By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
“Even when we have a strong majority, it’s important to make your voices heard.”
That’s what State Sen. Joe Nguyen told the West Seattle chapter of Moms Demand Action as he and his fellow 34th District state legislators, Reps. Eileen Cody and Joe Fitzgibbon, spoke to the group this week.
Moms Demand Action is a national group focused on “public safety measures that can protect people from gun violence.” It began as a social-media group launched the day after the Sandy Hook massacre and now has chapters in every state. We decided to cover their meeting after hearing all three state legislators would be there.
Some of what they told the group was meant to deepen understanding how the Legislature works. Nguyen, elected just one year ago, explained that thousands of bills are introduced each session, but only hundreds of bills get passed – you have to fight to make sure your bill is seen as worthy of being discussed, let alone worthy of coming up for a vote.
Reviewing recent gun-related legislation, Nguyen mentioned some lower-profile bills such as SB 5205, regarding people found incompetent to stand trial. He also mentioned new laws from the past few yeas such as the availability of Extreme Risk Protection Orders. He said his priority is to figure out “how do we keep things from happening in the first place” – including suicide and domestic violence, and not only those involving firearms.
Continuing the explanation of how things work in Olympia, Rep. Cody observed that you don’t often hear about bills that pass unanimously. The controversial ones get talked to death, literally, if they are taken up too early – the rules permit “all sorts of moves people can do” to bog down such bills. She said she is hopeful that the proposal to ban high-capacity magazines will at least get discussed in caucus this year. (Cody co-sponsored a proposal that stalled last session.)
Rep. Fitzgibbon said he consideed last session “productive.” He was in high school when the Columbine massacre happened, and that alone made an impression, but, he lamented, mass shootings are so frequent today that people are living in “traumatizing” fear. “We have a great deal more work to do on this,” he declared, while warning that “no single law is ever going to be the law that stops gun violence in our community” – it’s a compilation of smaller actions.
Moms Demand Action had supported a bill requiring training for concealed-carry permit holders – SB 5174 – and it “made it pretty far” but, a group leader asked,, what more could they do to push for passage?
Fitzgibbon acknowledged that even Democratic legislators have had a lot of fear about gun issues dating back to election losses decades ago. But “I think that tide has shifted,” he observed.
Nguyen offered to meet later to discuss strategy for getting the bill through. “We’ll talk.” He then was asked, “What’s your learning curve been like?” He answered “There are about 35 steps where a bill can die,” and reiterated that it’s not even about the vote so much as “having the conversation.” It’s important that people “understand how the government works.” He said that kind of learning helped him “run bills” right from the start.
The legislators also discussed cases of people who went to court to get their guns back despite having histories of threats/hate speech. And that segued to discussion of eastern Washington Rep. Matt Shea, who is on the Judiciary Committee, which hears gun bills. “It’s very safe for us to talk about these things here but there are people in Washington state who are OK with white supremacists to open-carry and threaten people, and they get re-elected.”
Another question: What’s the best way to reach out to affect the most change? Cody said they count emails when there’s a deluge on specific issues, but if it’s something unique, an email or letter explaining is good too. Personal stories of how you’re affected by something are good, said Nguyen. Fitzgibbon said emails are better than phone calls – they have few staffers to answer (one per representative, two per senator).
But making progress means more than dealing with politicians, Fitzgibbon suggested … find ways of talking with people you disagree with. More understanding can lead to change.
One person in the audience offered that supporting political change outside the local area, sending contributions to opponents of people hampering progress, is one tactic. So are efforts like “Postcards to Voters,” a weekly event in West Seattle and many other areas.
Another person pushed back on the “understanding” in some circumstances – in some cases, meeting halfway against something “insane” does not make sense, they contended. Nguyen agreed but said you might find that you have more in common with members of another political party than you would guess. For example, he said he called the state treasurer – a Republican — earlier that day to talk.”You can be fiercely partisan in terms of your values and beliefs, but you should still have the conversation.” Another example: He said he’d talked to the downtown Chamber of Commerce about an income tax and found them receptive.
Then, a question about making schools safer: Rep. Cody said more mental health help is important work being done there. What about tougher penalties? Rep. Fitzgibbon said they’re not sure that would be a deterrent. Restorative justice works, said one group leader, so they’ve worked for more funding on that.
The activists and legislators will meet again – Moms Demand Action plans a lobbying day in January.
WHAT’S NEXT: The Legislature is scheduled to convene in mid-January. Contact info for your legislators (the 34th District includes West Seattle, White Center, Vashon/Maury Islands, part of Burien) is linked to their names below:
-Sen. Joe Nguyen
-Rep. Eileen Cody
-Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon
Moms Demand Action-West Seattle is reachable via westseattle.momsdemandaction@gmail.com.
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