Sound Alliance



$1.1 Billion Jobs Bill Passes!

“We are stronger and better together” was dramatically demonstrated again in the face of this year’s brutal unemployment rates and realities.  Sound Alliance faith, labor, education and non-profit organizations, along with other labor and business organizations, and legislators worked together to pass a $1.1 Billion construction bonds bill that will create and estimated 18,000 jobs in Washington State. The bill, which passed with huge, bipartisan majorities in each chamber, allocates $15 million dollars to continue the work of Community Energy Efficiency Programs, such as SustainableWorks, a key priority of the Sound and Spokane Alliances.

Alliance churches and synagogues have watched as their efforts to provide food and shelter have been overwhelmed by the need created by waves of unemployment. Alliance labor organizations have experienced depression era layoffs.  Education Association members have tried to cope with fewer teachers and with the insecurity on the faces of their students. Alliance members’ passion for addressing unemployment runs deep. The Jobs Research/Action Team’s worked with legislators beginning last summer to give Alliance institutions a solid foundation before committing to a job creation campaign during the lengthy 2012 legislative session.

The Alliance’s legislative strategy focused on moving swing votes in the Senate.  Groups of half dozen to dozen Alliance leaders cutting across faith, labor and education institutional lines met with key moderates in from both parties.  Early efforts focused on conservative Democrats some of whom later broke ranks to support the bill. Alliance leaders also engaged Republicans in bringing about the bipartisan win.  Alliance leaders worked with key legislators such as Sen. Ed Murray and Rep. Hans Dunshee to ensure that the allocation for Community Energy Efficiency Programs would remain in the Jobs Package bill.

Faith leaders from St. Vincent Catholic Church took action with their state representative in order to renovate a park in Federal Way that had fallen into disrepair.  The Episcopal Diocese of Western Washington drew on its wide network of leaders, so they could speaking to geographically diverse legislators as constituents. Alliance leaders from Plumbers, local 32, Sheet Metal Workers local 66, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, local 46 worked tirelessly help craft the legislation and persuade legislators the bills potential to construct needed infrastructure while creating needed jobs.

News that the Jobs Bill had passed was greeted with celebration by leaders of Alliance member institutions.  Mr. Dave Myers, Executive Secretary of the Washington State Building Trades, responded, "The Jobs Package comes at a crucial moment for working families in Washington State.  The projects built will benefit from current material costs and an available highly trained construction workforce.  The value of putting Washington back to work now will be shown for generations to come."

Rt. Reverend Greg Rickel, Bishop of Western Washington celebrated, “In  this season of Easter, not much has made me gladly and enthusiastically cry Alleluia like the passage of this bill, which will positively benefit so many of God's children! This deserves a big AMEN!”  Amen indeed.

WHO WE ARE

We are a diverse group of resourceful, passionate people – united through our religious, education, labor and community organizations – who are seeking the best of ourselves and our communities.  We founded the Sound Alliance in 2008 to create opportunities for people to grow, connect and act powerfully and creatively to bring about practical solutions to the challenges facing our families and communities.

WHAT WE BELIEVE

We believe in the core principles established by the founders of our democratic, religious and civic institutions whose faith and values root us in a deep respect for dignity and potential of all people, a responsibility for stewardship of the natural world, and a vision of the world as it should be.

WHAT WE DO

We listen to the stories of thousands of people in our communities to understand the world as it is - the painful stories of people being whipsawed by powerful forces that undermine their well-being and the hopeful stories filled with their passion for a better world.  Our listening campaigns dig deep to find untapped leaders and surface the issues most impacting everyday people.

We plan – based on careful research and analysis done by Research Action Teams – ways to implement creative and practical solutions to the challenges we face.  We invest in our own development by participating in Leadership Institutes and supporting each other in becoming effective public leaders.

We act to deliver on our proposals, exercising our collective power through negotiations with public and private sector leaders and undertaking strategic initiatives we’ve designed to help bring about our vision of the world as it should be.

We evaluate our action, learning from our experience to become more strategic and effective.  We recognize and are inspired by the spirit, imagination and resilience of the unlikely heroes who have stepped up to lead their communities and unleash our potential to create the world that can be.