Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 2015
I was proud to preside on the House floor on MLK Day on Monday!
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was an incredible leader of our time. He raised the conscious of America and led a movement towards equality for all. His memorable words, “an injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” are a source of inspiration to me.
Though the days of segregation and Jim Crow are long over, the racial inequity from that era still casts a shadow over our schools and communities. Equality and opportunity are not afforded to everyone.
MLK Day is over, but it’s not enough to wait another year until we honor him again. We need to spend our year honoring Dr. King with our deeds.
Let’s keep fighting for a just and fair America. Let’s keep Dr. King’s march moving because we haven’t reached our destination yet. Let’s fight for equality and opportunity for all.
Watch my Legislative Update
Update on my bills
In addition to the bills I highlighted in my e-newsletter last week, I also sponsored the following community safety-related bills:
HB 1139 establishes a work group to study human trafficking of youth issues. As you know, sex trafficking is a big issue in south King County. Law enforcement often has no place to take young victims other than to jail. We’d like to explore what we can be doing to give victims the assistance they need.
The work group will research, review, and make recommendations regarding the policy of eliminating prosecution of juveniles for prostitution and prostitution loitering, and regarding the provision of services for these juveniles. The bill is based on Minnesota’s “Safe Harbor” law.
HB 1139 has a public hearing on January 27th in the House Public Safety Committee.
HB 1624 concerns the distribution of intimate images that are given to another person, or taken from a person, and somehow shared. Women are often targets of this crime. The misuse of these images causes incredible harm. This bill brings justice to victims by making a person civilly liable for distributing intimate images of another intentionally and without consent.
Meet my intern!
I am fortunate to be working with a fantastic intern this school year, Noha Mahgoub. Noha is earning her Master of Social Work degree from the University of Washington and doing her practicum in policy work in my office. She has been an invaluable addition to our office!
Equal work, equal pay
Equal work should result in equal pay.
Today, women still only average about 80 cents on the dollar compared to their male peers for comparable work. The evidence is clear that gender based discrimination persists.
The U.S. Department of Education recently released numbers showing the gender pay gap for women four years after graduating in 2008. It shows men out-earning their female colleagues in every field that the study covered.
This includes typically “female dominated” professions like teaching and health services.
This glaring inequality is not only contrary to our values regarding equality for all, it’s also terrible economics. Our economy would produce over $447 billion in additional income if this inequity were to be properly addressed.
This week, members of the House and Senate introduced the Equal Pay Opportunity Act in an attempt to solve this problem. I was pleased to co-sponsor this bill. Let’s bring fairness back to the workplace.
Are you being discriminated against based on your gender? I’d like to hear your story. Please contact me at: 360-786-7834 or tina.orwall@leg.wa.gov.
SECTION 8 RENTAL ASSISTANCE WAITING LIST TO OPEN IN KING COUNTY
The King County Housing Authority announced this week that it will open its waiting list and accept new applications for its Housing Choice Voucher program for the first time in nearly four years.
The Housing Choice Voucher program, widely known as Section 8, currently helps about 11,000 low-income households in King County outside of Seattle and Renton pay their rent. One key initiative under this program is the issuance of housing assistance to homeless and disabled veterans.
Families wanting to apply for the program can do so online at www.kcha.org. The signup period will last two weeks starting at 6 a.m., Wednesday, Jan. 28 until 4 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 10.
For more information about the application process, please call the King County Housing Authority Section 8 Office at (206) 214-1300 or visit: https://www.kcha.org/housing/vouchers/apply/.
The application is free and only available through the KCHA website at www.kcha.org. In addition to King County and Seattle libraries, free online computer access will be offered at several locations.
I’m interested in hearing your thoughts on issues of importance to you. Please feel free to e-mail or call my office.
