Census Coordinator will help us promote a robust and accurate count in the 2020 Census. Census data is used to determine how more than $800 billion in federal funds are distributed back to local communities every year for services and infrastructure, including schools, hospitals, fire departments and roads. Washington has more than 1.6 million residents from historically "hard-to-count" population groups, including communities of color, Native Americans both on and off tribal lands, immigrants and limited English speakers, young children and rural residents of all backgrounds. With this grant we will be able to support opportunities for participation in the census which will help ensure that all communities receive their fair share of critical federal and state funding. We are thrilled to be a recipient of this grant and a participant in this important work.
Please download the job description and share with your communities. We will be hiring by January 31 and see this as a statewide effort. If you believe everyone counts in Census 2020 and want to help faith communities fill an important role, send your resume and cover letter to apply@fanwa.org.
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2020 Legislative Proposal
Prohibiting Private Prison Operation and Use
SB 6442 / HB 2576
Senator Saldaña / Representative Ortiz
-
Self
Problem Addressed
●
Incarceration is an inherently governmental function that cannot be
outsourced
because
of the public interest in humane treatment and
transparency.
●
Private prisons fail the public and harm individuals, both inmates and staff.
Solution
●
Phase out the use of
private prisons by prohibiting any new contracts and
any
extensions of existing private contracts to provide prison or detention
services.
●
Limit the authority of State and local governments to use out
-
of
-
state private
prison
facilities.
●
Clarify that the p
rohibition on private prisons does not apply to facilities for
involuntary
placement for mental health, drug rehabilitation, juvenile
rehabilitation, and other similar
services.
●
Recognize that Tribal governments own and operate jails, and allow other
gover
nments
to contract with them
.
Fiscal Impact
●
This bill should have no fiscal impact on th
e State of Washington.
●
Private prisons provide poor quality services that are harmful to individuals
and
violate
the public trust. They waste taxpayer dollars. The best public
policy is to make sure this
is never an option.
●
Currently neither the State of Washington nor any municipality uses private
prisons. The
State Department of Corrections contract with GEO Group
expired in 2018.
Issues to Address
●
Emergency needs
of the State and local governments
●
Washington's Department of Corrections and local jails routinely plan for
disaster
contingencies and overflow. Experience indicates that government
entities are
able to contract
with each other to provide emergency housing of
inmates.
●
Transition
of those detained at existing facilities.
●
Currently the only private prison facility in Washington State is the
Northwest
Detention Center, an immigration detention facility in Tacoma. Th
e
existing
contract for this facility terminates in 2025, which allows time to
address the
release and placement of all detained there. Most can be
released
to the
community on bonds and personal recognizance.
●
Family visits
are used to defend the value of
keeping Washington's sole
private prison
operation open. However, it is not true that moving detainees
will
negatively impact the
access to families.
●
A majority of those held at the only private detention facility in Washington
were
transferred from outsid
e our region. Families are regularly frustrated in
any
attempts to visit. Shutting down this facility and prohibiting others is the
real
solution.
Who Supports this Proposal:
●
Faith Action Network
●
La Resistencia
●
Northwest Immigran
t Rights Project
●
One America
●
Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network
●
Washington State Labor Council and others
Suggested Action:
Wednesday in the Human Services, Reentry & Rehabilitation Committee at 8
AM. FAN is part of an immigrant advocacy coalition with over 150 organizations
endorsing these companion bills. Incarceration is inherently a governmental function that cannot be outsourced because of the public interest in humane treatment and transparency. Private prisons fail the public and harm individuals - inmates, their families, and staff. This bill will phase out the use of private prisons by prohibiting any new contracts and extensions of existing private contracts to provide prison or detention services, with exceptions for private contracting for mental health, drug, and juvenile rehabilitation, and for tribally owned jails. The House bill (HB 2576 Ortiz-Self) will be heard in early February. For more information, see the
one pager
on this issue.
For any other bills on our agenda, contact your legislators using the email formula firstname.lastname@leg.wa.gov, or call the Legislative Hotline: 1-800-562- 6000 between 8 AM and 7 PM, Monday through Friday.
