Dear friends and neighbors,
Welcome to the 2022 legislative session! Over the next several weeks, I’ll be working with my colleagues in the Legislature to get our students, parents, and teachers the support they desperately need right now. Below you’ll find information on how to stay engaged during this fast-paced 60 days session, my legislative priorities, and the important issues I’ll be watching based on what we’ve heard from you this interim.
Stay Engaged
Access to the legislative process expanded dramatically last year and will continue again this year with new opportunities to attend floor sessions and committee meetings remotely, as well as allowing constituents to testify without having to make the long trek to Olympia.
You can stay engaged this year by:
- Watching floor session and committee meetings at TVW.org
- Finding bills and committee information, agendas and documents by clicking here
- Testifying remotely or submitting your written testimony online by clicking here
Reaching out to me directly at lisa.callan@leg.wa.gov or by calling (425) 651-2341
Legislative Priorities
- House Bill 1890 creates the framework for building a statewide plan based on my work as Co-Chair of the Children & Youth Behavioral Health Work Group to provide behavioral health services when and where children, youth, and families need them.
- House Bill 1834 allows students to take excused absences from school in order to care for their mental health in the same way they would for their physical health.
- House Bill 1759 expands the digital resources students, parents, and school administrators can access to preserve the health and safety of every Washington student.
- House Bill 1803 updates the compensation guidelines for school district directors who are entrusted with preparing our children and youth for success.
- House Bill 1779 protects patients and healthcare workers from the dangers of surgical smoke. I had the privilege of testifying in support of this bill before the House Labor & Workplace Standards Committee earlier this week. You can view the video by clicking here.
In addition to HB 1890, I’ve also co-sponsored a number of other important pieces of legislation to improve access to high-quality behavioral health and other priorities:
- House Bill 1664 increases access to school nurses, social workers, psychologists, guidance counselors, and more when students need them most.
- House Bill 1800 increases access to behavioral health services for minors.
- House Bill 1905 addresses youth homelessness, helping ensure no young adult is released into homelessness from publicly funded systems of care, like foster care, behavioral health treatment and juvenile rehabilitation. While Washington state committed to this goal under SB 6560 a few years ago, we have yet to take the actions necessary to ensure it happens.
- House Bill 1860 prevents individuals discharged from inpatient behavioral health settings from being left homeless.
- House Bill 1644 helps schools join the fight against climate change by allowing local school transportation levy dollars to be used for electric school buses and related infrastructure.
I’ll also be working closely with my colleagues on legislation and state budget provisions to implement the recommendations from our bipartisan Children & Youth Behavioral Health Work Group. You can read our full report of recommendations by clicking here.
Community Priorities
During the interim, many of you reach out to me with your thoughts, questions, and concerns on a number of issues affecting our communities. Here’s a list of the issues I’ll be keeping a close eye on this session based on your feedback:
- WA Cares Long-Term Care Insurance
- House Bill 1732 and House Bill 1733 were introduced earlier this week to officially delay the implementation of WA Cares so that we can continue to work on solutions to address the most pressing concerns with this program.
- Safe Hospital Staffing
- COVID-19 has taken a tremendous toll on our healthcare workers who have been on the frontlines to keep our communities safe since long before the pandemic began. I’ve co-sponsored House Bill 1868 to improve safety and patient care in our state’s healthcare facilities by addressing staffing needs, overtime, and needed breaks.
Be sure to stay tuned to my email newsletters in the weeks ahead for the latest legislative updates on these important issues!
With gratitude,
Rep. Lisa Callan