Help from our Federal Partners
With the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), help from the federal government is finally on the way. While we are still waiting for guidance on exactly how we can spend the money coming into Washington, it will be substantial and needed.
The package includes roughly $7.1 billion for state, local, and county governments including around $4.56 billion for the state. King County will receive around $437 million. Kent will receive around $28 million and Auburn around $16 million. On top of the money to make up for lost revenue from the pandemic, the package includes around $1.9 billion to help K-12 schools get back up and running, $655 million for higher education institutions, and $635 million for childcare. Around $404 million has been set aside for emergency rental assistance and will help us transition away from the eviction moratorium without creating a surge in homelessness. There is also money earmarked for transportation, transit projects, utility assistance, vaccines, testing, and contact tracing.
In addition to the money the state and local governments are receiving the APRA contains individual stimulus checks for those earning up to $80,000 per year and for couples earning up to $160,000 per year. One change from previous stimulus payments is that families will get a check of everyone they claim as a dependent.
You can get more information on your stimulus check with the IRS’ Get My Payment tool, https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/get-my-payment.
Vaccine Update Note
Beginning on Wednesday, March 17, everyone in Phase 1B, Tier 2 became eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. This tier includes workers in agriculture, food processing, grocery stores, public transit, firefighters, and law enforcement. Additionally, people over the age of 16 who are pregnant or have a disability putting them at high-risk are eligible. Our teachers and child care providers have also been approved for vaccinations immediately.
Yesterday, Gov. Inslee announced that starting March 31, everyone in Phase 1B will be eligible for the vaccine. New groups that are eligible include people 16 years or older with 2 or more co-morbidities or underlying conditions, all people 60 years and older, and all restaurant, food service, construction, and manufacturing workers. People experiencing homelessness or people who work with the homeless population are also now available. In addition, Gov. Inslee has confirmed that all adults over the age of 16 will be eligible for the vaccine starting on May 1.
As COVID vaccinations continue to be distributed to eligible residents, the state has been working toward increasing distribution capacity to vaccinate as many people as quickly as possible. On Saturday, Lumen Field Event Center (formally known as Century Link Field) opened up as what Mayor of Seattle Jenny Durkan is calling the “largest civilian-run vaccination site in the country.”
This new site will initially have capacity to vaccinate about 5,000 people per week, but may be able to up that to 150,000 people should the supply become available. Read more about the Lumen Field cite here.
The Washington State Department of Health has a Vaccine Locator to help those who are eligible find an appointment. To see if you are eligible for the vaccine use the Washington Phase Finder Tool.
If you need translation assistance or can’t get online, call the state COVID-19 Assistance Hotline at 1-800-525-0127. To help continue to keep our community safe, please remember to mask up, even once you are fully vaccinated for the time being.
Meet Our Intern
Each year, students attending 4-year colleges have the opportunity to intern with at the Legislature. During a normal session, you could find the interns all throughout the Capitol Building in Olympia. However, this year the program was tasked with adjusting to a new virtual platform on Zoom and Microsoft Teams due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year, my office is working with Rileigh Daniels, a senior at the University of Washington. Rileigh is majoring in Political Science with a focus in political economy, and a minor in Ethics. Within our office, she helps out with bill and budget tracking, constituent correspondence, and my newsletters. Outside of work and school, she can usually be found engaging in outdoor activities including hiking, running, or skiing. Born and raised in Sammamish, Washington, she cares deeply about Washington State and the well-being of Washingtonians.
Aside from working with my office, Rileigh also works with Representative Shelley Kloba (D-Kirkland), and partakes in a variety of internship programming. Each week, the intern group has the opportunity to meet with a guest speaker. From Attorney General Bob Ferguson to Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz, they have had a chance to hear from a vast array of interesting speakers. Interns also participate in a variety of other activities that allow them to immerse themselves in the legislative experience such as a mock legislative session and an exchange (virtual this year) with interns from the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. If you would like to learn more about the internship program, or know someone who would be interested in applying in the future, you can read more here.