Happy Friday to you all and I hope you are staying warm through this cold weather. The snow and ice did not close the Legislature this week and I have several bills to update you on, so please read on and feel free to share this message with friends and neighbors and let them know they can sign up to get these emails in their inbox.
Working families deserve a break
Did you know that the Legislature passed a sales tax rebate program over a decade ago? Probably not, because even though the law is on the books, it has never been funded in the budget or implemented at the state because of the recession. I think it is time working families got that sales tax break. I introduced the Working Families Tax Credit, similar to the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, to give working families, young workers, low-income college students, and older workers a little more cash in their pockets.
I know how much a few hundred dollars to almost a thousand dollars a year can help working families, because I grew up in one. My mother struggled to cover all the bills every month, raising a family on just her teacher’s salary. I share my story, and why this tax break is so important, in my testimony which you can watch by clicking here or the photo below.
Supporting our community and technical college students
Something I have been thinking about lately is how our community and technical college students handle an emergency. During the federal government shutdown, I saw how federal workers and their families struggled to pay their bills, feed their kids, and work without pay. It was heartbreaking.
As someone who grew up low income and served on the board of a technical college where many students are low income, I know that the kind of insecurity our federal workers had to deal with is something CTC students deal with every day. One unexpected interruption in a paycheck or disruption to financial aid can cause unbearable hardships. In order to help alleviate those hardships, I introduced HB 1893. This bill provides grants to allow community and technical colleges to give emergency aid to students that need it. It also directs the Department of Social and Health Services to request a waiver from the United States Department of Agriculture to allow students to use their SNAP benefits for on-campus food retail establishments. Having access to food and emergency financial security is good for our students, good for our institutions of higher education, and good for Washington.
I appreciate you taking the time to read these updates and if you have any questions, please reach out using one of the contact options below.
Debra