Looking Forward To A Fruitful 2023
By Tom Gwin
State Grange
Master/President
After an outstanding 2022, we are primed and moving forward to a fruitful 2023.
Our Granges have a storied past. We do not often celebrate our successes of the previous year. 2022 saw us back to a full state Grange session. We debated nearly thirty resolutions, over 150 recommendations from the standing committees, and enjoyed fellowship for our first face to face session in three years. Likewise, the Subordinate and Pomona Granges across the state are back to a full calendar of activities and are working to improve our communities.
Grange membership grew by leaps and bounds. Subordinate Granges reported 1038 new members in 2022. Several Granges were revitalized. Interest in the Grange Youth Fairs Program led to the organization of new Junior Granges. We have now passed 1200 Junior Grange members in our state. This is an increase of approximately 450 from 2021.
What do we have to look forward to in 2023? Your State Grange Leadership Team is working to provide tools that will assist you in building your Grange, causing you many reasons to continue your celebrations. The first set of tools is the upcoming series of Grange Resource and Leadership Conference. We are planning 19 face-to-face conferences across the state. The list of dates, times, and locations is found elsewhere in this issue. We will have discussions on current topics of interest, along with presentations by the Leadership Team on programs and opportunities available in 2023. We will be distributing program materials, packets of information, and sharing ideas. Program Handbooks and Legislative Handbooks are printed and will be available. You may also download the information from the State Grange website: www.wa-grange.com . I hope you will take the opportunity to join us at one of this year’s conferences.
For those unable to attend one of our face-to-face conferences, we have scheduled a series of officer training meetings to be held via zoom. The list of training sessions, with the topic of each meeting, is also included in this issue. I encourage all Grange members to sit in on one or more of these meetings to learn more about current Grange programs.
The upcoming legislative session will occupy our interests here in Olympia. Our new Legislative Lobbyist, Jesse Taylor, hit the ground running as he continues to work for us and all of agriculture. Jesse will represent us well as he has the experience and knowledge required of an agriculture-based lobbyist. The Grange Legislative Committee, chaired by Rex Ogden, will assist in guiding our legislative department. This year’s legislative session is back to the usual face to face format. We have scheduled regular legislative updates for every two weeks, beginning Monday, January 23. All Grange members are invited to participate in the updates as they will be conducted via Zoom. Additional dates and login information is listed in the article on “Zoom Officer Training.” We have scheduled our Annual Legislative Day for Thursday, March 2. Information on that event is elsewhere in this issue.
We added a new event to the Legislative calendar. We will be holding a Youth and Junior Grange Legislative Experience on March 26-28. Grange Youth and Juniors will be able to come to Olympia to learn about state government and to watch the legislature in session. We are planning tours, speakers, and appointments with State Senators and Representatives. We will also include a variety of social activities in this event. Participants will need to have their own chaperones and take care of their own housing. Additional information on this event will be forthcoming.
The 134th Washington State Grange Convention will be June 21-24 at the Grant County Fairgrounds in Moses Lake. The convention Kick Off Meeting is January 28. Next month, you will find the housing information in The Grange News. I encourage you to book your room early.
This year promises to be busy and filled with Grange activities. We have multiple opportunities to continue growing not only at the state level, but in all Granges in every single community across the state. Let’s continue working in building a bright future for our Granges, our communities, our state, and our nation. Our productive work will lead us to another fruitful year in 2023.
Budgets On Tap At Legislative Session
By Jesse Taylor
Legislative Lobbyist
The legislative session is upon us with January 9th, 2023 marking day one of the 105-day session. This is the biennium year where the House, Senate and Governor must agree on a new 2-year budget that balances over a four-year outlook. This year the legislature will pass three budgets in all; the Omnibus Operating Budget, the Transportation Budget, and the Capital Budget. They are funded with different forms of revenue, and all serve their own purpose.
Governor Inslee has already released his record $70 billion state operating budget. This includes no new taxes but relies in part on a tax on capital gains which takes effect this month. The legality of this tax is still in the court system, and we may not know until April 2023 what the outcome is.
You can see the Governor’s proposed budget summary, bill and agency details in this link.
OUR PRIORITIES
The Grange Legislative Committee has outlined our main priorities for the 2023 session. We favor retention of the Columbia and Snake River Dams as an integral part of our transportation infrastructure. These hydroelectric power producing dams provide clean energy, recreational opportunities and assist in managing flood control. We feel these energy sources and infrastructure are vital for the rural communities along it, as well as vital for the free flow of grain commodities to our export markets.
We support seasonal flexibility for overtime pay of agricultural workers. As changes to the state agriculture overtime rules continue with each session, we support flexibility of producers, employers, and farm workers during demanding seasonality.
We believe a capital gains tax is a form of income tax as defined by the Internal Revenue Service. The Washington State Constitution prohibits an income tax, therefore we oppose a capital gains tax. This will be settled in the Washington State Supreme Court by April of 2023.
We oppose any new riparian buffers that could result in removing land from agriculture production along with supporting expansion of broadband capabilities in rural areas of the state. These will be included with any other policy proposals which increase the economic viability of rural communities.
This year we are monitoring and actively engaging in the per-mile vehicle use fee proposed by the Washington State Transportation Committee. We feel this tax disproportionately effects our rural citizens who must drive further for basic necessities, services and work. Rural citizens already feel outsized pain of the current gas tax rates which are $0.68 per gallon of gas and $0.74 per gallon of diesel (State & Federal). We intend to advocate for policy which does no harm to our rural citizens regarding transportation or energy taxation. One Seattle newspaper offered a good explanation of the proposed policy, here.
This year will be full of new proposals, old proposals and some curve balls that might come about. Please reach out to us via email legislative@wa-grange.org with questions about legislation or proposals you may be hearing about. We’ve also included this find your legislator tool where you can identify your legislator and then contact them through this easy-to-use member roster contact page.
Happy New Year to you all!
This year’s series of State Grange Resource and Leadership Conferences is set to being with the first meeting on January 14 in Grays Harbor County. Eighteen additional meetings will be held through January and February at various locations across the state.
The conference will include a general session for all participants, followed by break out meetings. The break out meetings will be 30 minutes each and be held concurrently.
State Master Tom Gwin will lead a discussion for Masters and Secretaries, while State Lecturer Leslie Wells will meet with the Lecturers and State Family Living Director Helen Berg will meet with the Family Living Chairpersons. Additional presentations will be given by the Junior and Youth Departments.
Packets of information for each department will be distributed, along with program handbooks, legislative handbooks, and additional resource materials for each Grange.
The complete schedule of conferences, which are open to all Grange members, is as follows:
Sat, January 14 Satsop Grange Hall 401 Market Street, Satsop 12 p.m. potluck, 1 p.m. conference
Sat, January 14 Washington Grange Hall 7701 NE Ward Road, Vancouver 6 p.m. potluck, 7 p.m. conference
Sun, January 15 Catlin Grange Hall, 205 Shawnee Street, Kelso 1 p.m. potluck, 2 p.m. conference
Sun, January 15 Fords Prairie Grange Hall 2640 Reynolds Avenue, Centralia 6 p.m. potluck, 7 p.m. conference
Mon, January 16 Dry Creek Grange Hall 3520 W, Edgewood Drive, Port Angeles 1 p.m. conference
Fri, January 20 McMillin Grange Hall 12615 State Route 163, Puyallup 7 p.m. conference
Sat, January 21 Kellogg Marsh Grange Hall 10005 67th Avenue NE, Marysville 12 p.m. potluck, 1 p.m. conference
Sat, January 21 Skagit Valley Grange Hall 21273 Cook Road, Burlington 6 p.m. potluck, 7 p.m. conference
Sun, January 22 San Juan Island Grange Hall 152 1st Street N., Friday Harbor 1 p.m. conference
Fri, January 27 Fruitvale Grange Hall 2908 Castlevale Blvd, Yakima 5:30 p.m. potluck, 6:30 p.m. conference
Sat, January 28 Prospect Point Grange Hall S. Howard & Prospect Avenue, Walla Walla 6:30 p.m. conference
Sun, January 29 Columbia Valley Grange Hall 6300 West Court Street, Pasco 1 p.m. conference
Sun, January 29 Menastash Grange Hall 4931 Menastash Road, Ellensburg 6 p.m. conference
Fri, February 3 Camden Grange Hall Downtown Camden 6 p.m. potluck, 7 p.m. conference
Sat, February 4 Addy Grange Hall 1376 Main Street, Addy 12 p.m. potluck, 1 p.m. conference
Sat, February 4 Green Bluff Grange Hall 9809 E Green Bluff Road, Colbert 7 p.m. conference
Sun, February 5 Eddy’s Restaurant 702 S. Main, Colfax 1 p.m. conference with no-host lunch
Fri, February 10 Bee Hive Grange Hall 4593 Squilchuck Road, Wenatchee 6 p.m. potluck, 7 p.m. conference
Sat, February 11 Okanogan Grange Hall 305 Tyee St., Okanogan 12 p.m. potluck, 1 p.m. meeting
Sat, February 11 Bob’s Café 1807 Kittleson Road, Moses Lake 6 p.m. conference with no-host dinner
By GN Staff
While not all state directors will be able to attend the leadership conferences, a series of Zoom meetings has been developed as a supplement to the face-to-face Grange Resource and Leadership conferences. This will allow Grange members across the state to communicate directly with the state officers/directors to learn about the current programs.
All training sessions are open to all Grange members and will allow multiple members from a Grange the opportunity to utilize the resources available to conduct successful projects and activities within their local Granges. Additional meetings will be announced as the dates become available.
Login information is the same for each meeting and is at the link on our home page.
GRANGE SECRETARIES, Terry Abbott, State Secretary: Wed, February 1, 10:00 a.m. - Thurs, February 2, 6:00 p.m. - Wed, February 8, 1:00 p.m.
YOUTH FAIRS PROGRAM, Tom Gwin, State President: Wed, February 1, 7:00 p.m.
FAMILY LIVING, Helen Berg, Family Living Director: Mon, February 13, 7:00 p.m.
LEGISLATIVE UPDATES FOR ALL GRANGE MEMBERS: Jesse Taylor, Grange Lobbyist, and the Grange Legislative Advisory Committee: Mon, January 23, 10:00 a.m.; Mon, February 6, 10:00 a.m.; Mon, February 20, 10:00 a.m.; Mon, March 6, 10:00 a.m.; Mon, March 20, 10:00 a.m.; Mon, April 2, 10:00 a.m.; Mon, April 17, 10:00 a.m.;
COMMUNITY SERVICE, Heather Ferguson, Community Services Director: Wed, February 15, 7:00 p.m.
JUNIOR DEPARTMENT, Heather Ferguson, Junior Grange Director: Thurs, February 16, 7:00 p.m.
LECTURER PROGRAMS, Leslie Wells, State Lecturer: Tues, February 21, 7:00 p.m.; Wed, February 22, 2:00 p.m.
YOUTH DEPARTMENT, State Youth Committee: Thurs, February 23, 7:00 p.m.
GRANGE MASTERS, Tom Gwin, State President: Wed, January 25, 7:00 p.m.; Wed, February 22, 7:00 p.m.; Wed, March 29, 7:00 p.m.