Government Affairs

One of the Jewish Federation's most important programs is the government affairs work we do on behalf of the Jewish community. Since the mid-90's the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle has maintained a presence in Olympia, WA to look out for our community's interests. Guided by the twin duties of Tzedakah and Tikkun Olam, we have forcefully supported issues ranging from establishing Washington's first Jewish hospice to strengthening the state's hate crime statute.

The Jewish Federation is pleased to announce that five local Jewish nonprofits were chosen by the Department of Homeland Security for security grants totaling $308,914. The recipients are Herzl Ner Tamid, Temple De Hirsch Sinai, Jewish Family Service, Sephardic Bikur Holim and the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle. In each of those five years, we have successfully facilitated the grants process for all of the local Jewish groups.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle would like to congratulate Solicitor General Elena Kagan on her Senate confirmation to the United States Supreme Court. She brings with her unique personal and professional qualifications as a consensus builder and a deep commitment to upholding our constitutional values. We are particularly proud to see a member of our Jewish community rise to such an important position, being just the fourth female justice and eighth Jewish justice in Supreme Court history.

Overview

With a nearly $3 billion deficit facing the state, the Governor and the majority party concluded that some package of new taxes was needed to prevent an all cuts budget. This was the focus of the legislature from the beginning of the regular session in January to the last day of the special session. There was room, occasionally, for important policy adjustments.

With time running out this legislative session and a special session looking more likely with each passing hour, an important budget item has yet to be resolved: Washington's General Assistance Unemployable (GAU). Both the Governor and State Senate deeply reduced the GAU program in their proposed budgets.

HB 3186 places Jewish Family Service's home care services for aging adults at risk. This legislation is designed to help capture new resources for home care and adult day health services. However, if this bill passes, it will mean additional fees totaling nearly $70,000 and no additional public resources for Jewish Family Service.

Did you know private schools, including private religious schools, aren't able to access the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction's (OSPI) background check system? OSPI's background check system is available for public, but not private, schools. Fortunately, two bills — HB 2996 and SB 6619 — are making their way through the legislature that will change this and give private schools the ability to access OSPI's background information.

Earlier this week, the Senate Judiciary Committee heard legislation (SB 6396) that would ban the sale of assault weapons. If enacted, the Washington ban would be similar to the federal assault weapon ban passed by Congress in 1994 as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. The federal law imposed a ten-year moratorium on the manufacture, transfer and possession of 18 types of semi-automatic weapons. This moratorium lapsed in 2004 and several states have enacted assault weapons bans of their own.