Dear friends and neighbors,
There’s a new law on the books! Last week, Gov. Jay Inslee signed my bipartisan bill to bolster economic recovery and provide food and cash assistance to families in need.
So many families are struggling to make ends meet or worrying about where their next meal will come from. HB 1151 will get more help to those families by expanding a cash assistance program and allowing five additional months of food assistance. We know that food insecurity has risen during the pandemic. This new law will update existing programs to help ensure families have options beyond food banks to put food on the table.
HB 1151 also directs the state Department of Social and Health Services to update the standards of need for cash assistance programs, which were last updated three decades ago. Families’ needs have changed over the past 30 years, and this law will update or modernize these standards to include expenses like internet and child care.
Tackling the child care crisis
We were facing a child care crisis before the pandemic. But now that parents have had to leave their jobs this past year because of limited access to child care, things have gotten even worse. The House’s Washington Recovery Budget, which I’ll talk more about later, includes $790 million for the Fair Start for Kids Act, a bill to make child care more affordable and accessible for families, and other expanded child care and early learning programs.
The Fair Start for Kids Act — SB 5237, the companion to the House bill sponsored by Rep. Tana Senn — passed the House on Thursday. I’m proud to support this bill to get parents back to work, our economy up and running and more kids a fair start in life.
Passing a budget for recovery
You may have heard that the House passed our Washington Recovery Budget last weekend to help those most impacted by the pandemic. This proposal helps our communities recover with $1.2 billion for COVID-19 vaccines, contact tracing and testing; $1.1 billion for rental assistance; $141 million for food assistance programs; $250 million for small business grants; $9 million for school lunch copays; $90 million to improve the state’s suicide and behavioral health crisis response system; and much more.
I also pushed for funding in the proposal for a temporary rate increase for supported living providers, which provide critical services to help people with intellectual and developmental disabilities live in their homes. This funding will help maintain the quality support and services these providers offer clients in their own communities during the pandemic and into the future. Our caregivers, families and neighbors need to be well cared for.
Thanks for reading! Be sure to check out the latest installment of my Tuesdays for the 28th video series for more about funding in the Washington Recovery Budget for the Arlington Drive Youth Campus, which provides housing and support to young adults who are experiencing homelessness, transitioning from foster care or on the brink of homelessness, and the governor signing my food and cash assistance bill. Tune in here.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out at 253-256-0302 or Mari.Leavitt@leg.wa.gov. You can also follow me on Facebook for the latest. It’s an honor to serve the beautiful 28th.
Mari Leavitt