—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
2023 Session Victories: Reproductive Care and LGBTQ Rights
Dear friends and neighbors,
Over the last year I’ve found myself thinking about Washington’s role as a beacon of hope.
June is Pride month for most of the nation (although Tacoma celebrates Pride in July) but this year we’re also recognizing the one-year anniversary of the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Pride has always been an act of resistance, a celebration of the fact that queer people are here to stay, and that we deserve equal rights, protections, and access. Earlier this year the Secretary of State’s office had an event celebrating the 10th anniversary of marriage equality in Washington state. In my remarks I reflected on how much has changed in my lifetime, and the courage from so many people who helped make that change possible. As other states enact cruel and discriminatory policies designed to actively harm transgender youth, eliminate queer people, and push us out of public life, we need to be courageous in our defense and support of LGBTQ people, especially our youth.
Similarly, across the nation we’ve seen a coordinated attack on abortion access, reproductive health care, and bodily autonomy. Last year the Supreme Court of the United States decided to undo longstanding legal precedent to strip away rights from millions of people. Since then, many states have restricted or banned abortions and other kinds of reproductive care. The people of Washington state enshrined abortion access into state law by initiative, and we’ve expanded those protections through legislation and budgetary investments.
However, if there is anything I’ve learned in over 30 years of advocacy, the work continues. Below I’ll go over some of the work we did this session to expand protections for LGBTQ people and for people accessing reproductive care.
I am immensely proud of Washington for being a place people can look to for hope. I hope you are, too.
This session we solidified access to abortions and reproductive care.
We passed legislation shielding patients and providers of reproductive care and gender-affirming care from retribution by other states. By ensuring that states like Texas cannot reach into Washington to implement their archaic and punitive laws, we can ensure care remains available for people who need it in Washington state.
We also passed the My Health, My Data Act which protects the right to reproductive care by blocking websites and apps from collecting and sharing sensitive health data.
We know that protecting access to abortion, reproductive care, and gender-affirming care in Washington also means protecting our providers. We passed legislation to ensure they cannot be disciplined for providing care in accordance with Washington state law, no matter where their patients live.
Finally, we passed legislation ensuring that Washingtonians will continue to have access to a safe abortion pill, Mifepristone, regardless of pending federal lawsuits.
These bills are supported by a $24 million investment in reproductive health services to ensure that Washington providers can meet the increased need for services in our state as people come here to get the care they need.
LGBTQ people are under attack across the country, with much of the focus on the transgender community and LGBTQ youth. That’s why we expanded protections for LGBTQ people this session, with a focus on protecting those most at risk.
I mentioned gender-affirming care in a couple of the reproductive rights bills; that ensures providers can continue to offer gender-affirming care, whether their patients live in Washington state or somewhere else, without fear of retaliation from states that oppose bodily autonomy.
In addition to those protections, we passed legislation to help get homeless transgender youth into housing, offering protections for homeless youth seeking gender-affirming treatment. We also passed legislation that makes it easier to seal name change records, protecting transgender people and making it safer for them to seek housing, employment, or medical care.
The data on mental health for LGBTQ youth and particularly transgender youth is devastating. These kids need a loving and supportive community, and they need to be able to see a future where they can live and thrive. I hope Washington can help provide that hope.
I’d also like to remind you about my upcoming community conversations. These are intended to be small group discussions so please stop by to ask questions or talk about issues that are important to you!
Thursday, July 13th from 2-3pm at the Fife Pierce County Library, 6622 20th St E, Fife, WA 98424
Thursday, July 27th from 6-7pm at the Center at Norpoint, 4818 Nassau Ave NE, Tacoma, WA 98422
Tuesday, August 29th from 11:30am-12:30pm at Heritage Coffee and Plant House, 2310 Court A, Tacoma, WA 98402
Tuesday, September 5th from 12:30-1:30pm at Tacoma Public Library South Tacoma Branch, 3411 S 56th St, Tacoma, WA 98409
2023 Session Victories: Post-Secondary Education, Apprenticeships, and Workforce Development; plus Community Conversations
Dear friends and neighbors,
I’m back with another update on what we were able to accomplish this session! As many students are wrapping up the school year or preparing to graduate, I thought it would be fitting to talk about the work we’ve done to help people take their next step in life, whether that be post-secondary education, apprenticeships or some other form of workforce development. This is especially meaningful for me this year as I’ll be heading up to Bellingham in the next few days to celebrate our son’s graduation.
Educating our students is one of our state’s highest priorities. It’s an investment in our future, from growing individual economic stability to creating a workforce that meets Washington’s needs. These topics were a big focus for us this year, and I’m excited to share more about our work.
I also wanted to let you know that I’ll be hosting community conversations across the district over the next couple months. These are intended to be small group discussions so please stop by to ask questions or talk about issues that are important to you! My first stop is Thursday, July 13th, 2:00-3:00pm at the Fife Pierce County Library, and I’ll be joined by Rep. Fey. I’ll keep you posted about other dates, times, and locations!
–
This session we looked at ways we could make post-secondary education more accessible for all students in our state. From expanding access to increasing financial aid, we want to make sure every student’s post-secondary education goals are within reach.
That starts in K-12, where we expanded access to the running start program, which allows high school students to attend classes at our community college and four-year institutions, and eliminated fees for College in High School courses. These dual credit opportunities help prepare students for post-secondary education and allow them to get college credit for coursework before they leave high school. We also passed legislation establishing regional apprenticeship programs which gives high school students the opportunity to learn valuable skills that lead to good, family-wage jobs.
We expanded the Working Connections Child Care program to first-year apprentices, helping make childcare more affordable for families with lower incomes and making it easier for more people to enter the trades. We also passed legislation that will boost the use of apprentices in public work contracts, which will help us attract and retain the next generation of skilled workers.
Additionally, we expanded access to the College Bound Scholarship, helping more students access a degree or credential. Half of all students in Washington state experience food or housing insecurity, this year we set up a program to help connect students with the resources they need, including access to meal vouchers. These support services help students focus on their coursework instead of where their next meal is coming from or where they’ll sleep that night.
In addition to these investments we also expanded the Washington College Grant by $13 million, ensuring more students can get the degree, credential, or apprenticeship they want without taking on debt.
Our post-secondary education investments go hand-in-hand with our investments in workforce development. Every sector in Washington has been impacted by workforce challenges, from behavioral health to childcare, long-term care to K-12 education, public safety, and more. This session we invested $382 million in the future of our state though post-secondary education and workforce development.
We also know that we need to act now to help address our current workforce shortages. That’s why we passed legislation to enter interstate compacts or remove licensing barriers for dental hygienists, audiologists, and mental health counselors. These interstate compacts will make it easier for people who move to Washington to get working right away, and are particularly important for our military families (we also passed another bill specifically helping military spouses obtain professional licenses when they move to Washington state).
We also passed legislation to help us track supply and demand in the healthcare workforce, giving us the data we need to better serve communities across the state and plan for the future. We also acted to address our homecare worker shortage, grow our behavioral health workforce, and remove barriers in hiring paraeducators. Additionally, we dedicated $48 million to health care workforce development and training in our operating budget.
These changes work with other investments we made to increase wages for health care workers like behavioral health providers, primary care providers, pediatricians, and more.
2023 Session Victories: Let’s talk housing, behavioral health, and community safety
Dear friends and neighbors,
In my last full e-newsletter I said it would take more than one email to cover all the work we did this session. Over the next couple months, I’ll be going issue-by-issue to provide updates on what we accomplished. We’re starting today with housing, behavioral health, and community safety.
I’ve heard from many of you on these topics, whether it’s concerns about housing affordability, questions about law enforcement recruitment, retention, and oversight, or how we can do more to help people in need.
I’m proud of what we were able to accomplish in all three of these areas, and excited to share these wins with you. Please let me know if there are other topics you would like me to cover.
Right now our statewide housing supply is short between 150,000 to 250,000 units. On top of that, we need to build one million homes in the next 20 years to meet our projected needs. This year we focused on building our housing supply, increasing housing stability, and ensuring there is support to help get and keep people housed.
This included big budget investments in our operating budget and capital construction budget. Our operating budget invests $519 million in housing, including:
- $141 million in continued funding for emergency housing and rental assistance
- $60 million in additional funds for encampment response and outreach
- $30 million to expand funding for children and youth homelessness
- $27 million in increased funding for Housing and Essential Needs
Our capital construction budget investments include:
- $400 million for the Housing Trust Fund, a competitive grant program to build affordable housing
- $170 million for affordable housing and shelters, including $14.5 million for youth shelter and housing projects and $50 million for transit-oriented development
- $124 million for home upgrades, including $35 million for weatherization in low-income households and $83 million for home energy efficiency rebates
We passed legislation to expand middle housing options in cities across our state, with a focus on expansion in areas near major transit stops. We need more of all kinds of housing, and this legislation helps make that possible. We also ensured that property owners who want to build an ADU will face less regulatory barriers.
We know that our real estate industry has a well-documented history of racism. This year we’re beginning to right that wrong with the Covenant Homeownership Act, which will provide down payment and closing cost assistance for people that have historically faced housing discrimination.

We’re also protecting renters from unfair deposit practices. A rental deposit should be just that, not a fee. When you’ve taken good care of a rental and leave only normal wear and tear, you should be able to get most of your deposit back.
I’ve heard from many of you with different concerns about community safety. Concerns about gun violence prevention, about giving our law enforcement the tools they need to keep us safe, about what oversight there is for law enforcement officers that go too far, and what we’re doing to protect and support victims throughout our justice system.
Gun violence is preventable. During the 10-year period when the federal assault weapons ban was in effect, mass shooting fatalities were 70% less likely to occur. We heard on the House floor about some of the devastating losses people across the state have experienced in shootings where an assault weapon was used. That’s why this session we passed a ban on assault weapons.
We also passed legislation to require safety training and waiting periods to purchase firearms. Ensuring people know how to safely use, handle, and store firearms will save lives, as will a waiting period that gives people experiencing a crisis critical time to access help. Part of ending gun violence is also holding manufacturers and retailers accountable. We passed legislation requiring them to take reasonable steps to enforce existing laws, track their inventory, and prevent straw sales.
We also passed bills to support survivors of sexual assault by promoting victim-centered, trauma-informed responses in our legal system. Additionally, we improved protections for people experiencing domestic violence, ensuring the system works to keep them safe and that law enforcement and judicial officers have the training they need.
Private detention facilities in Washington should have to meet the same health and safety standards as public facilities, which is why we passed legislation to protect basic human rights for people in detention. We also know that family support and reentry services are critical to help people reentering society after detention, which is why we passed legislation to ensure that people who are incarcerated don’t have to pay to see their family. We also passed legislation to ensure that everyone reentering society has a plan and access to resources.
We also made adjustments to our vehicular pursuit law to ensure that police are able to pursue dangerous subjects, and to allow each community to set pursuit policies that work for them.
This legislation goes hand-in-hand with the investments we made in our operating budget. We allocated $253 million for public safety, legal aid, and corrections, including:
- $62 million to expand domestic violence services
- $52 million for the Office of Public Defense and the Office of Civil Legal Aid
- $27 million to expand criminal justice training and certification
- $12 million to expand firearm violence prevention grant funding
- $7 million to increase wages and gratuities for people who are incarcerated, currently people who are incarcerated only make up to $2.70 an hour
In my Sine Die newsletter at the end of April I mentioned that we were still working on a fix for the Blake decision in Washington state. I’m proud to say that in a quick, one-day special session last week we passed an agreement with strong bipartisan support.
Some background: In 2021, the Washington State Supreme Court found our law on drug possession unconstitutional. In response to that decision, we passed legislation building a new system focused on access to treatment and recovery but gave it a sunset so we could fine-tune the details as we saw the system in action. This compromise is a big deal, setting up systems for outreach, treatment, diversion, and recovery while still ensuring accountability. You can learn more about the bill here.
While Blake was one of our biggest priorities this year, we did lots of other work on behavioral health. We implemented a 988 behavioral health crisis response and suicide prevention system to ensure that people in crisis can connect with the resources they need. We also expanded access to certified peer specialists, people with lived experience that can help those in crisis.
We also acted on the youth mental health crisis, creating a new care coordinator to provide support for children living in hospitals for extended periods and their families. This coordinator will help provide individualized support and pull resources from multiple state agencies to help get kids into appropriate care as soon as possible.
Last year we leveraged federal funds to invest heavily in behavioral health in our operating budget; this year we built on those investments with:
- $271 million to increase rates for behavioral health providers
- $123 million for additional community bed capacity
- $115 million to expand opioid and other substance use disorder prevention and treatment
- $69 million to fund 988 crisis response and IT initiatives
- $55 million for crisis, outreach, and diversion programs
- $29 million to fund youth behavioral health
This Thursday: Join me for a telephone town hall!
Dear friends and neighbors,
Just a reminder that Sen. Yasmin Trudeau, Rep. Jake Fey and I will be hosting a telephone town hall for 27th District constituents THIS Thursday, May 11th from 6-7 p.m.
Most district households with a landline should automatically receive a call around 6 p.m. inviting you to join. If you don’t have a landline, or you want to make sure you receive a call from us, you can sign up at the following link:
You can also join the conversation by calling 877-229-8493 and entering PIN # 116282 (note: this number will be active beginning about 5 minutes before the event start time).
We look forward to coming together as a community and taking your questions about the recently-concluded legislative session.
I hope you are able to join us.
Sincerely,
End of Session Update and a Telephone Town Hall
Dear friends and neighbors,
Earlier this week we wrapped up the 2023 legislative session. I’m proud of what we were able to accomplish in 105 days, and I’ve got a high-level overview below. We did a lot more than I can cover in just one newsletter, so I’ll be reaching out with more information in the coming days and weeks.
If you want a preview on some of that, we’re also hosting a telephone town hall on Thursday, May 11th at 6:00 PM, there’s more information about that below.
I’ve mentioned a couple of times this year how our work in Olympia is largely bipartisan, and this year was no exception. We passed 474 bills, 286 of those bills received unanimous support in their last vote on the floor. 379 of those 474 bills passed with over 80% of legislators in support. I’ve said it before: at the end of the day, we’re all here to work on behalf of the people of this state.
With that, here are some highlights:
Housing
Our Operating and Capital Construction Budgets together make over $1 billion in housing-related investments to address housing affordability and the homelessness crisis. That includes:
- $141 million for emergency housing and rental assistance
- $60 million for encampment response and outreach
- $30 million in additional funding for children and youth homelessness
These investments are a big deal and will go a long way towards helping keep people housed and get people into housing. But we know that alone isn’t enough, which is why we also passed bills to expand middle housing options (HB 1110), make it easier to build accessory dwelling units, or ADUs (HB 1337), and protect renters from unfair damage deposit claims (HB 1074).
Workforce
At the beginning of session, I talked about how every sector in Washington has been impacted by workforce challenges, from behavioral health to childcare, long-term care to K-12 education, public safety, and more. That’s why we’re investing $382 million in college and workforce development, helping to ensure we’re building the workforce of the future.
We know that it will take time for some of those investments to come to fruition, which is why we also passed a number of bills targeted at growing our workforce now. That includes bills to enter interstate compacts for dental hygienists, audiologists, mental health counselors, making it easier for people like military spouses to get to work in Washington state. We also passed legislation to address our homecare worker shortage (HB 1694), grow our behavioral health workforce (HB 1724), and remove barriers in hiring paraeducators (HB 1015).
Reproductive Rights
This session, we focused on what we can do in Washington to protect access to reproductive health and freedom and the right to make medical decisions without government interference. We invested $24 million in reproductive health services in our operating budget this year, in addition to passing legislation like:
- The My Health, My Data Act (HB 1155), which protects the right to reproductive care by blocking websites and apps from collecting and sharing sensitive health data.
- The Shield Law (HB 1469), which protects patients and providers of reproductive and gender-affirming care in Washington from retribution by other states, ensuring that care remains available to those who require it in Washington state.
- A bill to protect Washington’s health care providers (HB 1340), ensuring they cannot be disciplined for providing reproductive or gender-affirming care in accordance with Washington state law, regardless of where their patients reside.
- A bill ensuring that Washingtonians will have access to a safe abortion pill, Mifepristone, regardless of pending federal lawsuits. (SB 5678)
I know that many of you were also tracking our response to the Blake decision this year, and while we weren’t able to pass a bill this session our work is ongoing, and I’ll keep you updated.
|
Join us for a Telephone Town Hall!
Now that session is over, we’ll be hosting a telephone town hall to give an update and answer your questions. We’ll be calling households in the district at 6PM on Thursday, May 11.
There are a couple ways you can join:
- Sign up here by selecting the “Let’s Talk” button on the May 11 event
Or
- Dial in at 6PM on Thursday, May 11 by calling 877-229-8493, PIN #: 116282
I hope you’ll join us May 11th, and I look forward to answering your questions.
Session Update: bills so far, presiding over the House, and more
Dear friends and neighbors,
Today is the 96th day of this year’s 105-day legislative session, and I have some updates!
This week was the opposite chamber cutoff, which means we crossed the deadline for most bills to pass out of the opposite chamber (so the Senate for all our House bills). We’re also closing in on Sine Die, which is legislative jargon for the last day of session. We have until next Sunday, April 23rd, to wrap up our work.
I’m proud of what we’ve been able to do so far this session. I’ll talk about some of our most important bills later, but we’ve sent 161 bills to the Governor’s desk so far. I’m particularly proud that 115 of those bills had unanimous bipartisan support. We do a lot of important work down here, and most of it is incredibly bipartisan.
This next week is all about concurrences (looking at changes the Senate made to House bills and deciding whether we want to keep them or negotiate a different option) and finalizing our budgets for this biennium.
Legislative Update
We’ve done a lot of good work this session, and I wanted to highlight a couple particularly impactful bills.
This session we knew we needed to do more to protect reproductive rights and gender-affirming care in Washington state. We’ve done that in a couple ways – ensuring that providers can’t be punished for doing their job, protecting patients in Washington state from other states trying to impose their beliefs on us, and protecting your sensitive health care data.
We also took strong action on gun violence prevention, passing bills to ban assault weapons, hold gun manufacturers accountable, and require a 10-day waiting period and safety training to purchase a firearm.
Another important bill that stands out for me is SB 5729, which caps insulin costs at $35 a month. I’ve been diabetic since I was 12 years old, and I understand just how critical it is for insulin to be affordable. It’s the oldest prescription drug still available yet there are no generics, and costs can be extraordinarily high. This bill will help save lives.
What’s it like presiding over the House?
Last week I sat down with Rep. Tina Orwall and Rep. Dan Bronoske to talk about what it’s like to preside over the House. They both serve in leadership positions and help me run debate on the floor. If you’re curious about what that means you can learn more here.
Getting Involved in Government
I also wanted to pass along an opportunity to get more involved in your state government. The governor is in charge of appointing people to over 230 different boards and commissions, from the local community college board of trustees to the lottery commission to Puget sound restoration. These boards and commissions include identity-based groups and cover almost any interest area you can think of. You can learn more about what’s available and how to apply here.
House rolls out “Resilient Washington Budget”
Dear friends and neighbors,
Yesterday, House Democrats rolled out our 2023-2025 state operating budget proposal, the Resilient Washington Budget.
Over the last few years we’ve set a new standard for investing in families across our state, with a focus on those disproportionally impacted by the pandemic or who have historically faced barriers to opportunities.
We’ve leveraged federal funds to expand food assistance, cash assistance, and housing programs to keep people housed and fed. We’ve increased access to childcare and post-secondary education to help address workforce development and retention. We’ve set ourselves up for a more equitable future.
In this budget we’re continuing that work, being strategic with our spending so we can maintain critical programs even as federal funding goes away. We know that people across our state are feeling the economic impacts of inflation, and many are still feeling the impacts of COVID-19. That’s why we focused on resilience. It’s not just about weathering tough times, it’s about knowing that we have your back.
This proposal makes significant investments in K-12 education, housing, workforce development, poverty reduction, and much more. It does all this with a focus on racial equity, something you’ll see woven throughout the Resilient Washington Budget. I’ve got some details about the budget below, but if you want to read more about the Resilient Washington Budget you can do that here, or head to fiscal.wa.gov for details.
K-12 Education: Education, particularly special education, is a top priority this year. With $1.9 billion in new funding, we are investing in students, educators, and schools. Our budget proposal:
- Provides funding for inflation adjustment and health care cost increase for educators – $570 million
- Increases funding for supports for special education students- $179 million
- Expands funding for access to free meals for students- $85 million
- Increases funding for dual language grants – $10 million
Homelessness and Housing: House Democrats believe that we must invest more in housing and homelessness. From working to right the wrongs of the past by providing assistance for first time homebuyers who hold identities that have historically experienced housing discrimination, to increasing funding for housing and homelessness assistance, we are moving forward on supportive housing and homeownership. Our budget proposal:
- Continues funding for emergency housing and rental assistance – $175 million
- Funds the covenant home ownership program which helps communities that have historically experienced housing discrimination buy a home – $150 million
- Allocates additional funds for encampment response and outreach – $60 million
- Increases funding for Housing and Essential Needs – $27 million
- Expands funding for children and youth homelessness – $28 million
Public Health and Health Care: We saw in the pandemic how undocumented immigrants were disproportionately impacted by lack of health care access. Up to one-third of our uninsured residents are undocumented adults. House Democrats are expanding health care access and Cascade Care subsidies to those individuals and families so they can get appropriate medical care. We also must stabilize our health care delivery system including hospitals, family practice, and pediatric providers. And because Democrats believe we must protect the right to abortion and gender-affirming care, we’re adding funding for providers to meet the demand caused by the US Supreme Court’s Dobbs ruling. Our budget proposal:
- Provides funding for health equity for undocumented adults – $99 million
- Increases rates for health care workers including primary care and pediatricians – $68 million
- Funds Cascade Care for individuals with lower incomes who are not Medicaid eligible – $25 million
- Maintains our commitment to public health with $362 million in new funding
- Provides funding for reproductive health services – $17 million
College and Workforce Investments: House Democrats are ensuring everyone has the support they need to get a degree or credential, whether you’re an individual with low-income, the first in your family to go to college, or a parent returning to school. Investing in the people of our state helps everyone thrive and grows our workforce for the future. In addition to expanding higher education support with $795 million in compensation, our budget proposal:
- Increases workforce development and opportunity at Community and Technical Colleges – $67 million
- Funds health care workforce and training – $45 million
- Provides funding to expand Washington College Grant – $20 million
- Funds student basic needs to make sure students have the support they need to get a degree or credential – $9 million
- Increases funding for high demand enrollments – $7 million
Join me this Saturday for a Town Hall
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
This is just a quick reminder about our town hall this Saturday, March 18th from 10AM-12PM. Come ask questions and get an update on our work this session. We’ll be on the Tacoma campus of the Evergreen State College (1210 6th Ave Tacoma, WA 98504).
You can submit question in advance online: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/27thLDtownhall2023
Or by email: OfficeofSpeakerJinkins@leg.wa.gov
Hope to see you there!
Session Update: Floor Action, an Upcoming Town Hall, the Page Program, & more
Dear friends and neighbors,
This week was the House of Origin Cutoff in Olympia, which means we’ve crossed the deadline for most bills to pass out of the House (or Senate, for Senate bills) and move over to the other chamber. It’s been a remarkably productive session so far – we’ve passed 328 bills off the House floor, with nearly 200 receiving unanimous support and over 250 receiving strong bipartisan support.
We’ve had a strong focus on housing, workforce development, and reproductive health. I think that’s reflected in the bills we’ve passed so far. Some highlights include:
- Expanding our state’s middle housing supply by allowing more diverse housing options in residential neighborhoods. (HB 1110)
- Making it easier to build Accessory Dwelling Units (HB 1337)
- Shielding patients who seek reproductive or gender-affirming care in Washington state, and their health care providers, from other state’s archaic laws (HB 1469)
- Ensuring that health care providers in Washington state are protected when providing reproductive or gender-affirming care (HB 1340)
- Protecting your sensitive health data, including data related to reproductive health (HB 1155)
- Addressing our home care workforce shortages by updating certification requirements and reducing licensing fees for home care workers (HB 1694)
- Growing our behavioral health workforce by supporting those studying to enter the field, reducing barriers to entering the workforce, and streamlining licensing requirements (HB 1724)
Now we’re pivoting back to committee hearings to look at the bills sent over from the Senate, and I’ll keep you posted on that work.
Join us for a Town Hall
I’ll be joining my seatmates for a town hall next Saturday, March 18th at 10AM. Come ask questions and get an update on our work so far. We’ll be on the Tacoma campus of the Evergreen State College (1210 6th Ave Tacoma, WA 98504).
You can even submit question in advance online: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/27thLDtownhall2023
Or by email: OfficeofSpeakerJinkins@leg.wa.gov
House Page Program
Now that we’re back in-person we’ve restarted our House Page Program! This is an opportunity for students from 14-17 years old to come to Olympia for a week and learn more about how our state legislature works. If you want to learn more about the program check out this interview I did with Viviane, who paged in the Houselast week!
WAVE Scholarship for Career and Technical Education
I also wanted to share a scholarship opportunity for high school graduates who are enrolled in a career and technical education program. This program helps support current students and grow our workforce, and I’m excited about the opportunity. You can learn more about the scholarship or apply here, the deadline to apply is March 17th.
The People’s Work
Dear friends and neighbors,
Hello from Olympia, where we’ve started the 2023 Legislative Session! For the first time since 2020, we’re gathering to do the people’s work in-person — a welcome change after two years of remote session.
As we start this year, I want to thank you all again for the confidence you’ve placed in me as your representative. I promise to honor that confidence with listening, hard work, and good policy. I’m also grateful to my colleagues in the House for again trusting me to serve as Speaker of the House. I gave remarks after I was sworn in Monday in which I talked about what House Democrats will be focusing on this session. You can watch those here.
Looking ahead – I’m proud of how well Washington has weathered the last two years, but I know we still have work to do.
Housing
I know that there are families struggling to find accessible and affordable housing across our community and across the state. We need to build 1.1 million homes within the next couple decades to meet our current and future housing needs. Almost half of these homes will need to be accessible for low-income Washingtonians. This session I’ll be working with my colleagues to find creative, innovative, and bipartisan solutions to help build a stronger future for our state.
Workforce
I also know that every sector in Washington has been impacted by workforce challenges, from behavioral health to childcare, long-term care to K-12 education, public safety, and more. We’re looking at how we can grow each of these workforces, making it easier for people to get the education, training, or certification they need to provide quality services.
Last week I was on a bipartisan panel with other legislative leaders to talk about our priorities for the coming session. We may not agree on everything, but there’s a lot of common ground. In my opening remarks to the House I talked about being patient with each other and impatient about the problems we’re facing, I’m hopeful that with this approach our work together will produce better results for all Washingtonians.
This is the People’s House and I’m proud to work hard here on your behalf.
Staying Engaged this Session
Our transition to remote work over the last two sessions made the legislature more accessible than ever for our constituents. While we’re back in-person, we’re keeping those remote options for you to get involved. More information on those options is below:
- Learn — Curious about how the legislative process works? You can watch a start-to-finish overview by clicking here. If you prefer text instead, click here.
- Watch — TVW.org broadcasts all legislative debates, votes, committee hearings and other events in the House and Senate. There’s also an extensive archive of past events if you can’t watch it live. Check out TVW’s “Legislative Review” for a quick recap of everything that’s happened each day of session.
- Research — Find detailed information about legislation by lawmaker or topic by clicking here.
- Testify — Share your thoughts on legislation! This session, you’ll be able to testify in person, remotely or in writing based on what’s easiest for you. Click here for more information on how to testify.