Here is the 9th open caption update of 2025! New York released a video (captioned, of course!). Both Washington state and West Virginia made more progress, but now they are down to the wire and need more of a push to get to the finish line!

NEW YORK!

New York’s video is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oZK8TBhdzs (on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ocmoviesnow/videos/988959846712894) and is led by Lauren Ridloff! Lauren Ridloff is an actress who happens to be deaf. She has her own Wikipedia page and IMDB page. In addition to Lauren, the video features multiple people in the deaf and hard of hearing community speaking about the importance of open captions in movie theaters. Maybe you know someone in this video!

WEST VIRGINIA!

West Virginia’s bill HB 3013 passed the West Virginia House on April 1, now it is in the West Virginia Senate! Where is it in the West Virginia Senate? It is in the Government Organization Committee. Who is on that Committee so West Virginians, and friends and family of West Virginians, can contact them?

• Senator Rucker – Chair, patricia.rucker@wvsenate.gov
• Senator Woodrum – Vice-Chair, jack.woodrum@wvsenate.gov
• Senator Barrett, jason.barrett@wvsenate.gov
• Senator Chapman, laura.chapman@wvsenate.gov
• Senator Charnock, anne.charnock@wvsenate.gov
• Senator Hamilton, bill.hamilton@wvsenate.gov
• Senator Helton, brian.helton@wvsenate.gov
• Senator Jeffries, glenn.jeffries@wvsenate.gov
• Senator Maynard, mark.maynard@wvsenate.gov
• Senator Phillips, rupie.phillips@wvsenate.gov
• Senator Rose, chris.rose@wvsenate.gov
• Senator Thorne, darren.thorne@wvsenate.gov
• Senator Willis, tom.willis@wvsenate.gov
• Senator Woelfel, mike.woelfel@wvsenate.gov

WASHINGTON!

Washington state’s SB 5486 is now with the House Rules committee after Executive action was taken on March 28, with the majority voting to pass it as amended. Now it needs to pass out of the House by April 16. That means there needs to be a push to get the Rules committee to pull this bill out of the Rules committee and onto the House floor for a vote! Washington state residents, friends, and family need to contact their District representatives to get their support for putting this bill on the House floor for a vote!

(Don't know who on this list to contact? Use the District Finder!)

• Jinkins, Laurie (D), Chair, District 27, Laurie.Jinkins@leg.wa.gov
• Abbarno, Peter (R), District 20, Peter.Abbarno@leg.wa.gov
• Abell, Hunter (R), District 7, Hunter.Abell@leg.wa.gov
• Barnard, Stephanie (R), District 8, Stephanie.Barnard@leg.wa.gov
• Connors, April (R), District 8, April.Connors@leg.wa.gov
• Corry, Chris (R), District 15, Chris.Corry@leg.wa.gov
• Davis, Lauren (D), District 32, Lauren.Davis@leg.wa.gov
• Dufault, Jeremie (R) , District 15, Jeremie.Dufault@leg.wa.gov
• Farivar, Darya (D), District 46, Darya.Farivar@leg.wa.gov
• Fitzgibbon, Joe (D), District 34, Joe.Fitzgibbon@leg.wa.gov
• Klicker, Mark (R), District 16, Mark.Klicker@leg.wa.gov
• Leavitt, Mari (D), District 28, Mari.Leavitt@leg.wa.gov
• Lekanoff, Debra (D), District 40, Debra.Lekanoff@leg.wa.gov
• Morgan, Melanie (D), 29, Melanie.Morgan@leg.wa.gov
• Ortiz-Self, Lillian (D), 21, Lillian.Ortiz-Self@leg.wa.gov
• Ramel, Alex (D), 40, Alex.Ramel@leg.wa.gov
• Simmons, Tarra (D), 23, Tarra.Simmons@leg.wa.gov
• Springer, Larry (D), 45, Larry.Springer@leg.wa.gov
• Stearns, Chris (D), 47, Chris.Stearns@leg.wa.gov
• Stokesbary, Drew (R), 31, Drew.Stokesbary@leg.wa.gov
• Stonier, Monica Jurado (D), 49, Monica.Stonier@leg.wa.gov
• Thai, My-Linh (D), 41, My-Linh.Thai@leg.wa.gov
• Timmons, Joe (D), 42, Joe.Timmons@leg.wa.gov
• Waters, Kevin (R), 17, Kevin.Waters@leg.wa.gov

SHARE!

Help NY, WV, AND WA to succeed by sharing both the link to the New York video AND the link to this petition - https://change.org/ocmoviesnow