Legislative Update: Affordability and Federal Response

January 29, 2026

Dear friends and neighbors,

We’re just wrapping up the third week of this year’s legislative session. It’s a short session this year, only 60 days, and it’s going by quickly. I’ll cover some of the work we’re doing to make our state more affordable below, but first I want to talk about what our state is doing to protect our residents in light of what’s happening in Minnesota and across our country.

Earlier this week Governor Bob Ferguson and Attorney General Nick Brown held a press conference to talk about what they’re doing to protect the residents of our state. Additionally, we’re working on a host of legislation this year to help protect Washingtonians:

  • Prohibiting law enforcement officers, including all federal law enforcement, from wearing facial coverings (SB 5972)
  • Regulating the use of license plate cameras that share information with immigration enforcement (SB 6002)
  • Prohibiting ICE from entering schools, daycares, hospitals, and more without a warrant (SB 5906)
  • Protecting workers by requiring notification of federal inspections and prohibiting voluntary information sharing (HB 2105)

There’s more than I can list here, but I’ll continue to talk about our work in coming e-newsletters. I am incredibly disturbed by the deaths of Keith Porter, Renee Nicole Good, Alex Pretti and the at least 40 other people who have died at the hands of ICE or Border Patrol agents, or in ICE custody over the last year. The House Democratic Caucus in Washington state is committed to doing everything we can to protect the people of our state.

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Jinkins_GroceriesOur work on affordability is another of our highest priorities this year. Families are still feeling the pressure from inflation and the Trump Administration’s tariffs are only increasing that pressure. As the most trade-dependent state in the country that is only even more true here in Washington. We’re working on a number of bills this year that I’m hopeful will help. Some highlights include:

  • HB 2242 which will help preserve access to vaccines with no out-of-pocket costs
  • HB 2481 which prohibits surveillance-based price discrimination so your location, shopping history, or online behavior can’t be used to charge you a different price than your neighbors
  • HB 2515 ensures that the increased electricity costs caused by data centers aren’t passed along to everyday consumers (and protects the reliability of our energy grid)
  • HB 2394 would crack down on insurance fraud to help lower insurance costs for everyone
  • HB 2294 would ensure that if a grocery store closes a new grocery store isn’t prohibited from opening in the same location, keeping food access for communities and encouraging competition
  • HB 2296 would allow balcony solar panels, particularly helpful for renters, to give people more options for energy independence

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I also want to highlight that my podcast, The Speaker’s Scoop, is back this session. The episodes are short, almost always under 5 minutes, and talk about what’s going on that week in the legislature. You can listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed here.

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