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Friends
Committee on Criminal
Justice Alert March
4, 2005
Rising prison populations and high recidivism (re-offense) rates affect all of us in terms of public safety and the best use of public funds. Two measures before the legislature developed by the Friends Committee and key allies will help ex-offenders become successful citizens once they are released. We and need your support to get them to a vote. HB
1359 in the state house of representatives and SB 5611 in the
senate will reduce the interest rate on monetary obligations
included in criminal judgments from the current 12% to 2% points over
the T-bill rate, currently about 4.5%. This lessens the demoralizing
burden of ex-offender debt, and makes resources available for critical
housing, treatment, and family support needs. HB 1358 and SB 5339 allow a discharge of sentence and restoration of civil rights, including the right to vote, for offenders who have served all their time in prison and community custody (parole), and are doing all they can to pay their monetary obligations. This makes them eligible for future expungement of their records, helps reintegrate them into society, and facilitates employment, housing and other needed services Their monetary obligations continue to be enforceable by civil means. These
bills are currently in the Rules committee in each house.
We need your help to get them to the floor, where we are
confident they will pass. See strategy and background below. Background: When
a bill has been heard by a policy or fiscal committee and reported out
favorably, it goes to the Rules committee in each house for
consideration as to whether to send it to the full house for a vote. Rules
committee members take turns individually "pulling" bills from
the eligible list to move them to the next stage for possible referral
to the floor. Unless a bill is "pulled" on two
different days, it cannot reach the floor. When it does reach the
floor, the majority caucus and leadership then decide whether to
calendar it for debate and vote. The final day for bills to
be voted on and passed by the initial house is Wednesday, March 16.
We need people to look over the following list of rules members, and
make phone calls or send emails to members to urge them to pull these
bills and send them to the floor for a vote. Please also look over
the suggested strategy and message below. Strategy: If
you have a Democratic legislator on the following list, please call
their office or the legislative hotline at 800-562-6000, and ask them to
please help pull both bills for floor action, giving them the numbers of
the bills for their house. Tell
them they are critical for ex-offender success in the community and the
reduction of prison and criminal justice costs.
If
you have a Republican legislator on the following list, please call
their office or the legislative hotline at 800-562-6000, and ask
them to please help pull the interest reduction bill, HB 1359 or SB
5611, for which the prime sponsor in the senate is Republican Luke
Esser. Tell them the bill
is critical for ex-offender success in the community—meaning less
crime and fewer victims--and the reduction of prison and criminal
justice costs. (Most
Republicans are reluctant to support HB 1358 or SB 5339, the discharge
bill, and wouldn’t consider pulling it, because it would help restore
voting rights to ex-offenders, who they believe would vote against
them). Legislators
can also be reached by e-mail. You
can find your legislators’ e-mail addresses at: House:
http://www.leg.wa.gov/email/members/Default.aspx?Chamber=H Senate:
http://www.leg.wa.gov/email/members/Default.aspx?Chamber=S If
one or more of your legislators isn’t on this list (each district has
1 senator and 2 representatives), you may still want to call or email
them to alert them to the importance of these bills, and ask them to
urge their colleagues to move them out of Rules and to bring them to a
vote, as well as otherwise supporting them. House
Rules Members: Democrats:
Speaker Frank Chopp, Chair, 43rd Dist; Brian Blake, 19th Dist; Judy
Clibborn, 41st Dist; Dennis Flannigan, 27th Dist; Bill Grant, 16th Dist;
Zack Hudgins, 11th Dist; Sam Hunt, 22nd Dist; Lynn Kessler, 24th Dist;
John Lovick, 44th Dist; Dawn Morrell, 25th Dist; Alex Woods, 3rd Dist. Republicans:
Glenn Anderson, 20th Dist; Mike Armstrong, 12th
Dist; Doug Ericksen, 42nd Dist; Joyce McDonald, 34th
Dist, Rodney Tom, 48th Dist.
Senate
Rules Members: Democrats:
Rosa Franklin, 29th; Lisa Brown, 3rd; Mark
Doumit, 19th; Tracey Eide, 30th; Karen Fraser, 22nd;
Mary Margaret Haugen, 10th; Adam Kline, 37th;
Jeanne Kohl-Welles, 36th; Craig Pridemore, 49th;
Harriet Spanel,40th; Pat Thibaudeau, 43rd. Republicans:
Bill Finkbeiner, 45th; Luke Esser, 48th;
Mike Hewitt, 16th; Jim Honeyford, 15th; Linda
Parlette, 12th; Val Stevens, 39th; Joseph Zarelli,
18th. Please
send me an email to let me know of any calls you make on these issues,
and send me a copy of any emails you send.
Thanks. Dan
Clark
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