Dear friends and neighbors,
I want to kick off this newsletter with a reminder that today’s Community Conversation will be from 10:30AM-12PM at Franklin Park in Tacoma. These are intended to be smaller, community-based gatherings, so come with questions (and a lawn chair if you have one)! If you can’t make it today, we have one more on the schedule for this fall- Monday, October 13th, from 10:30AM-12PM at Cutters Point Coffee Co. (2209 N Pearl St., Ste 104).
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One of the concerns I hear about most when talking with constituents is day-to-day costs, and how that contributes to their overall economic security. Living expenses add up. It’s why this year I was focused on what we can do at the state level to reduce expenses for the people of our state.
Passing rent stabilization gives renters more predictability around their largest monthly expense. Maintaining food assistance funding, something we were able to do this year despite a significant drop in expected revenue, helps ensure that those costs aren’t passed on to families who can’t afford to cover them (and you can find your local food bank here). We were able to fight off tuition increases at our public colleges and universities, ensuring that students and families aren’t paying more. We also changed the law to allow striking workers to access unemployment insurance for up to six weeks, because you shouldn’t have to choose between putting food on the table tonight and fair wages or safe working conditions.
For our small businesses – we know that Washington’s paid family leave program is one of the best in the country. It helps make Washington a competitive place to work, but it can be hard to balance with a small workforce. This year we passed legislation that will both help more people take advantage of Paid Family Medical Leave, and help small businesses cover that time with grant funding.
Another way we’re trying to reduce costs is with Right to Repair. It’s cheaper and better for the environment to repair what we have instead of buying something new. When your phone screen breaks, you should be able to take it to a local business for repair without voiding your warranty. Thanks to legislation we passed this year, that will be an option for more of your technology than ever.
As the most trade dependent State in the nation, I’m particularly concerned about the effect the Trump Tariffs will have on costs and employment here in Washington. There’s a lot that’s out of our control at the state level, but we’re hard at work doing what we can to make things more affordable for the people of our state.