Around the middle of the legislative session, lawmakers go into what we sometimes call a Floor Vote Frenzy- a week of hearing bills in the full House and Senate chambers, voting on as many as they can hear before the cutoff deadline. For advocates, it’s an important time to be taking action, to make sure lawmakers prioritize the right bills and to make sure they pass in strong shape to go to the opposite chamber. This year we went big on our Growing Together campaign with a special Sprouts and Shouts Week of Action. We sent a new action each day that folks can take to support important bills.

Shoutout to the creative brilliance of Ava for envisioning this, and for putting together daily actions. We called, we emailed, we left voicemails. We shared our hopes for Washington on social media, reached out to our friends to get involved, and built stronger digital communities. We made a lot of gardening puns.

Supporters and advocates made over 1,000 contacts to legislators, 🎉🪴 calling for them to pass critical policies that will help communities all across Washington. The bills we supported will make housing more affordable for renters by capping rent increases; make neighborhoods more walkable by building more affordable housing near public transit; and make sure that all municipalities are following the same guidelines for their planning under the Growth Management Act.

Not only was this a great week for legislative advocacy, but it was a great reminder of what makes advocacy successful, and helps us sustain this work over time.
1) We do it together, and
2) We make it fun.

Day 3 we focused on growing our base of supporters with relational organizing – which just means texting and calling our friends, family, neighbors, coworkers and asking them to get involved. Futurewise supporters are amazing, we get a lot done, but there’s only so many of us. The best way to strengthen a movement is to share it with your own friends. If we each reach out to 3-5 people with a simple action they can take, we can amplify our impact so much more. And it’s never too late to make an impact, get involved, and share with your friends.

We all want our communities to be thriving, equitable, and prosperous; we all want a healthy environment and access to open space. Our campaign this year is called Growing Together, because we know that collective action builds power. The Sprouts and Shouts Week of Action was a major success, and we’ve taken that momentum into the back half of session with us.