With only three days left in the session, tech lobbyists are making a last-ditch effort to pass the Bad Washington Privacy Act!  Just this morning, a new amendment to SB 5062 was published, undoing the improvements the House had made earlier in the session.  And there’s just enough time left in the session for the Senate and House to vote on it!

Time is short, so please contact your legislators as soon as possible.  We’ve got instructions below for how to do this via the web form on the legislature’s site, phone, or email.  Here’s a script – short and sweet.

Please oppose SB 5062 Amendment 1484, the floor striking amendment Sen. Carlyle just introduced.  This amendment combines 2SSB 5062 with 2SHB 1850 – two bills that people and organizations across the state have asked you to oppose.

How to contact your legislators about privacy legislation

Using the web form on the state legislature’s web site

Commenting on a bill on the state legislature’s web site is an easy way to let your legislators know your position on the bill and send any comments to one or all of your state legislatures. Here’s how:

1. Click here to go to the comment page for SB 5062, the Bad Washington Privacy Act
2. Fill in your address and click Verify District
3. Select the legislators you want to sent it to.  There are bills alive in both chambers, so select them all.
4. Choose your position — OPPOSE!
5. Fill out the rest of the form and click on Send Comment.

Your comment doesn’t have to be fancy — cut and paste the script from above, or even just “Don’t let tech companies want to write our privacy laws” is fine.  Or, you can write your own comment from scratch.

By phone

If you prefer to call, the legislative hotline at 1–800–562–6000 (TTY for Hearing Impaired 800.833.6388) also lets you get a message to all your legislators at once.

1. Tell them the you’re calling about SB 5062 — you oppose it and want to leave a comment.
2. They’ll ask for your address, and then what you want to say about the bill.

The staffer has to type in whatever you say, so it’s fine to keep it simple — “Don’t let tech companies want to write our privacy laws”.  Or you can go into more detail, like the script above

By email

Legislators are getting a lot of email right now so there is no guarantee they’ll read it, but they are at least likely to see the subject line — so it is very important to include all the information there so they know what you want them to do. Choose a subject line like

Data privacy: OPPOSE the new amendment to SB 5062

For the addresses, we’ve got a lists of State Representatives’ and Senator’s email addresses HERE.  If you’re not sure who your legislators are, start by looking up your district using the legislature’s District Finder.  It’s easiest to send a single email to all three of your lawmakers, or you can mail each one individually.  If you want, you can also BCC us at WAPeoplesPrivacyNetwork@gmail.com so that we can track how many people are emailing their legislators about privacy.

For the contents, all you need to do is cut-and-paste and do a little editing — fill in your legislators’ names, and then include your name and city at the bottom so they know you’re a constituent.

Dear Senator X, Representative Y, and Representative Z,

Please oppose SB 5062 Amendment 1484, the floor striking amendment Sen. Carlyle just introduced.  This amendment combines 2SSB 5062 with 2SHB 1850 – two bills that people and organizations across the state have asked you to oppose.

You can edit it however you want, or write your own email from scratch.  Double check it to make sure you’ve got their names in there, and make sure to sign it with your name and city … then click send and you’re done!