Has the bill been amendmed? Those changes are brutal

On Monday, Aug 4th, Whole Washington hosted their monthly All Hands call, giving updates on what the organization is doing to advance the cause of universal healthcare in the state of Washington.

Here is a link if you want to watch it. Otherwise, these are the highlights:

1. August Events | LINK TO CALENDAR

• 8/5 - Advocate's Round Table (UHCC, Olympia) - Whole Washington leadership meeting with the state's Universal Healthcare Commission
• 8/7 - Comms & Social Media Team weekly meeting - Weekly call discussing outreach efforts. Also on August 14, 21, and 28.
• 8/7 - Weekly Phonebank - Reaching out to supporters on Thursdays from 4:30-6 to answer questions and raise awareness. Also on August 14, 21, and 28.
• 8/16 - Garland Pride & Unity in the Community Tabling (Spokane) - We will have a table at two events in Spokane. Come say hi!
• 8/19 - Virtual Town Hall - Organizers will share information about the Washington Health Trust, ask questions of the audience regarding their experiences with healthcare, and provide opportunities to take action.
• 8/26 - New Volunteer Orientation - Virtual meeting to learn how you can get involved and take action at the state, county, and neighborhood level.

2. Board of Directors Updates

- The board meets on the third Thursday of the month from noon to 2pm. Next meeting is August 21st. RSVP here to attend virtually.

- We are actively recruiting Advisory Board members as well as a Treasurer (we have a promising applicant though). Apply at www.wholewashington.org/jobs

- Newest Advisory Board Member is Jessa Gavrielle. She lives in Seattle and works in cybersecurity. Chair of LGBTQ Commission's Community Outreach Committee. Executive Director of the Seattle Coalition for Family & Relationship Equity. Board of Directors at Queer Power Alliance.

- Whole Washington to gain 501(c)3 status via Sustainable Seattle. We are also retaining our c4 status. This allows us to receive tax-deductible donations, employer matching programs, and grants, among many other benefits.

3. Fundraising

Thank you to everyone who has donated to Whole Washington!

While we are blowing last year out of the water, we have seen a donation plateau month over month. The majority of our funding comes from recurring donations. Big one-time donations mostly coming from events like the gala we hosted earlier this year.

We are recruiting fundraising leads & coordinators to build our momentum back up.

We are planning a Fall Benefit Concert on September 20th in Arlington and welcome any volunteers interested in coordination.

4. Data Team Update

In the wake of the passing of the Big Ugly Bill, we have seen a wave of pledges, volunteer signups, and subscriptions! Here are July numbers:

• Pledges to sign the ballot initiative: 2,860
• New email subscribers: 1,730
• Mobile update subscribers: 901
• Volunteer signups: 113

All social accounts are growing in followership, except for Twitter (X), due to lack of posting.

5. Comms Team Update

Weekly Meetings on Thursdays from 1:30-3:00pm. We are looking for more volunteers that do writing, graphics, and photography.

Website received some needed updates, including a new home page banner and a facelift to the Take Action page: wholewashington.org/actions

New page on the website displaying important polling data surrounding public support for universal healthcare in Washington.

Go to wholewashington.org/polls to read an explanation of the above chart along with sources and other data.

Social Media: An official brand strategy is coming this month to provide direction for our team. We are recruiting volunteers for content creation, sharing, liking, commenting, subscribing, etc. You don't need to be an expert to get involved.

6. Joint-Committee Work Session

Our request for the state legislature to give us a joint-committee work session, a kind of hearing between the Senate and House committees, is still pending response. The request still stands and the board plans to ramp up outreach to their offices.

We encourage the constituents of Annette Cleveland and Dan Bronoske to make their voices heard on this matter. More information from the Whole Washington team to come.

7. Washington State Labor Convention Resolution

The Washington State Labor Council (WSLC) has passed a resolution (2025.02 on page 23) in support of Washington pursuing a statewide universal healthcare system Thursday morning (7/24) at the 2025 Washington State Labor Convention in Vancouver Washington.

Resolution 2025.02 passed with very little opposition - see our press release here. This level of support amongst our state's union workers gives us a strong platform to build support for the specific implementation of universal healthcare that Whole Washington seeks to establish.

8. Coalition Building

This victory was largely coordinated by our coalition partner, Health Care is a Human Right (HCHR-WA), We will continue to work with them to engage with labor unions and other professional organizations within the state. Learn more about the coalition we're building at wholewashington.org/coalition

On the national level, Whole Washington Vice Chair Kathryn Lewandowsky and Executive Director Andre Stackhouse were invited to be the final keynote speaker at the One Payer States annual conference in Denver. We are coordinating with One Payer States to organize as a national coalition of states working to make universal healthcare a reality for all citizens.

9. Universal Health Care Commission

Whole Washington will attend a round table meeting with the state commission on 8/5 to have a conversation around policy.

The commission meets every month. here are the rest of the year's meetings:

• Thursday, Sept 11, 2-5pm
• Thursday, Oct 9, 2-5pm
• Thursday, Dec 11, 2-5pm

We are expecting a report from the commission on the Washington Health Trust by the end of the year.

10. New Regional Structure

Whole Washington has created a regional structure for community outreach and engagement. While we have coverage in all seven regions, we are open to further volunteers for leading some regions. Once regional teams are fully established, the next step will be to build county teams.

Attend the next Volunteer Coordination meeting on 8/26 for more information.

Another reason we need universal healthcare. So if your medical practitioner doesn’t want to support you can try another. Another reason all of America needs Universal Healthcare.

A great article from The Thunderword

This location has great transit access, tons of space, and good beer.