WSDCC – May 23, 2025

Posted on May 23, 2025

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR

Happy Friday, Washington Democrats!

Chair Conrad addresses Thurston County Democrats at the Blue Gala

Washington Democrats’ Statement on President Biden’s Cancer Diagnosis
Washington Democrats wish President Biden a speedy and successful recovery as he battles prostate cancer. Our love and support go out to Joe and Jill who challenged all of us to work towards a future that dramatically reduces cancer deaths in this country. Our Party will continue to prioritize funding the life saving research and treatments required to meet that vision.

If you’re looking to help that vision, we recommend donating $25 to cancer research at Washington’s own Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

Updates from the Last Week
Thank you to the Thurston County Democrats for hosting their Blue Gala last weekend. It was an honor to share the stage with Governor Ferguson, Lieutenant Governor Heck, Commissioner of Public Lands Upthegrove, and Superintendent Reykdal. I want to thank Thurston County Chair Kait Toompas and her amazing team who built a sold out event. The energy in the room was stellar and demonstrated how Democrats are working in every community to improve the lives of our neighbors.

Governor Bob Ferguson addresses Thurston County Democrats

This week, Governor Ferguson signed the budget, preserving essential services and pay for our state workers. This year’s budget faced headwinds from rising inflation and Trump’s self-inflicted tariff-related economic chaos, but Governor Ferguson and legislative Democrats ensured that we upheld our values and maintained essential core services for the Washingtonians who need them most. This budget boosted education spending by $1 billion and approved the Tesla tax to ensure fairness in Washington’s EV market.

Democrats Fighting Back
The Democratic National Committee, where I serve as Associate Chair, has already had its largest-ever organizing program in a non-election year. We are not even halfway through this year and more than 16,000 grassroots supporters across the country, in all 50 states, have taken action. Whether they attended a training, directly reached out to their Republican congressmembers, or engaged their communities online or offline, we are seeing a surge of resistance to the cruel and inhumane Republican policies being pushed at the national level. 

In Wisconsin, Democrats made 2 million calls in the lead up to the spring elections, GOTV efforts in Omaha, Nebraska helped flip that Mayor’s Office to the Democrats after 12 years of Republican rule, and more than 100 town halls (including ours in Yakima and Spokane) across the country have shown what real representation looks like for red districts. 

Congresswoman Dr. Kim Schrier is fighting tooth and nail to protect Apple Health and other Medicaid programs from disastrous cuts that will cost lives and close health clinics. Valley Medical Center is closing five clinics, including an urgent care center in Renton. 

Dr. Schrier said:

“The reality is you just don’t get that kind of savings without kicking a lot of people off [Medicaid]. Those patients are still going to get sick. They’re actually going to get sicker, they’re not going to be able to go to their primary care physician, and instead they’re going to go to the emergency room. And then the wait in the emergency room gets longer. And because they can’t pay for that care, the hospital is going to have to eat it.” 

This week, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell helped secure the release of a Washingtonian U.S. Air Force veteran wrongfully detained in Venezuela for nearly half a year. We celebrate his return and everyone who fought to bring him home. Senator Cantwell also joined 26 of her colleagues to formally condemn Trump’s plans to accept a $400 million 747 jet from Qatar and called out the unnecessary delay of $48 million in funding to Spokane’s American Aerospace Materials Manufacturing Center.

State Rep. Clyde Shavers’ bill to expand veteran services was signed into law by Governor Ferguson this week. House Bill 1102 marks the most significant expansion of the state’s Veterans Services Officer Program since it was created in 2019. These officers are responsible for ensuring veterans receive improved access to critical benefits and services. This legislation will take effect on July 27.

Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal condemned U.S. Customs and Border Patrol’s memo revoking protections for vulnerable people in custody, including denying pregnant women access to water and infants to have diapers. 

U.S. Representatives Marilyn Strickland and Emily Randall have formally re-launched the Puget Sound Recovery Caucus to protect our iconic waterway from pollution, restore habitat, and reopen shellfish beds.

Storybanking–Send Us Your Stories

Last week, Washington Democrats went down to Olympia to film our Commissioner of Public Lands, Dave Upthegrove. You can follow along on the road trip through our saved Instagram Live videos. We look forward to sharing all of those videos with you soon! Today, we are proud to feature a special message from Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove explaining some of the critical programs he oversees. Click the picture above or watch his story here. If you want to learn more about protecting your home and community from wildfire using the program Commissioner Upthegrove mentions in the video, check it out here: https://wildfireready.dnr.wa.gov/.

Please send your stories about the impacts of Trump’s policies on your life and community. These stories put a human face on the policy implications of the lawless president and his enablers.

The best way to persuade people about the horrible impacts of Trump’s chaos is to share real stories from real people in their communities. Please consider sharing your own story of the direct impacts of Trump 2.0 on your life, by sending an email to press@wa-democrats.org that includes your name, contact information, which Washington community you reside in, the story you would like to share, and permission to share your story with the public. 

Our Communications team will be in touch within a few business days after you have reached out to help collect your story.

Call to Action

  • Help Our Neighbors in Kentucky and Missouri – Washington Democrats mourn the lives lost in Kentucky and Missouri from the recent deadly tornadoes. We urge everyone in a position to help our neighbors in these states to consider supporting the following organizations which are helping survivors on the ground.
  • Support Rep. Jayapal’s College for All Act – Rep. Jayapal and Sen. Sanders are introducing their College for All Act this week and are asking for help to build support.
    • Download this letter for your U.S. Representative, sign it and send it via email to their staff. Follow up with a phone call to their Capitol Hill office through the switchboard at 202-224-3121.
    • Download this letter for your U.S. Senators, sign it and send it via email to their staff. Follow up with a phone call to their Capitol Hill office (phone numbers available here).
  • Fight to Save Medicaid (Apple Health)
    • Sign up for the DNC’s new training: The Network Strategy – learn tactics for holding Republicans accountable throughout the year. Sign up here.
    • Have a conversation with your network about the impacts of the GOP’s budget bill – House Republicans have taken to holding votes in the middle of the night to avoid scrutiny of the disastrous impacts of their budget bill. Make sure people know what’s at stake!
      • According the CBO, Republicans’ reconciliation package will cut health case spending by $715 billion over ten years.
      • The GOP bill will result in nearly 14 million Americans going uninsured.
      • Hospitals will close, seniors will not be able to get the care they need, and premiums will skyrocket for middle-income families. 
    • CD4 and CD5 residents: Call your Republican Representative – Call their office and let them know you don’t want any changes to Apple Health. The DNC has set up an easy tool with a script for you. Click here for the call tool kit.
  • Rally, Protest, and Gather
    • TONIGHT – Friday, May 23 SAVING MEDICAID Zoom with Washington Disability Advocates. 4PM-5:15PM. Register here.
    • Saturday, June 14 – NO KINGS Seattle Mass Protect from NOON-3PM. Location TBA. Sign up here.
    • Every Friday – Refuse Fascism Fridays in Everett at the Social Security Administration Office from 5PM-6:30PM. Sign up here.
    • Every Saturday  – Say It Saturday at B.A. Clark Park in Spokane. 3PM-5PM. Sign up here.
    • Every Monday – Mikey Mondays in Spokane outside the office of U.S. Representative Michael Baumgartner. Sign up here.
    • Every Tuesday – Tesla Tuesday in Liberty Lake from 4:30PM-5:30PM. Sign up here.
    • Every Wednesday – Musk or Us Protest in Redmond from 4PM-5PM. Sign up here.
  • Donate
    • If you would like to see less Washington D.C. and more Washington state in your community, please DONATE to The Real Washington Fund – our rapid response account to counter MAGA’s chaos with real organizing, real solutions, and real results. We can’t do the work of holding Republicans accountable without your support.

Republicans Behaving Badly

The argument’s over: Americans pay for tariffs,
Axios
Even the Trump administration has finally conceded what everyone else already knew, tariffs are nothing more than a sales tax on every overseas item sold in American stores. According to the Yale Budget Lab, Trump’s global tariffs are expected to cost the average American household more than $2,300 a year. It’s a tax increase that all of us are paying and which could have been totally avoided.

Low prices and Trump’s trade war are pushing these Northwest farmers to the brink,
KUOW
Northwest states yield more wheat than the U.S. could ever consume, which is why farmers here need access to overseas markets for their crops. Trump’s trade wars are having an instant impact as farmers delay purchases of new equipment which is increasing in costs while the price of wheat remains stubbornly low. According to one farmer, stopping or slowing exports “would equate to a generation of pain.” 

Staff cuts forced this forecast office to shut overnight. Then a tornado hit.,
The Seattle Times
The deadly storms that killed people in Kentucky and Missouri were the only reason the National Weather Service office in Jackson, Kentucky did not go dark. Trump and DOGE have unleashed devastating personnel cuts across the country, making our communities less safe in the face of deadly weather events.

Democrats in the News

How Washington state won parking reform,
Sightline Institute

Governor signs Washington’s first-in-the-nation shared streets law,
The Urbanist

Washington will pay unemployment benefits to striking workers,
Washington State Standard

Washington’s AG calls 10-year ban on US states regulating AI ‘dangerous,’ 
KIRO7

Washingtonians will need state permit to buy guns under new law,
Washington State Standard

What I’m Reading

Democrats say Republicans’ reconciliation negotiations are a messaging goldmine,
NOTUS
This is a great article explaining how House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is using the Republican’s cruel budget plans to make the case for electing more Democrats nationwide. As the GOP debates just how many millions of Americans to strip healthcare from in order to pay for tax deductions of mega-millionaires, we are going to make sure every American knows that we will fight for them and not millionaires and billionaires.

Thanks for all you do,

Chair Shasti Conrad
Washington State Democratic Party

In 2024, Washington Democrats led the nation with sweeping electoral victories. Now, we’re fighting to elect a supermajority in Olympia, protect our swing seats in the House, and stand up to MAGA extremism across the country.

WA Dems empowers grassroots organizing and elects Democrats up and down the ballot. Your support fuels our fight to stop Trump and defend our democracy.

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We sincerely thank you for your help and support.

Washington State Democrats
PO Box 4027
Seattle, WA 98194
United States