An introduction �to NPI’s essential work

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Andrew Villeneuve

Founder and Executive Director

Northwest Progressive Institute

NPI’s work is multifaceted

Strategy

Advocacy

Research

Media

A Swiss Army knife is worth carrying. NPI is the Swiss Army knife for the progressive movement.

The NPI Creed

I will train myself to think long term and look at the big picture. I will always keep an open mind and be willing to embrace new ideas and techniques. I will organize for change offline as well as online. Whenever possible, I will give young progressive activists and new progressive activists an opportunity to step up and make a difference. I will challenge and confront intolerance without allowing myself to become intolerant. I will speak out for those who have no voice, no lobbyist, and no advocate. As an activist with an audience, I will help preserve the art of storytelling. I will never pass up an opportunity to reframe and help teach others about the logic of America’s progressive values, especially empathy and responsibility. As a thought leader, I will help lead my fellow citizens to new positions, not follow polls, for that is what real leadership is. I will help maintain a strong first line of defense against threats to our Constitution, our common wealth, and our vital public services. No matter how depressing and hopeless circumstances may seem, I will keep putting one foot forward every day, working cheerfully for a more peaceful future for the Pacific Northwest, the United States, and this diverse planet we call Earth.

Organizational history

• Permanent Defense created: 2002
• NPI founded to address the problem of hypocognition: 2003
• Cascadia Advocate created: 2004
• Incorporated: 2005
• First seasonal event held: 2008
• Board formed: 2010
• Research polling launched and Advisory Council formed: 2013
• Acquired 501(c)(4) status: 2017
• Sibling (NPF, a c3) incorporated: 2018
• PNWcurrents created: 2021
• Secured placement of our first ballot measure: 2022

Q: What is hypocognition?

A: It is the phenomenon of lacking concepts that you need.

The people who helped start NPI on the path it is on today: Early staff, board, interns

How we practice politics

A few maxims and sayings that guide our work as an organization

Always reframe!�(Especially when it’s hard!) ��“When you think you lack words, what you really lack are ideas. Ideas come in the form of frames. When the frames are there, the words come readily.”��- George Lakoff

Whining is like sitting in a rocking chair. Gives you something to do, doesn’t get you anywhere.

Actively combat Parkinson’s Law of Triviality (the dynamic that people within an organization commonly or typically give disproportionate weight to trivial issues)

"There’s a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in something, you do it only when it’s convenient. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses; only results.”��— Kenneth Blanchard

"Plans are useless, but planning is everything.“�  �—  Dwight Eisenhower

"If you find that you're spending almost all your time on theory, start turning some attention to practical things; it will improve your theories. If you find that you're spending almost all your time on practice, start turning some attention to theoretical things; it will improve your practice.” ��— Donald Knuth

Treat people the way they want to be treated (Platinum Rule)

We also value self-care: “I will take care of me for you if you will take care of you for me.”

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― Jim Rohn

The NPI way: Some examples

• Credibly obtained data instead of speculation, gossip and innuendo
• Open letters to elected representatives instead of petitions
• Photograph a protest instead of just marching in one
• Policy briefs and meeting requests instead of resolutions
• Manage our money through a credit union instead of a bank
• Events in publicly-owned community centers instead of hotels
• Hybrid events instead of picking only one format because it’s easier
• Donated food at many of our events instead of expensive catered meals
• Pro-level gear that will last years instead of cheap hardware
• Explain what we need money for when we need it instead of sending quota based, desperate sounding end of month / end of quarter emails

We don’t pretend to know the future and we don’t lack imagination

That’s the key to seemingly prescient analysis like this:

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“Unless Republicans can convince more Washington voters to trust them, they are going to stay at a disadvantage statewide and in a lot of crucially important suburban and exurban legislative districts. And that would mean that they’re not going to have the kind of pickups they had in 2010 or 2014… The stage seems set for a cycle with election results that will look more like the 2018 midterms than either 2010 or 2014 in Washington.”

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― NPI’s Andrew Villeneuve, January 28^th, 2022

Insightful research �>>> Imaginative advocacy

NPI is the only progressive organization in the Pacific Northwest working across state lines to build support for progressive policy directions through statewide, congressional, legislative, and local research.

Why we do so much polling

NPI’s research principles

• Ask questions no one else is asking
• Democratize access to information – knowledge is power
• Bring our polling expertise to places that are overlooked or ignored
• The answers we get will depend on the questions we ask, so ask neutral questions (because garbage in will yield garbage out!)
• Make sure the sample is properly representative
• Maintain an open door for question ideas and possible wording
• Fund every poll with a mix of support, with no one contributor responsible for providing a majority of the project’s money

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How to know if a poll is credible

• Who commissioned it? What’s their agenda? (And remember: Subjective organizations are capable of objective research.)
• Who conducted it? What’s their track record?
• What questions were asked? How were they phrased?
• Was the methodology published? (Dates, means of interviewing respondents, sample size, margin of error). If any of that is missing, it’s a red flag. A big red flag.
• Are the crosstabs accessible? If not, is it at least possible to know who took the poll? Specifically: Are breakdowns by geography, presidential vote, and education available?
• Are the findings/results corroborated by other available data?

Insights from our most recent statewide poll, conducted in the spring

Selected June 2022 poll highlights

Statewide survey conducted June 1st-2nd, 2022 by NPI

Pollster: Public Policy Polling of North Carolina

1,039 likely 2022 Washington State voters participated

Blended methodology (landlines + text message responses)

Margin of error: +/-3.0% at the 95% confidence level

U.S. Senate, 2022

Patty Murray

Tiffany Smiley

Not sure

PUBLIC FINDING

Secretary of State, 2022 (pre-Top Two)

PUBLIC FINDING

Congressional generic ballot

PUBLIC FINDING

Balance of power in the statehouse

PUBLIC FINDING

Assault weapons ban

QUESTION: Do you strongly support, somewhat support, somewhat oppose, or strongly oppose banning the sale, transport, manufacture, or import of military-style assault weapons like the AR-15 rifle in Washington?

PUBLIC FINDING

Reproductive rights

QUESTION: In 1973, the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade, holding that Americans have the right to obtain an abortion. The Court is now being asked to overturn Roe by abortion opponents. What do you want the Supreme Court to do: uphold Roe v. Wade and keep abortion legal across the country, or overturn it and allow states to enact abortion bans?

PUBLIC FINDING

Reproductive rights

QUESTION: Do you strongly support, somewhat support, somewhat oppose, or strongly oppose amending the Washington State Constitution to protect Washingtonians’ freedom to obtain reproductive healthcare, including abortion care?

PUBLIC FINDING

Capital gains tax on wealthy arguments

QUESTION: Proponents say that Washington State’s new state capital gains tax on the wealthy will raise about $500 million a year in crucial funding for education in Washington State, including early learning and childcare, and will help balance our upside-down tax code by requiring the wealthiest 8,000 individuals to step up and pay their fair share in dues to our state. Opponents say that the new state capital gains tax on the wealthy is an unconstitutional and illegal income tax that will hurt job creation and put the state at a competitive disadvantage, hurting the whole economy while failing to address regressivity. Both sides agree that the text of the capital gains tax law fully exempts retirement accounts, family farms, and all real estate. Having heard the arguments for and against, do you strongly support, somewhat support, somewhat oppose, or strongly oppose Washington’s new state capital gains tax on the wealthy?

PUBLIC FINDING

Advocacy summary: What NPI has been working on this year

State legislative wins

• Fiscal impact disclosures for initiatives (passed)
• School seismic safety grant program (passed)
• Prohibiting guns at local government meetings, election sites (passed)
• Banning high-capacity magazines (passed)
• Prohibiting prison gerrymandering (passed)
• Flexible funding for a Sound Transit 4 measure (passed)

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County level

• Even year elections: King County Charter Amendment 1

What’s NPI working on next?

On the research front:

• WA-03 poll
• WA-08 poll
• Statewide poll
• Another King County poll
• Seattle poll
• Possibly another legislative poll or two

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Yes, all before November 8^th!

In 2023, we hope to poll Spokane and Tacoma.

What’s NPI working on next?

On the advocacy front:

• Repealing Eyman’s “advisory votes”
• Redistricting reform
• Right to repair
• Wealth tax (with BOTC)
• Secure more school seismic safety funding
• Supporting pollution reduction initiatives -- possibly a bottle bill
• Additional legislative priorities to be determined with members’ help

Like our work? Want to support it?

We welcome your support! Some options:

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Donate monthly as a Commonwealth Bondholder like Ann Martin does

Donate annually (memberships can also have annual dues frequency)

Make a one-time donation

Volunteer your time to help with an NPI event, like FallFest

Contribute a guest post to NPI’s Cascadia Advocate

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Membership signup: https://npi.li/join/

FallFest: October 1^st, 2022

Want to celebrate autumn with NPI on a farm? We’ll be gathering in North Bend / Snoqualmie on Saturday, October 1^st.

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Tickets are available

at https://npi.li/fallfest

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This is what Meadowbrook

Farm looks like on a clear

day without fog >>>>>>

Questions?