In her weekly column, Nancy Churchill shares her thoughts on House Bill 1772, which addresses emergency powers reform
Nancy Churchill
Dangerous Rhetoric
I recently heard a sermon about the parable of the fig tree, which is found in Luke 13:6-9. While there are many lessons to be learned from the parables of Jesus, this particular lesson focused on the importance of being fruitful. What is the absolute best use of my time? What is distracting me from being fruitful in my life? How can I improve my focus? What is the highest and best use of my time? In the parable, the gardener realized that he needed to spend more time cultivating and fertilizing the fig tree, so that it would bear fruit.
In life, we face the same problem. People get distracted from focusing on the tasks that could really make a difference in their lives. Many people tell me, “I don’t pay attention to politics; I prefer to play games, watch movies, enjoy the outdoors.”
But when you are distracted by movies, the social media feed, the talking heads on TV, or professional sports teams, you don’t have time, energy or attention left over to discover how to have a greater impact on the people and institutions who really rule your life and your ability to live a life of freedom and prosperity. Ultimately, the goal of these distractions, is capturing your focus! The real rulers of this world want you to be distracted, unaware and powerless to impact their agenda.
When we focus on our government, we have an opportunity to be truly fruitful by influencing the development of laws and rules that will impact our lives, our children’s lives, and our community. Do you know how to be a fruitful and productive actor in government? Let’s direct our focus on the Washington State Legislature!
The 2022 Legislative Session started on Jan. 10. For the next 12 weeks, the legislature will be making laws that will greatly impact you. Unfortunately, this group is controlled by radical progressives who do not have your best interests in mind. They have lots of laws pre-filed that will reduce public safety, increase taxes and make your life more difficult. On the other side of the aisle, the Republicans have introduced bills that would limit the governor’s emergency powers, increase public safety, and improve public education.
One of the most important bills of the 2022 session, according to Republican House Leader J.T. Wilcox, is HB 1772 – Emergency Powers Reform. In his letter to Speaker Laurie Jinkins urging passage of emergency powers reform during the 2022 session, Rep. Wilcox laid out the arguments for restoring the balance of power between the executive branch and the legislative branch. However, because the Democrats are in the majority, Speaker Jinkins can kill this bill in committee if she wants to. That’s the power of the majority. What can you do to impact this public discussion on HB 1772? Start by looking up this bill, and making a comment in support of it. Keep your comment short and simple: “I strongly support emergency powers reform.”
Then return to the bill info page and “subscribe to notifications about this bill.” It will be assigned to a committee sometime this week, and you will be notified which committee, and when it gets scheduled for a hearing.
Once the bill has been scheduled into committee, another action you could take would be to send an email directly to the chair of the committee, asking that HB 1772 be considered this year. It’s important to be very polite and keep your message simple: “I strongly support Emergency Powers Reform Bill 1772. I urge you to support the passage of this bill this session.”
That’s it. Comment, email, track. Don’t worry about success or failure. Right now, we just want to make it very clear that this is an important issue. If the Democrats fail to act on emergency powers reform this session, we will make it an election year issue at the polls later this year.
With 15-20 minutes of focus and effort, YOU CAN have an impact, and once you start to understand the process of lawmaking, you will come to enjoy and appreciate the complex process that our founding fathers created for us. Start building the skills you need by visiting www.influencingolympia.com and registering for the easy, self-paced online class, “Influencing Olympia Effectively.” Influencing the lawmakers in Olympia is not easy, and often feels like climbing a mountain. However, you can make a difference when you participate. The secret is FOCUS. Keep your eyes on the prize, and follow the action in Olympia every day! When we focus on peacefully presenting our vision for our society and country every day without flinching away from criticism or hatred, we can move mountains. Join me in becoming a political gardener nourishing the political fig tree! This important work building knowledge, cultivating skills and building relationships across Washington state will have a powerful long term impact on your family, your prosperity and on our community’s future. Your political focus will bear fruit and we will all be blessed by your efforts.
Nancy Churchill is the state committeewoman for the Ferry County Republican Party. She may be reached at DangerousRhetoric@pm.me. The opinions expressed in Dangerous Rhetoric are her own.
