Dear Friends and Neighbors,
The Legislative Session is off to a busy start—and it’s so wonderful operating in-person and interacting with so many of you face-to-face. Thank you to those of you who have already reached out to share your input—I really appreciate it. Here are some of the things we’ve been working on:
A new tax credit for Washington workers starts in 2023!
The Working Families Tax Credit is a new program, beginning this February, that will provide payments of up to $1,200 to low-to-moderate income individuals and families. The amounts are based on income level and the number of qualifying children (if any).
This program will help us stimulate local economies, promote racial equity, and provide the financial stability Washington families need right now. To find more information in several available languages, and see if you qualify, visit https://workingfamiliescredit.wa.gov.
Greater Transparency in Government
One of the most important parts of my job is to serve the State, provide transparency into government activity, and to ease and streamline access to government agencies for support. That’s why I sponsored HB 1105 to require that when public agencies are required by law to have a specified written public comment period they must provide notice for public comment that includes the last day of the submission period. Public comment and public access to the government are integral to democracy and the legislative process. When the final day to submit public comment is omitted, people interested in sharing their voice don’t necessarily know how long they have to do so—without a clearly labeled timeline, people don’t have the adequate time or resources to coalesce their thoughts and share their advocacy, feedback, and stories. My bill requires greater transparency and clarity—so that we can work to serve you better.
Watch my video here to learn more:
Data Privacy Week
It’s Data Privacy Week! Gov. Jay Inslee has proclaimed January 28 as Data Privacy Day in Washington state to spread awareness about online privacy and educate people on how to protect and manage their personal information. This week, the Attorney General’s Office held a webinar on Tuesday, January 24 about its recent Data Privacy Report. According to the report, approximately 4,537,000 Washingtonians were impacted by data breaches this year. We must focus on legislation to protect consumers’ private health data, provide Washingtonians the freedom to control their data, expand language access to data breach notifications, and require more transparency and accountability from those who collect your private data.
I am proud to announce that I have filed HB 1616, also known as the People’s Privacy Act. This is a consumer-focused bill that gives Washingtonians a set of rights and establishes a remedy when those rights have been violated. It requires companies who collect and process your data to be transparent in letting you know what is collected, how it is used, and prohibits them from selling your personal data without your freely-given opt-in consent.
Because we spend so much of our time online and using devices, these privacy protections are an important tool to protect our civil rights and civil liberties.
Rental Stability and Housing Support
We’ve heard from you that more affordable housing, stabilized rental rates, and more government-subsidized housing for low-income families would have the greatest impact on the state this year. That’s why my colleagues and I are prioritizing housing this year. We have a need for more housing of every kind, in every community. In the next few decades, Washington is projected to need about 1.1 million new homes built, over half of which are needed for people with very low or extremely low incomes. This is a market that the private sector has never been able to serve.
That’s why I have long advocated for a multifaceted approach that increases the housing supply, strengthens tenant protections, and increases our investment in workforce housing options. I’m proud to have sponsored HB 1343, providing local governments with options to grant relief and preserve affordable housing in their communities, and HB 1596, providing local governments with options to increase affordable housing. These bills create affordable, healthy, high-quality rental housing opportunities for very low-income households when there are insufficient options available. They are private sector solutions, incentivizing owners of multifamily buildings to rent at rates that are affordable. More affordable housing options in a community can help counteract the economic pressure to gentrify neighborhoods. I’ve also signed on as a co-sponsor to HB 1110, which specifically addresses the missing middle housing supply, and will continue to work on housing throughout this session. I have also signed on as a sponsor to HB 1388 and HB 1389, to stop excessive rent hikes, give renters stability, and empower the Attorney General to go after unscrupulous landlords who use rent increases as a mechanism to deny tenants of their legal rights. We all need a home to meet our most basic needs. Excessive rent is forcing renters from their homes, and displacing families. Renters deserve stability and legal protection.
Thank you very much for taking the time to read, and for your interest in following along with our progress. Please reach out with any questions, inquiries, concerns, or stories that you’d like to share—I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Rep. Shelley Kloba