State & Local Advocacy
A Voice for our Community
State & Local Advocacy
A Voice for our Community
Thursday, January 29, 2026
Olympia, WA
Thursday, January 29, 2026
Olympia, WA
Each year, the JCRC organizes Lobby Day, bringing Jewish community members from across Washington State to meet with lawmakers and advocate on policies that impact Jewish life.
“A Jew is asked to take a leap of action rather than a leap of faith.”
– Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
The Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle’s Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) serves as a voice and champion of community priorities by educating and advocating at the local, state, and national levels to advance Jewish concerns in the public arena. Our guiding principles (prioritized through our annual public policy survey) include:
Legislative Priorities
The Federation also advocates for the priorities of and secures resources for our local Jewish agencies—allowing them to most effectively serve their clients, strengthen their programs, and deepen their impact.
Our work includes legislative advocacy, grassroots organizing, community education, and coalition building.
Learn about our priorities in the Washington State Legislature’s 2025 session.
The short 2024 Washington State legislative session went by in a flash. During the 60-day session, our JCRC team welcomed almost 80 participants at Jewish Community Lobby Day, shared over 10 action alerts to catalyze community support for critical needs, and collaborated with and supported the Anti-Defamation League PNW, Holocaust Center for Humanity, Jewish Coalition for Immigrant Justice NW, Jewish Family Service, and Washington State Jewish Historical Society’s legislative efforts. See a summary of our efforts below.
Priorities from our legislative agenda that passed or were funded:
Combat Antisemitism, Hate Crimes, and Bias
Protect and Support Immigrants and Refugees
What didn’t pass?
Learn about our accomplishments in the Washington State Legislature’s 2023 session.
Legislative Priorities
The Federation also advocates for the priorities of and secures resources for our local Jewish agencies—allowing them to most effectively serve their clients, strengthen their programs, and deepen their impact.
Our work includes legislative advocacy, grassroots organizing, community education, and coalition building.
Learn about our priorities in the Washington State Legislature’s 2026 session.
Learn about our priorities in the Washington State Legislature’s 2025 session.
The short 2024 Washington State legislative session went by in a flash. During the 60-day session, our JCRC team welcomed almost 80 participants at Jewish Community Lobby Day, shared over 10 action alerts to catalyze community support for critical needs, and collaborated with and supported the Anti-Defamation League PNW, Holocaust Center for Humanity, Jewish Coalition for Immigrant Justice NW, Jewish Family Service, and Washington State Jewish Historical Society’s legislative efforts. See a summary of our efforts below.
Priorities from our legislative agenda that passed or were funded:
Combat Antisemitism, Hate Crimes, and Bias
Protect and Support Immigrants and Refugees
What didn’t pass?
Learn about our accomplishments in the Washington State Legislature’s 2023 session.
This session, our team pushed forward to advance Jewish safety and belonging and uphold civil liberties and human rights.
May is Jewish American Heritage Month, making it a particularly meaningful opportunity to educate our elected officials about our Jewish community and talk about the issues that matter to us. The Federation’s Jewish Community Relations Council will be doing an advocacy fly-in to Washington, D.C., in May, and we hope you can join us!
The specific legislative priorities were developed based on input from the JCRC Public Advocacy Committee, our lobbyist, legislators, coalition partners within and beyond the Jewish community, and form the basis of our advocacy in this legislative session.
As I woke up this morning preparing for the start of Chanukah, I was instead greeted with headlines of a mass shooting at a Chanukah celebration on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. The Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, and Jewish Federations across the country, are horrified by this antisemitic terrorist attack.
