News from the Skagit County Democrats
Posted on April 7th, 2025
Skagit County Democrats Action Newsletter for April 7, 2025
DEMOCRATIC EVENTS
1. NEW – This year's Gala, themed "Rooted in Democracy, Growing for Tomorrow," will be held on Saturday, June 7th at the Swinomish Casino.
"Planning is well underway, and we are currently seeking volunteers to assist with collecting auction items and sponsorships. The Gala Committee holds hybrid meetings every Wednesday at 5:30 PM.
If you're interested in joining the committee or if you have an item you would like to donate for the silent auction, please contact Isaac Cavazos, our Gala Committee Chair, at galatix@skagitdemocrats.org."
2. The Fidalgo Democrats meet Tuesday, Apr 8, 7:00pm – 9:00pm, Anacortes Public Library, 1220 10th Street, Anacortes
"Carol Rodin and Dania Jaramillo will be talking about The Foundation for Academic Endeavors (Skagit FAE). They are a nonprofit organization in Skagit County dedicated to breaking down educational barriers for low income Latine children, high school students, families, and future BIPOC educators. Working towards educational achievement and equity is critical for our community. What can we do to help in these challenging times?
In addition, Rosalina Guillen with C2C Community to Community Development will be giving an update on Alfredo “Lelo" Juarez, a farmworker and community activist that was taken into custody by ICE. What is happening in Skagit County and how we can help our fellow community members will be discussed.
There will be time for questions. Coffee and cookies will be served. Barbara Cooper 360-770-3506."
3. NEW – The Camano Island Democrats have invited Skagit County Democrats to attend their special session on Social Security and Medicare, Wednesday, Apr 9, 1:00pm via Zoom
"Dan Adcock, Director of Government Relations and Policy from the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare (NCPSSM) will join us. He'll give a quick overview of what's happening with Social Security and Medicare, and then we'll open the floor for questions." Click Here Zoom Meeting link – Meeting ID: 830 7514 6447.
4. The Skagit County Democrats Membership AND Central Committee Meeting will be Saturday, Apr 12, 10:00am, in a HYBRID MEETING – – – via Zoom OR In-Person – C2C Community Center, 224 Stewart Road, Suite 230, Mount Vernon
Zoom attendance requires pre-registration. Click Here for the registration link. The Meeting Agenda will be posted prior to the meeting in accordance with our bylaws.
5. NEW – The 40th Legislative District Democrats will conduct its Spring regular meeting, Sunday, Apr 13 via Zoom
"The link will follow in a separate email with agenda items to be discussed."
6. NEW – The 39th Legislative District Democrats Executive Board meets Tuesday, Apr 15, 7:00pm – 8:00pm, via Zoom
Click Here to register for the meeting.
7. NEW – The 10th Legislative District Democrats Executive Board meets Saturday, Apr 19, 10:00am – 12:00pm
(Per their calendar.)
8. NEW – Legislative Committee Report
Please support our Legislative Committee by emailing our State Senators & Representatives using the "Email your legislators" links and with the Suggested Text (or similar sentiments).
- –ESSB 5576 – Funding of essential affordable housing programs.
- This bill provides a local government option for funding essential affordable housing programs by allowing counties, cities, and towns to impose a special excise tax on short-term rental lodging at a rate not exceeding 4%. The tax would exclusively apply to short-term rentals facilitated through rental platforms, with the collected funds dedicated to specific affordable housing initiatives. Local governments can use the revenue for acquiring or rehabilitating affordable housing, funding housing operations and maintenance, providing rental assistance, and supporting social service organizations focused on housing-related assistance. The bill requires local governments to adopt a resolution of intent and gain simple majority approval before implementing the tax and mandates an annual public report detailing how the revenue was spent. Importantly, the tax cannot be imposed before April 1, 2026, and local governments may retain up to 15% of collected funds for administrative costs. The proceeds will be deposited into a newly created "essential affordable housing local assistance account" in the state treasury, with the state department handling tax collection at no cost to the local jurisdiction. The bill also makes technical amendments to existing tax laws to accommodate this new funding mechanism, ensuring consistency with current tax regulations.
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- Suggested text: This bill will allow local governments to implement a short-term rental tax to fund affordable housing and should be supported because it provides a crucial funding mechanism for essential housing programs and infrastructure, addressing a critical need in Skagit County and Washington State.
- –HB 1875 – Allowing the use of paid sick leave to prepare for or participate in certain immigration proceedings.
- This bill expands the use of paid sick leave to allow individuals to participate in immigration proceedings without facing financial hardship. This is crucial for maintaining legal status and family unity in light of increased immigration enforcement.
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- Suggested text: Vote yes on HB 1875 to support our immigrant community members in attending vital immigration proceedings in order to protect their legal status. Our immigrant neighbors are vital to our community, and we must back legislation that keeps immigrant families together.
- –E2SHB 1102 – Services for veterans
- This bill will strengthen an existing state-funded Veterans Service Officer Program that helps veterans access existing services, including federal pension and disability compensation. It updates service delivery to target areas with the lowest percentage of veterans receiving benefits and adds timely outreach to recently discharged veterans.
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- Suggested text: Washington State needs to stand up for those who have served and ensure access to federal veterans services. These services are increasingly difficult to access due to the misguided efforts of the federal administration. Now is the time to refocus our efforts on underserved veterans to ensure each and every one of our veterans receives the benefits they deserve.
- –HB 1106 – Property Tax Relief for Disabled Veterans
- This Act would allow for the phasing down of the combined service-connected disability evaluation rating requirements to qualify for property tax relief. If passed, a veteran would be exempt from all or a portion of the amount of excess and regular real property taxes. The phase-down would begin with taxes levied for collection in 2026, with a disability rating of 60% or higher to qualify for property tax relief. In 2027, the disability rating would be 40% or higher, and in 2028, the rating would be 20% or higher.
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- Suggested Text: Please support HB 1106 to phase down the combined service-connected disability evaluation rating requirements to qualify for property tax relief.
- –EHB 1217 – Rent Cap
- Excessive rent increases are driving people out of their homes and communities while increasing homelessness. This bill would cap rent and fee increases at 7% during any 12-month period and prohibit rent increases in the first year of tenancy. The bill would also limit late fees, move-in fees, and require 6 months' notice for larger rent/fee increases and limits late fees to 1.5% of monthly rent. This will provide stability in our communities while still allowing landlords to set rates that will cover their costs and generate profit.
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- Suggested text: Vote yes on EHB1217 to protect our communities from excessive rent increases. In the past few years, cost of living increases have outpaced wages, with renters disproportionately affected by rapidly increased housing costs. Supporting this bill would promote stability for families without undue harm to landlords.
9. Some facts about this year's Legislative Session:
- Legislative Body: The 69th Biennial Session
- Start Date: January 13, 2025
- End Date: April 27, 2025
- Session Length: 105 days
- Purpose: To adopt the 2025-27 Operating, Capital, and Transportation budgets
- Click Here for "The Standard’s guide to the 2025 legislative session" (Washington State Standard)
10. Important Information for Candidates!
The Skagit County Democrats Endorsements Committee has begun meeting, and we encourage all prospective candidates to apply for endorsement in order to get access to Votebuilder, campaign contributions, and other Skagit Democrats' resources. For more information, please click the link here. If you have any questions, please contact the Endorsement Committee at endorsements@skagitdemocrats.org.
(Hold till May 28)
11. NEW – 40th Legislative District Representative Debra Lekanoff penned the following tribute to former Washington State House Speaker Frank Chopp
"In March, we said goodbye to a giant—a leader whose heart beat for the people of Washington. Speaker Frank Chopp was more than a legislator; he was a force of nature, a warrior for justice, and a man whose footsteps will forever be etched into the foundation of our state.
Frank didn’t just serve — he lifted. He carried the hopes of those who had been left behind, the dreams of those who had been overlooked, and the voices of those who had long fought to be heard. He was relentless in his pursuit of housing for every family, healthcare for every child, and opportunity for every worker. Through every battle, every late-night negotiation, every hard-fought win—he never lost sight of who he was fighting for.
Frank’s work was never about politics. It was about people. His legacy lives on in every home built for those in need, in every child who has a fair shot at a brighter future, in every corner of Washington where his impact continues to be felt.
The depth of Frank Chopp’s impact is reflected in the words of Community Action of Skagit County, an organization that continues to feel his legacy through his transformative work on housing and homelessness:
Frank Chopp was a true champion and a folk hero—for Skagit County, for Community Action and our sister agencies, and for the state of Washington. No matter the local and statewide strategy to address homelessness and our housing crisis, Frank Chopp was either the architect or one of the leading voices in moving it forward. That includes co-founding the Housing Trust Fund, launching Apple Health and Homes, and establishing and expanding local document recording fees as our state’s primary method to support preventing homelessness. Individually and together, these mighty tools have allowed our team at Community Action to change lives—and in some cases, literally save the lives—of children, Veterans, and families who otherwise would still be on our streets, living in vehicles, or bouncing from couch to couch. His is a positive impact that will last for decades.
For Community Action and so many of our sister organizations, the Housing Trust Fund has been the key source of capital funding for building housing that people who live and work in Skagit County can afford. Frank’s latest brainchild, Apple Health and Homes, just provided a $4.7 million infusion to our latest development, Kulshan View in Mount Vernon, a partnership with the Mount Vernon School District that will, when complete, support 48 households of homeless school children and their families—providing not only housing stability but also the potential for stability and success in their educational pathway. How could that not provide a positive impact over the generations?
As an organization that is also part of a network of 30 Community Action agencies that serve every community in our state, we’re also proud that Frank was an Executive Director of what was the Fremont Neighborhood Association at the time and is now Solid Ground, where Frank continued for several years serving on its board. A community organizer par excellence, Frank always had an eye on the most creative and progressive approaches to addressing our community’s and state’s most complex and vexing issues—all with an incomparable energy, a gift for making the abstract real, and an unflappable sense of the possible.
. . . Rest in power, Frank. You have given so much to this world. Now, we will carry your work forward."
12. NEW – Links of the Week
The Links of the Week provide in-depth pieces and resources the Editor has found to be relevant, insightful, and thorough on important issues of the day.
- How Investigative Journalists Actually Find Fraud, Waste and Abuse
- These Foreign Countries Own the Most American Land
- How did childcare in the US become so absurdly expensive?
- Easter Always Comes on a Sunday, but the Dates Are Not the Same. Here’s the Reason Why
- Torpedo Bats and the Physics of the Sweet Spot
We have a great post on Facebook of the April 5 Rally at the Courthouse. Click Here to get to it.
COMMUNITY EVENTS
1. UPDATED – The 2025 Tulip Festival officially began Tuesday, Apr 1
Click Here for Tulip Festival information.
Tulip traffic has already begun. Please drive with caution and patience!
The Tulip Festival Street Fair will be Friday, Apr 18 – Sunday, Apr 20, 10:00am – 6:00pm (5:00pm on Sunday), downtown Mount Vernon. The Street Fair includes "Tulip Tunes", a free three-day music festival in the heart of the Tulip Festival Street Fair.
2. NEW – The 31st Annual Spring Garage Sale, Friday & Saturday, Apr 11 & Apr 12, 9:00am – 4:00pm, Skagit County Fairgrounds, 501 Taylor Street, Mount Vernon
Admission: $5 per person 12 and under free. Onsite Parking available: $5.
3. NEW – Skagit Habitat for Humanity's Raise the Roof Gala & Benefit Auction: "Unmasking Affordable Housing", Saturday Apr 12, 5:00pm – 8:30pm, Swinomish Casino & Lodge, 12885 Casino Drive, Anacortes
General Admission Ticket – $75.00. "Skagit Habitat for Humanity's Raise the Roof Gala & Benefit Auction is a key fundraiser, helping our organization build more permanently affordable homes across Skagit County. Join us for dinner, drinks, live entertainment, live and silent auctions, raffle prizes, and more! Proceeds will help us purchase building materials for our 11 upcoming builds in La Conner and Anacortes . . . Wear your best costume for a chance to win our Costume Contest." Click Here for ticket information.
NOTE: This event has been sold out.
4. UPDATED – Information about Alfredo "Lelo" Juarez
"On March 25, 2025, Lelo was violently detained by ICE while driving his partner to her workplace. ICE agents broke his car window when Lelo tried to exercise his rights. He is currently detained inside an ICE facility in Tacoma, Washington.
Lelo has been a farmworker and community leader in Washington since he was 12 years old, and has worked tirelessly for immigrant and farmworker rights. He was one of the initial founders of the independent union Familias Unidas por la Justicia (FUJ), where he helped agricultural workers win paid breaks and overtime. As an organizer with Community to Community Development (C2C), he has been involved in multiple campaigns, most recently working on educating the community and legislators about the exploitative H-2A program.
?We believe that ICE may have targeted Lelo for his leadership in standing up for farmworkers and immigrants in his community." Click Here for more information. Click Here for the Seattle Times article. Click Here for a more recent article from The "Northern Light".
You can help:
- Email Senator Patty Murray
- Email Senator Maria Cantwell
- Email Congressional Representative Rick Larsen
- Contribute to the Alfredo Juarez Legal Fund
5. Rebuilding the Anti-Nuclear Weapons Movement Together, Friday, Apr 11 & Saturday, Apr 12, 9:00am – 5:00pm daily, Seattle First Baptist Church, 1111 Harvard Avenue, Seattle
"The Washington Against Nuclear Weapons Coalition of which the Skagit group No More Bombs is a coalition member, is hosting a unique two-day conference in Seattle titled Rebuilding the Anti-Nuclear Weapons Movement Together, April 11 and 12.
This conference is a one-of-its kind opportunity to learn about the arms race and Washington State’s role in it. Washington State is incredibly invested in the military and nuclear arms industry and could be a primary target in a nuclear conflict. (Read this KUOW report “The secret world of nukes in Washington state”.) There was once a strong anti-nuke movement here and nation wide. Skagit County became a Nuclear Free Zone in 1985 with 62% of Skagit County voters approving it. And remember the ‘Magic Skagit Music Festival’ that paid to fight a nuclear power plant in Hamilton? We need to rebuild the nuclear disarmament movement during these dangerous times.
One of the conference keynote speakers, Dr. Ira Helfand, is a Nobel Peace Prize winner, founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility, and a founding partner of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, (ICAN), the organization most responsible for the UN International Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, (TPNW). There will be workshops, panel discussions and more.
Conference registration is at: https://tinyurl.com/NoNukePNW." Click Here for additional information.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
1. Coffee & Cards, Wednesdays, 10:00am – 12:00pm, Skagit County Democrats Headquarters, 2021 East College Way, Suite 104, Mount Vernon
Coffee and Cards meets on Wednesdays from 10:00am – 12:00pm. This is the group that was previously led by Carol Sullivan and is now led quite capably by Judy Farrar and Judith Chilcote. The group is a way for us to express ourselves about issues of importance to us all.
We will write messages of encouragement and support to people who are making positive contributions as well as messages of concern and opposition to people who are negatively impacting our world – this includes legislators on the local, state, and federal level as well as CEOs of corporations and other people having a significant impact in our world. We will share ideas for people to write to and issues to address.
Postcards and stamps will be provided, but we ask that people bring money to cover the cost of the postcard stamps which are currently $.56. Coffee will be provided or bring your own. As Carol always reminded us, “We are stronger together.” Our office is located at 2021 East College Way, Suite 104, Mount Vernon, 360-336-1555."