Dear Friends and Neighbors,
In this short, 60-day session, I remain focused on top issues our families are feeling at home. The affordability crisis is ongoing, and the president’s policies are harming our local economy and our neighbors. As a top trade state, Washington is especially hurt by the tariffs and past trade disputes with major trading partners like China – and that means fewer jobs at the Port and less pay for our longshore workers. (Read this story featured in the Seattle Times about the impact of the tariffs locally).
Here’s how I’m working to address costs this session:
- It’s time to eliminate interest charges on all new and unpaid medical debt, offering a huge relief for those who are struggling with compounding medical bills, especially with federal changes that will make health care more expensive for all of us. I’m also running a bill to set a $50 cap on the fee that health care providers charge you for electronic copies of your own medical records (HB 1496).
- My bill to ban noncompete agreements which stop workers from pursuing new employment. Whether it’s taking a new job with better pay or leaving to start your own company, opportunities to pursue your passion shouldn’t be blocked by your old job.
- Families are seeing the impact of federal tariffs at the grocery store too and that’s resulting in decisions to close markets where people desperately need access to food and prescription drugs. That’s why I support legislation to remove restrictions on what stores can take over vacant space to restore fair competition, reduce artificial scarcity, and lower prices for families (HB 2294).
- You might have read recently about AI-enabled price experiments that Instacart used that charged you more for goods like food – all without the consumer knowing about it. It’s wrong for companies to use an algorithm to determine how much your eggs are going to cost. HB 2481 prohibits that kind of price discrimination so that companies can’t take advantage of families by artificially increasing prices.
Protecting Washingtonians
There is no hiding it: the federal government is engaged in aggressive actions that are instilling fear and terror in communities across the country and upending decades of progress. Here in Washington state, we are doing everything we can to limit overreach and the lack of transparency:
- Ban masks for ICE: HB 2173 bans facial coverings for law enforcement in Washington state, but we’re not seeing local police use this tactic, which leads to distrust and fear. It’s ICE that have been using masks to hide their identity, leading to a lack of accountability for their actions.
- Strengthen worker protections: HB 2105 requires federal agencies to obtain a judicial warrant or subpoena to access employer worker records (except for when required by federal law or Form I-9) and establishes notification for when employers are informed that Form I-9 inspections are planned.
- Maintain collective bargaining: HB 2471 establishes collective bargaining provisions for private employees not covered under the National Labor Relations Act and guarantees that those provisions exist for all covered workers in case the Act ceases to exist or the National Labor Relations Board declines or is deprived of jurisdiction on collective bargaining matters.
- Keep students safe in schools and childcare centers: HB 2602 helps ensure that immigration information is not kept by childcare centers or schools and keeps ICE agents from unlawfully entering these private spaces. As a mom of two Seattle Public School students, this is personal to me.
SAVE THE DATE: Mid-Session Town Hall
Thank you for taking the time to read this update. My office is always open to you, so please do not hesitate to reach out if you are planning to come visit or have concerns or ideas you want to share with me.
Keep in touch,
State Representative Liz Berry
36th Legislative District