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Hello Cultural Partners,
Happy Thanksgiving Week! We hope you're preparing to take some well-deserved time off work for a joyful holiday with family and friends. Before you step away, we're excited to share a helpful tool to inspire your advocacy through next year. As you well know, the state's passage of ESSB 5814 has created significant hardships on cultural businesses by expanding the activities that are subject to retail sales tax. We've created an advocacy guide to drive outreach to state lawmakers and we're asking you to take action! As a united sector, we must do everything we can to minimize the impacts of ESSB 5814 to protect cultural programming. Can we count on you to share your story?
If we want relief from ESSB 5814, we need every member of the legislature to understand the negative impacts. Until the start of the Legislative Session on January 13, Inspire Washington aims to:
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direct a minimum of 10 emails to every Washington Representative and Senator representing various points of view: leaders of cultural organizations, board members, and the audiences/students they serve.
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drive many in-person meetings with advocates and these lawmakers, especially with members of the House Finance and Senate Ways and Means Committees
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deploy our lobbyist for meetings with key leaders to explore and negotiate potential solutions
Download the ESSB 5814 Advocacy guide here!
If you have a VPN, you may need to turn off to download document.
Need more information? Register for one of our free Open Office Hours. We're happy to coach you on your outreach, develop your unique talking points, and put you at ease if you've never done this before.
Just announced! The legislature's House Finance Committee will be holding a hearing on December 4th and "Implementation of Senate Bill 5814" is on the agenda. They've invited various business sectors to provide testimony on the impact of new retail sales taxes on their work and customers. Inspire Washington has been asked to present on the cultural impacts so we're figuring out strategy for our five-minute segment. This is another starting point for this critical conversation and we're passionate about representing you. There isn't an opportunity for public testimony or sign-in. For more information, visit the House Finance Committee page and scroll down to "Upcoming committee activity." We'll share meeting links next week if you'd like to watch virtually on TVW.
Background Information about ESSB 5814:
If this issue is new to you, the Washington Legislature expanded and "modernized" retail sales tax collection starting October 1st. Of particular concern to cultural work is the imposition of taxes on activities deemed to be "Live Presentations" as well as increased costs for programming and services. Read past IW emails for a more thorough briefing.
Resources for the tax:
Only the Legislature has the power to amend existing state laws during their annual session, January to March. Your advocacy over the next few months will be a critical step forward in educating members of the Legislature and securing a solution. Please forward this email to others in your cultural network: staff, board, volunteers, donors, allies, and audience/patrons. Let's build a big and broad coalition of advocates who believe, like you, that access to science, heritage, and the arts is uplifting and impactful. One of the biggest barriers is cost, so we need a solution to ESSB 5814!
In solidarity,
Manny Cawaling, Executive Director
manny@inspirewashington.org
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