Today, the House Democrats released their 2017-2019 Operating Budget proposal, and there's some great news: It fully funds our collective bargaining agreement for Teamsters at the Department of Corrections. Last week, the Senate Republicans passed their budget which also funds our DOC contract. 

Unlike the Senate, though, the House budget also funds $500,000 for our requested budget proviso to conduct an independent, comprehensive staffing level audit to review staffing levels in each DOC institution by classification. We lobbied on this issue this year, and made it a key part of our legislative agenda. 

The House and Senate budgets diverge in other ways as well. The Senate failed to fund most other state employee contracts; thankfully, the House remedied that by investing in all state employees including our members at the University of Washington Police Department. 

With budget negotiations about to get underway, we need to send a message to our legislators about our priorities for the budget.

YOUR ACTION NEEDED: Call the Legislative Hotline at 1-800-562-6000 with this message:

1. Thank your legislators for recognizing the important work of our state's corrections professionals. 
2. Encourage your Senator to support funding for the DOC staffing level audit.
3. Ask your Senator to invest in our UW Police Officers by funding their contract. 

Thank you for taking action on these issues.