This is what Democracy sounds like.

This is what Democracy sounds like, outside the House chambers.

Chirp chirp

C'est la interim... members are back home and lobbyists are scattered to the winds, leaving the House of Representatives building feeling very, very empty save for a skeleton crew of caucus staff.

Hello?
Hello?
Hello?

Up with Reports!

Feeling that empty feeling not knowing what's in the state Auditor's Community Colleges of Spokane Whistleblower Report, No.1000606 ?

Hungry for the report on the Strategy to Improve Immunization Rates in Washington?

Well, consider this your Nutri-Brain bar.

Starting now, all reports to the Legislature will be available online at:
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/reportstothelegislature/

You may not be aware of this, but there are a lot of people generating a lot of information, which helps direct a lot of policy in this state. Granted, these reports rarely read like a Chuck Pahlaniuk novel. But there are a lot of interesting and important documents that your legislators request and rely on, produced by the experts in the field. So peruse the news.

Editor's Note: I spelled Chuck Pahlaniuk without even looking. What? I am Jack's wonkiness.

Have you subscribed to our newsfeeds?

So, you’re dialed in to The Advance, our awesome blog. And you follow us on Twitter. But are you subscribing to our RSS feed (now new & improved!)?

Our newsfeed:
http://housedemocrats.wa.gov/washington_house_democrats.xml

Our Capitol Ideas podcast feed:
http://radiocuts.leg.wa.gov/2009/Podcasts/capitolideas.xml

Because you can’t get enough of us.

Reps. Green and Kelley chat with constituents during their annual House District Day in Olympia

Yesterday, Reps. Tami Green (D-Lakewood) and Troy Kelley (D-University Place) went beyond providing a typical town hall meeting and invited constituents from the 28th district to visit Olympia to gain a firsthand perspective of the legislative process.

During their House District Day, Reps. Green and Kelley joined their constituents for lunch and answered questions about unemployment, education, efforts to address climate change and other issues facing the 28th district.

The House District Day is an annual event offered by Reps. Green and Kelley to give their constituents an opportunity to have lunch with their legislators, take a tour of the Capitol Campus, attend committee hearings and witness bill action on the House floor.

Hope: The Common Denominator

Falling snow did not deter those who gathered in Olympia yesterday for the third annual Refugee and Immigrant Legislative Day. The event, organized by the Refugee Women’s Alliance, is an opportunity for refugees and immigrants to come together in our state capital for a day and share their concerns and ideas with legislators. It is important to hear these concerns and ideas, because our state ranks tenth in the nation in percentage of people who are foreign-born. Washington is also fourth-largest resettlement state in the country.

Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos (Seattle) represents the 37th Legislative District – one of the most ethnically diverse districts in our ethnically diverse state. Nearly one in four residents of the 37th district was born outside of the United States. Rep. Santos addressed those who had gathered for a rally outside the capitol, saying that nothing is more defining to all people – regardless of country of birth – than hope.

“Hope is the fuel that propelled our new president into office,” Rep. Santos said. “Hope gives people strength during challenging times.”

She also reminded those in attendance that a core value of American governance is the notion of equality. All public policy – whether it concerns jobs, education, health care, or business opportunities, must be drafted in a way that includes our refugee and immigrant populations.

Despite the cold, Rep. Santos’ remarks got a very warm response from the crowd.

106-year old advocates for senior citizens

Marianne Jones of Lake Forest Park may have set a record when she came to Olympia to advocate for continued state support of adult day health programs.

Marianne is 106 years old.

Even long-time legislators and staff could not remember an advocate coming to Olympia whose advice reflected the experiences of 106 years.

"I was thrilled to meet Marianne and to hear her support for adult day health programs," said state Rep. Maralyn Chase. "Her involvement is truly uplifting and energizing to supporters of the program like myself, and will make any opponents think twice about the value of the service."

Chase emphasized that the early-action budget proposed by the state House of Representatives preserves adult day health programs, which were on the chopping block in Gov. Chris Gregoire's first budget proposal. If Chase and the House get their way, the program will continue to serve senior citizens until at least the end of the current budget cycle and possibly far into the future.

Chase said she is guardedly optimistic about the long-term prospect of state funding for adult day health services.

"Having inspiring allies like Marianne Jones and her daughter Dianne certainly helps," Chase said.

Read the full story here

You gotta fevah, and the only prescription is more bill information

And if Bruce Dickinson wants more bill information, we should probably give him more bill information. Well, we'll be your Gene Frenkel, and give you just what you need. Introducing a handy new bill tracker for House committees at: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/cmd/

As the description (prescription?) reads:

This takes you to a drop-down screen which lists all House standing committees. Once you select a committee, you can review committee meeting agendas and documents relevant to the 2009 session.

Said documents usually include the committee's bills and resources like briefing papers, powerpoint presentations, etc., provided by those who testify before the committee.

We invite you to explore the space.

The View from (some of) Our Window(s)

We here in the HDC don't see the light of day much - or at all - during session, unless it's from a window. Yet even from a window at dawn this morning it was a pretty awesome sight.

That's all. Carry on.