Seattle City Council today adopted Resolution 31337in support of the Occupy movement.

The resolution recognizes and supports "the peaceful and lawful exercise of the First Amendment as a cherished and fundamental right in the effort to seek solutions for economically distressed Americans at the federal and local levels".

The Council also committed to a number of actions in response to the Occupy movement dealing with fair lending and taxation. 

The resolution was introduced by Councilmember Nick Licata and cosponsored by Mike O’Brien. It passed unanimously.

"I am pleased to work with my colleagues on a comprehensive approach for Seattle that can also provide a template for other cities to adopt as we all struggle with how to best respond to the Occupy Movement." said Licata. "The Occupy message is one of a broken economy due to a growing disparity in this country's wealth, and we can at the very least review the City's banking and investment practices to ensure that public funds are invested in responsible financial institutions that support our community."

Occupy Seattle applauds the City Council and called on the City to follow through on the resolution’s key steps:

• Review city banking and investment practices to ensure that public funds are invested in financial institutions that support our community;
• Address the circumstances and causes of home foreclosures in Seattle, the financial institutions involved in the foreclosures and the methods, tactics and apparent inequities in those foreclosures;
• Address economic inequality and wealth disparities by identifying effective approaches to asset building, job training, access to banking and financial services, educational attainment, family support, and access to health care for historically denied populations;
• Redress the adverse impact of both tax shifts and lost revenue to the City from exemptions or waivers allowed for City taxes;
• Work with the State Legislature toward a more equitable tax structure in the state;
• Reform city election campaign financing;
• Use available resources to provide assistance for the most vulnerable people in Seattle particularly as Federal and State resources decline;
• Urge Congress to support job creation, substantial investments in the nation's physical and technological infrastructure and deficit reduction by adopting fiscal policies with equitable corporate and individual taxation;
• Urge Congress to let the Bush era tax cuts expire;
• Urge Congress to tighten regulation of the banking and financial sector and;
• Urge Congress to increase community-building block grants for local schools and social services and protect public education from devastating cuts.

Visit http://www.occupyseattle.org and http://www.seattle.gov/council for more information.