A Bill to Ban Plant-Based Milk + Happier Reasons to Write Your Legislators

Here’s an overview of bills worth writing to your legislator about this session, which goes through April:

Senate Bill 5349: Concerning products identified as milk (WHAT ON EARTH?)
The bill adds this to language to existing state law that prohibits selling contaminated milk:
“It is unlawful to sell, offer for sale, or deliver any product that is identified by the word ‘milk’ and that is intended for human consumption as food or drink if the product is not milk or does not contain milk or milk products.”

House Bill 1026: Concerning breed-based dog regulations (YES!)
A public hearing is scheduled in the House for 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 21, and it’s set to go to executive committee on Jan. 31.
“Prohibits a city or county from prohibiting the possession of a dog based upon its breed, imposing requirements specific to possession of a dog based upon its breed, or declaring a dog dangerous or potentially dangerous based upon its breed unless certain conditions are met.”

House Bill 1045: Prohibiting the lethal removal of gray wolves (YES!)
“Prohibits the department of fish and wildlife from authorizing the killing of gray wolves. Allows the department to authorize the nonlethal removal or relocation of gray wolves that are destroying or injuring property, or when nonlethal removal or relocation is necessary for wildlife management or research.”

House Bill 1007: Concerning dedicated funding for animal shelter capital projects (YES!)
“Requires the department of commerce to establish a competitive process to: (1) Solicit proposals for and prioritize projects whose primary objective is to assist animal shelters in acquiring, constructing, or rehabilitating facilities; and (2) Establish a competitive process to prioritize applications for assistance.”

House Bill 1025: Concerning the slaughter of horses and other equines for human consumption (YES!)
“Prohibits a person from: (1) Slaughtering a horse if the person knows or should know that the meat from the slaughtered animal is intended to be used for human consumption; and (2) Possessing, purchasing, bartering, selling, or transporting horses if the person knows or should know that the horse or its meat will be used for human consumption. Excludes horses, mules, and asses from the definition of ‘meat food animal.'”

House Bill 1046: Prohibiting hunting with the aid of dogs for certain purposes (YES!)
“Prohibits a person from hunting or pursuing black bear, cougar, bobcat, or lynx with the aid of a dog.”

Look up your state legislators: https://app.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/
A list of their email addresses: https://app.leg.wa.gov/memberemail/Default.aspx?Chamber=S
Set up alerts for bills you want to follow: https://www.washingtonvotes.org/
Look up more about this session’s bills here: https://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/