Tag Archives: Union Gospel Mission

Governor signs bipartisan bill to help charities provide free glasses, hearing aids

Today Gov. Chris Gregoire signed into law a measure to shield, against civil lawsuits, charitable organizations working to provide much-needed eyewear and hearing aids to poor, homeless and uninsured people. House Bill 2261 was prime-sponsored in the House by , D-Longview. The bill’s language, as amended in the Senate, is similar to that of Senate Bill 6216, which was sponsored by Sen. Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley, and passed unanimously in the Senate.

Padden and Takko worked together with civic organizations to shepherd the bipartisan measure through the legislative process, and both applauded the governor’s signing of the bill.Rep. Dean Takko Continue reading →

Legislature approves Padden-backed bill to let Lions Clubs and other charities provide free glasses, hearing aids

Sen. Mike Padden today applauded the Legislature for approving a measure to shield, against civil lawsuits, charitable organizations working to provide much-needed eyewear and hearing aids to poor, homeless and uninsured people. The House voted 98-0 yesterday to approve his rewrite of House Bill 2261. The bill’s language is now similar to that of Senate Bill 6216, which was sponsored by Padden and passed unanimously in the Senate before stalling in the House.

“I applaud my colleagues in both the House and the Senate for their overwhelming support for this important bill,” said Padden, R-Spokane Valley.

Padden has been working with civic organizations and Rep. Dean Takko, the Longview Democrat who introduced HB 2261, to shepherd the measure through the legislative process.

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Senate passes Padden bill to support free eyeglasses for the poor

Calling it simply the “right thing to do,” Sen. Mike Padden today applauded the Senate’s passage of his bill to give legal protection to charitable organizations that are working to provide much-needed eyeglasses to our state’s poor, homeless and uninsured.

“I am glad to see such broad support for this common-sense measure to get government out of the way, and simply allow these organizations to do the good work they feel called to do,” said Padden, prime sponsor of Senate Bill 6216.

The Spokane Valley senator introduced the bill in response to a Washington Board of Optometry decision last year that interpreted federal law as preventing used glasses from being redistributed without a prescription.

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