Happy Holidays and Fantastic Friday!

Federal COVID-19 Relief

Earlier this week, Congress reached an agreement on an omnibus funding package that includes emergency relief to address the health and economic consequences of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. While it is overdue, this relief package will provide much-needed support for thousands of Washington families who are struggling with unemployment, as well as food and housing insecurity.

Investments that Washingtonians will benefit from in the federal package include:

• $600 direct economic impact payments, including checks for mixed status families;
• $300/week increase in federal unemployment benefits to help unemployed Washingtonians pay bills and put food on the table;
• An additional year of eligibility for state, local, tribal and territorial governments to pay for pandemic-related expenses under the CARES Act;
• $69 billion to support COVID-19 vaccines, testing, contact tracing and mental health programs;
• $25 billion for rental assistance and an extension of the federal eviction moratorium to keep Washingtonians in their homes;
• Expanded monthly SNAP benefits and increased funding for vital nutrition programs;
• $10 billion for emergency child care assistance to help get parents back to work and keep child care providers open;
• $7 billion to increase broadband access for students, teachers and families;
• Strengthened and expanded Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to ensure more small businesses and nonprofits, including those in underserved communities, can prevent layoffs;
• Expanded Pell Grants to include 500,000 new recipients and ensure 1.5+ million students receive the maximum Pell Grant benefit; and
• An extension of the successful Payroll Support Program (PSP) to support airline employees. Also includes $1 billion for airline contractors to pay employees.

This package is a down-payment on the relief our state needs to fully recover from the pandemic. We know more will need to be done in 2021, both at the federal level and in our own State House, but this new package puts us one step farther down the path to a public health and economic recovery. To learn more, read a section by section summary of the $900 billion COVID-19 relief package or a similar summary for the broader $1.4 trillion appropriations for fiscal year 2021.

Net ecological gain in the news

Salmon are an indicator species, intertwined with the economy, cultures, and values of Washington state. The health of our salmon indicates the health of our being and our state. We in the Legislature must work together with Washington Treaty Tribes to ensure we make seven generations of decision making for this precious and historical resource. One piece of the work I’ve been doing alongside our tribal partners and state agencies is to enact legislation to prioritize salmon recovery and climate resiliency in Washington state. My bill would integrate salmon recovery into the Growth Management Act (GMA), which guides land management and planning in our state; and set a standard for net ecological gain, rather than our state’s current standard of no net less when it comes to community development. Through these policies, our communities would be better able to protect our environment and mitigate the impacts of climate change as we continue to grow. Learn more about net-ecological gain, the proposed modernization of the GMA, and few other GMA proposals, in this recent article in The Urbanist.

Thank you for joining our 40th District Legislative Preview!

Thank you to all those who attended our 40th District Holiday Zoom Legislative Preview this past Sunday! Our discussion focused on the upcoming remote legislative session and the priorities of our 40th District.

Some of the topics that we covered included the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and economic recovery, as well as protections for farmworkers and others on the frontlines of the crisis. In addition, we touched on policy areas that are vital for our district, including transportation and ferries, affordable housing and homelessness, green infrastructure, and environmental policy, such as my Washington STRONG legislation and bills on energy policy and storage technologies. We also discussed my work on the Policing Policy Leadership Team, which has put forward a package of legislation on police reform and investigations of police-involved violence. If you were unable to attend the event, but have a question, comment, or concern about the upcoming session, please reach out to my office through the contact information below.

Notable Meetings

The Joint Legislative Task Force on Water Supply 

• Our agenda included discussing the Skagit on-site mitigation plan, possible Nooksack adjudication and the statewide adjudication assessment, as well as an update on the status of studies requested by the Task Force. Water remains a challenging issue, but also a top priority for Washington state. Learn more by watching the meeting on TVW.

Washington Green Amendment Roundtable with environmental stakeholders

• We discussed the prospects of a green amendment in Washington state. We know our environment cannot wait, so our discussions focused on our responsibility to protect our environment and natural resources, and how to achieve those goals. The conversation included the possibility of needing to update the state constitution to ensure Washingtonians have the right to a healthy environment. For more information, visit the Green Amendment page on the National Caucus of Environmental Legislator’s website.

The Washington STRONG Act

• Our team developing the Washington STRONG Act, our economic recovery and climate resiliency legislation, attended multiple meetings this week as we continue to collect feedback from stakeholders and state agencies, including the Department of Revenue, Department of Commerce, staff from the Governor’s office, labor representatives, Front and Centered, and The Nature Conservancy.

Thank you all for taking to the time to read this week’s Fantastic Friday, and for taking an interest in our progress at the House of Representatives. I will be sending out a Fantastic Friday letter each week throughout the legislative session.

Please feel free to reach out to me using the information below, with any questions, inquiries, or concerns you may have. Our office is closed for the holidays, but we will return January 4th and get back to you as soon as possible.

I am here for you!

All best wishes,

Rep. Debra Lekanoff