Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Last week we reached the ‘House of Origin’ cutoff. All bills that have not passed the House they were introduced in are now dead. We are now returning to our committees to review the bills the Senate has passed. Look for a video update soon on the major bills just passed by the House.
This week is town hall week. Your 45th Legislative District delegation will be hosting both a telephone town hall on Thursday and a in-person town hall on Saturday. Read on to get more specific details.
Town Halls
Join us on Thursday, March 16th for a Telephone Town Hall with the 45th District delegation.
What: 45th Legislative District Telephone Town Hall
When: Thursday, March 16th at 6:00 PM-7:00 PM
Where: Your living room! You should get a phone call at 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 16th if you live in district. All you need to do is stay on the line to participate. Press *3 at any time to ask a question. To be sure you are called, you can sign up ahead of time online by going to http://vekeo.com/WHDC45.
Join us on Saturday, March 18th for an in-person Town Hall with your 45th District delegation.
What: 45th Legislative District In-Person Town Hall
When: Saturday, March 18th from 11:30 AM- 1:00 PM
Where: Lake Washington Technical College, the Auditorium, West 401
11605 132nd Ave NE, Kirkland, WA 98034
Moms (& Dads) Caucus
One of the newer caucus’ in Olympia is the Moms (& Dads) Caucus for members with school aged children. We are committed to passing legislation and making budget investments that uplift Washington parents, families, and children. Each year, we come up with a list of priority legislation and work to ensure that it is passed. This year all but three of our priority bills made it passed the House of Origin cutoff!
Empowering Students and Young People
Here are some of the other things we’re working on to strengthen access to education, provide supports to early learning, and establish safety nets for young people in our state.
HB 1525 expands eligibility for Working Connections Child Care (WCCC) benefits to people in their first 12 months of a state-registered apprenticeship program. WCCC helps eligible families pay for childcare. Coupled with a state-registered apprenticeship program, this provides meaningful opportunities to expand workforce development, leading to family-wage jobs—without the burden of childcare costs creating a barrier.
HB 1406 extends the amount of time that children can remain in licensed youth shelters. Young people experience homelessness for a variety of reasons. Sometimes, their parents or caregivers can’t be found or refuse to take them home. This bill extends from 72 hours to 90 days the time children can stay in a shelter, expands family reconciliation services, and aims to build a circle of trusted adults to help stabilize youth in crisis.
HB 1211 expands funding for special education to provide more valuable and necessary resources for our special education teachers and students.
HB 1559 establishes the Student Basic Needs Act at postsecondary institutions. This bill implements Student Basic Needs task forces in higher education institutions, requiring them to develop Hunger-Free Campus Strategic Plans. In each plan, the task force must analyze gaps in student needs, design a Benefits Resource Hub, provide access to a campus food pantry, create and update methods to identify food-insecure students, and provide reports to detail the findings. Students need food, water, nutrition, shelter, clothing, physical health, and mental health. These needs should not create barriers to an education for anyone in Washington.
As always, please reach out if you have questions, comments, or ideas. Look forward to another legislative update from me soon.
All best wishes,
Roger Goodman
Representative, 45th District
Washington State Legislature