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March 2006 News
Index to articles posted in March:
Alternative Energy Forum Planning
Welcome to the New Website!
Successful Legislative Session Ends
March 10th Meeting - Richard Conlin
Precinct Caucuses - March 6th
Updated March 24th
Planning for an Alternative Energy Forum - April 3rd
The District is planning a major forum on alternative energy, to be held in July. You can help plan this event! See the present plan on the "Call to Action" page, or contact Tim Nuse.
Posted March 14th
Welcome to our new-look Web site
We hope you like the new look of our Web site. It has been a long time coming. Hats off to our lead designer, PCO David McMurray, and our longtime Webmaster and 34th District Democrats Secretary, Bill Schrier.
The old cluttered look and the gray background are gone. The content will remain, and we will keep the pages current, as we always have done. We have tried to be, and we hope to remain, the most content-rich Democratic Party Web site in the state.
We would love it if other Democratic District or County Web sites were to rise to the challenge and (attempt to) provide more content than we have. And why not? We are, after all, the party of working people and of communities. If there’s nothing political going on in your workplace or in your community, then you must not be paying attention.
Not only do we want you to visit, we want you to come back often. Most of all, we hope you will contribute. If there’s something going on in the 34th, or nearby, we want to know about it, and chances are that our members do, too.
We want to know what you’d like to see on these pages. What kind of information will help you become better informed, and an more effective Democrat? Please feel free to e-mail me with your ideas, suggestions, or flames.
Most of all, watch this space. We hope to keep you informed, and to keep you motivated. We’ll see you at our next 34th District Democrats meeting, Wednesday, April 12, for “All the Democracy You Can Handle.”
Ivan Weiss
Chairman, 34th District Democrats
Updated March 10th
Very Successful Legislative Session Ends
Democrats in Olympia passed a budget on March 9th. We can be proud of it and we did it a day early! The budget passed by the legislature reflects our Democratic priorities; it will create jobs, improve education and help make healthcare more accessible. This budget is fiscally responsible, creating a savings of over $935 million. It is good for all working families in Washington. Some highlights:
• $40 million to help students pass the WASL and help them with math and science
• $6 million for more enrollments in higher education
• A pay increase for teachers
• 6,500 more people will be covered by the Basic Health Plan
• 14,000 more children will be covered by the Children’s Health Program
• $50 million in tax relief for small businesses and farms, which will create jobs Our state parks are more accessible to everyone because of the elimination of the parking fee
• $14 million for affordable housing
• $50 million more for mental health programs and hospitals
• $935 million in reserve funds
To read more about the budget, visit the legislative website. At the April 12th meeting of the 34th District, our legislators will give us a full de-brief of the session.
Updated March 8th
 March 8th District Meeting
We have three speakers: Mark Wilson, who is seeking the Democratic Party nomination for the U.S. Senate seat held by Maria Cantwell, and an old friend and frequent visitor, Seattle City Councilman Richard Conlin. In addition, Meagan Dixon of the Energy Independence Initiative will speak. We'll also have an open microphone to share opinions and ideas - especially ideas generated during the March 4th caucus. In addition, the March District newsletter is "in the mail" but you can download a copy here. See also the meeting agenda page and our March Letter from Chair Ivan Weiss. The minutes of the February 8th meeting are posted, along with the Felon Rights Resolution we passed that evening.
Updated March 8th
Democrats Participate in Precinct Caucuses
 On a beautiful, sunny, Saturday, 247 Democrats in the 34th District participated in the 2006 caucuses at five locations. We discussed a number of issues and passed resolutions which will inform the Democratic Party platform going into the 2006 election. We elected delegates to the 34th District Caucus to be held on April 22nd, and the King County Democratic Convention to be held on May 6th. More results are on the Caucus 2006 page, which also includes text of the resolutions, an overview of the caucus process, forms and documents PCO's used to conduct the caucus and more information. Photo at right: 8th District County Councilmember Dow Constantine talking to PCO Brian Peyton and a precinct caucus at the Madison Junior High School Area Caucus, West Seattle.
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