Washington’s Joint Committee on Civic Health
Olympia, Washington – NICD’s State Legislative Program facilitated a workshop for the State’s Lieutenant Governor and 12 members of Washington’s Joint Select Committee on Civic Health. The committee is led by Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck and has worked to improve political discourse and civility within the legislature and across the state. NICD was honored to present before a committee meeting in October 2024, and State Legislative Program Director Dr. Thom Little joined the committee’s members for a discussion in January 2025.
Noting the continued importance of their work in promoting and exemplifying civility and bipartisanship in the state of Washington, the committee asked NICD’s Legislative Program to facilitate the Building Trust Through Civil Discourse workshop. The excellent facilitation duo of Jeni Arndt, former Colorado State Representative and current Mayor of Fort Collins, and Albert Sommers, former Wyoming Speaker of the House, brought their deep experience in building trust within legislatures to the workshop.
Because each member of the Joint Committee on Civic Health is dedicated to civility and cooperation across party lines, the workshop was focused on what these members could do to champion these values in both chambers of the Washington legislature. The legislators participated in the personal journeys workshop, building the trust that can define bipartisan success on legislation. After, they discussed as a committee how they could continue this work as a committee and as individuals in the new year’s legislative session.
As a uniquely-suited committee to address the need for cooperation and civic health within the state, NICD was glad to be with the joint committee’s members to develop the skills and experience that will make an impact for all Washingtonians. Working across party lines and with civility in an age of historic polarization is not easy, and we commend the joint committee’s work towards healthier politics and civic engagement.
Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck said this about the workshop: “Our members loved it. They left energized and even more committed to advancing the cause of civility and respectful discourse in the public square.”
We want to extend a warm thank you to Lieutenant Governor Heck for his invitation and to every member of the committee for their work and effort on behalf of all Washingtonians!
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About NICD, the National Institute for Civil Discourse
NICD works to build the nation’s capacity to engage our differences constructively. In 2011, the University of Arizona created NICD after the Tucson shooting that killed six people and wounded another thirteen, including former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. In the weeks prior to the shooting, Congresswoman Giffords was already in discussion with the University of Arizona about creating a center that would focus on improving the quality of discourse. The galvanizing power of that event brought together founding honorary co-chairs George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton and an impressive bipartisan group of other leaders to honor Congresswoman Giffords’ vision.
NICD’s State Legislative Program is one of our most important programs that creates and strengthens bipartisan relationships through mutual, trust-based, and effective communication in state legislatures around the country.
NICD offers Americans a variety of opportunities and resources to engage differences constructively at https://civildiscourseinstitute.org/.
