The Legislature's current session will likely make some major decisions that affect Washington state businesses. The Washington Policy Center, an advocacy group largely focused on limiting government regulations, is hosting a series of information sessions to call attention to the key issues.

Each session will be a videoconference with a group of state legislators who want citizens to keep track of the key state issues.

Here's the schedule for the Wake-Up Call forums. They start usually at 7 a.m:

• Thursday - Spokane - Valley Hospital Education Center
• Jan. 25 - Tri-Cities - Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce
• Feb. 1 - Yakima - Greater Yakima Chamber of Commerce
    
• Feb. 8 - Moses Lake - Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce
    
• Feb. 15 - Spokane - Valley Hospital Education Center
    
• Feb. 22 - Tri-Cities - Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce
    
• Feb. 29 - Wenatchee - Banner Bank (501 N. Mission St.)
    
• March 7 - Yakima - Greater Yakima Chamber of Commerce

To RSVP for the breakfasts, contact Chris Cargill at 509 570-2384. Or email wakeupcall@washingtonpolicy.org.  For information, go to  Wake Up Call Coffee.

The Washington Policy Center, a nonprofit, business advocacy group, is holding a “special session” Wake-Up  Forum Thursday morning at the Quality Inn, 8923 E. Mission, in Spokane Valley.

The 7 a.m. free session will include comments by two area legislators, Rep. Timm Ormsby, D-Spokane, and Rep. Kevin Parker, R-Spokane Valley. Parker will attend the meeting; Ormsby will plug in by videoconference.

They'll discuss what they see occurring in the special session convened this week in Olympia, to conclude work on a Washington state budget.

To sign up for the event, call either Chris Cargill at 509-570-2384, or register at: wakeupcall@washingtonpolicy.org.

The Washington Policy Center, a non-profit, non-partisan research organization with offices in Spokane and the Tri-Cities, announced plans today to host 12 Wake-Up Call Legislative Forums around Eastern Washington during the 2011 Legislative Session.

The free breakfast events will give citizens an opportunity to get an update on what’s happening in Olympia and be connected live via videoconference to lawmakers to offer feedback.

“Eastern Washingtonians often feel left out of the legislative process, and we’re trying to change that with these special events featuring state and Eastern Washington policymakers,” Washington Policy Center President Dann Mead Smith said in a press release.

The events begin at 7 a.m. and feature a presentation from WPC and a question-answer session with lamakers in Olympia. The series kicks off Jan. 18 in the Spokane Valley. See the list below.

There will be three breakfast events in Spokane and the same number, on a rotating basis, in Yakima, Wenatchee and Tri-Cities. The dates are:

·         Spokane: Jan. 18, Feb. 15, March 22 – at the Quality Inn Hotel Spokane Valley

·         Yakima: Jan. 25, February 22, March 29 – at the Greater Yakima Chamber of Commerce

·         Wenatchee: Feb. 1, March 1, April 5 – at Banner Bank (501 N. Mission)

·         Tri-Cities: Feb. 8, March 8, April 12 – at Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce

The lineup of guests from Olympia include Attorney General Rob McKenna, state Auditor Brian Sonntag and others.  To track the guest list and get more information go to the WPC site.

The Washington Policy Center has set a date for its Spokane Valley session in its statewide Lead The Way series.  The Valley session will be Aug. 11 at 7:30 a.m. at Spokane Valley Fire Station 8, near Wilbur and East Montgomery.

The policy center, a think tank and business advocacy group, is hosting the series to promote ideas to improve the small business climate. To get up to speed on the Lead the Way series, here’s the policy center page.

The center has a downtown Spokane office, and can be reached at 509 570-2384

The Washington Policy Center has started its own small business improvement campaign, with a 24-stop barnstorming tour this year, meeting with people to address business reform.

The center, based in Seattle and with an Eastern Washington office in Spokane, dubs this campaign “Lead the Way: Small Business and the Road to Recovery.” The WPC (at washingtonpolicy.org) is a conservative education and research group.

Along with the visits to small business owners, the center will advocate for 24 ideas it considers essential to business reform

They range from market-determined Net “neutrality” to reforms in L&I plans and health insurance. The center has the full Lead the Way report on its site.

To see the itinerary, go to the extended jump.