No news just may be good news

SHB 1997 is waiting to be considered by the Senate Committee on Ways and Means Committee and SSB 5834 is awaiting a vote in the House Committee on Ways and Means. We will of course let you know if things start looking really good or really bad.

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO IN THE MEANTIME?

1) Keep the pressure on our legislators, so they vote favorably for these bills, each time they have an opportunity to do so. If you haven't lately (or ever) please write, call and send emails, and attend meetings or town hall events or parties for them and urge them to keep arts and heritage in King County alive by voting YEA for SSB 5834 and SHB 1997.

2) Let's educate ourselves on the issues in and around these two bills so we can write and respond to legislators, friends, and the media with confidence.

3) Let's respond to incorrect, negative media by commenting on blogs, writing letters to the editor and calling in to radio programs. We need to dispel myths about these bills and about who we are. Take down the stereotypes of lazy, livin-on-the-dole artists, reprogram the notion that the only people that care about history and preservation are retired people with nothing better to do. Lets remind legislators and the public that we are tax paying, home-owning, grocery-buying, citizens that spend much of our days working very hard to draw tourists to our region and make our communities stronger.

There have been some negative pushes in the press lately that are simply not true. We will try to attack these with facts. If you don't feel confident... read up, or simply write or call in response of the arts and heritage component of the bill and speak from the heart. You don't have to know everything. All you have to know is how you feel about 4Cutlure getting supported and passed THIS YEAR. It doesn't have to be much. Just "I actually thing SHB 1997 is a great idea and it's important to me."

We will post an FAQ in the next day or two with some of the common misconceptions and negative talking points in the press and how we suggest countering them. Until then... assume no news is good news.

Stay active and we’ll keep you posted on the latest!