The two houses of the Washington State legislature are currently in negotiations over a final State operating budget. While the proposed House budget does not include furloughs, the proposed Senate budget includes 13 furlough days for all State employees.

As they work to reconcile their budgets, they are being pressured by wealthy corporate lobbyists filling their heads with lies and threats, but they need to hear from you too – the employees who keep our roads safe and provide other essential services for Washingtonians.

At 12 p.m. on Wed., April 16, we will call budget chairs and Governor Ferguson with a unified message – “NO FURLOUGHS for State employees!” 

To send your message, use the script and phone numbers below to flood the voicemails of Gov. Ferguson, and chairs of the Budget Committee. The first three phone numbers are the priority, but if you have time throughout the week, please call all committee members to make your voice heard!

Gov. Ferguson’s Office: 360-902-4111
House Appropriations Chair Timm Ormsby: 360-786-7946
Senate Ways and Means Chair June Robinson: 360-786-7674
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Senate Ways and Means Vice Chair Derek Stanford: 360-786-7600
Senate Ways and Means Vice Chair Yasmin Trudeau: 360-786-7652
Senate Ways and Means Vice Chair Noel Frame: 360-786-7670
House Appropriations Vice Chair Mia Gregerson: 360-786-7868
House Appropriations Vice Chair Nicole Macri: 360-786-7826

Sample script:
“Hi, this is (your name) and I work for the (DOL/WSP/WSDOT). I proudly serve my community when I go to work every day by providing essential services to the taxpayers of Washington. These services will erode with the implementation of furlough days. Instead of taxing the middle-class workers who serve our State, we need progressive taxation and new revenue streams to close the budget gap. Furloughs will not only set us back financially, but we know that they historically just don’t work. Tax the wealthy, not the people who helped elect you. No Furloughs!”

As a reminder, please take this action on your break time, and on your personal equipment. 

Collectively we have the power to make change. Please call the Governor and lawmakers on April 16 at 12pm — or anytime this week! — to hold them accountable to the promises they made to State workers.

You can also continue to send our pre-written e-mail message to your Representatives!

Our email campaign to lawmakers launched on April 1, and together, we’ve sent nearly 1,000 messages to Representatives across our state. If you haven’t had a chance to send the pre-written message to your Reps, there’s still time!

Send a pre-written email to your State legislators saying NO to furloughs at the link below: 

https://actionnetwork.org/letters/dont-balance-the-budget-on-the-backs-of-state-employees