We’re Two-Thirds of the Way Through Session
This past Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. marked a major deadline in our 60-day legislative session – house of origin cutoff, the time by which all non-budget bills must be passed from their house of origin to the other chamber. Since the beginning of the legislative biennium in 2021, over 2,000 bills have been introduced in the House and 1,000 more in the Senate.
There’s never a shortage of work for the Legislature to do, but we also want to make sure that any bills we pass are given the attention and careful consideration they deserve—that’s where legislative cutoffs come into play. Bills that didn’t pass off the House floor by the deadline likely won’t continue advancing through the legislative process this year.
I’m happy to report that many of the bills I’m sponsoring have successfully made it past cutoff, including:
- House Bill 1172, which repeals a part of Washington law in direct conflict with the judicially-affirmed and treaty-reserved fishing rights of Northwest tribes. By repealing this section, we can avoid any legal confusion with state-tribal cooperative agreements in the management of salmon, trout, and steelhead resources. The bill had a public hearing in the Senate Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources & Parks Committee yesterday.
- House Bill 1117, which integrates salmon recovery into the Growth Management Act (GMA) and sets a standard for net ecological gain in community development, helping to protect our environment and mitigate the impacts of climate change as we continue to grow. The bill had a public hearing in the Senate Housing & Local Government Committee on Wednesday.
- House Bill 1725, which creates a statewide alert for missing Indigenous people in Washington state, helping to address the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and people. It will operate similarly to the ‘silver alert’ established for missing vulnerable adults. The bill had a public hearing in the Senate Law & Justice Committee on February 8, and was voted out of committee unanimously yesterday!
- House Bill 1753, which establishes tribal consultation as a part of the process when allocating funding from certain Climate Commitment Act accounts. The bill had a public hearing in the Senate Environment, Energy & Technology Committee on Wednesday.
Bills Supporting Students, from Mental Health to Internet Access
Last month was Whole Child Month, a time to recognize how important it is to support each and every student across our state, especially as the pandemic continues to take a toll on young people. Here are some of the bills House Democrats introduced to do just that:
All six bills passed the House and are now under consideration in the Senate! For more on the variety of approaches we’re taking to address youth mental health (and the mental health system more broadly), check out this Seattle Times article. |
Language Access and Parental Engagement Go Hand in Hand
If you are a parent, you want to know how your kids are doing in school, celebrate their achievements and support them if they’re struggling. You know the importance of meeting with their teachers so you can address issues in partnership to reach the goal you and their teachers share: ensuring your children thrive.
Imagine you have a language barrier and you need interpretation to fully understand the landscape of your children’s education plan. Now imagine the school doesn’t have or can’t access an interpreter who can not only communicate in your language, but also knows the programs and systems used in the school well enough to be able to accurately interpret what the teachers need you to know. Without those resources, you are left out and can’t play an active role in your children’s development.
If you are in that situation, I’ve got good news for you: language access in public schools is already required by federal and state law, the problem is that, currently, most schools do not approach language access in a systematic way. This leads to children translating for parents, or people who are not qualified to interpret technical but essential education information trying to fill in the gap. That’s why I voted in favor of House Bill 1153 last week on the floor of the People’s House. This bill addresses the impromptu nature of most schools’ language services and lack of qualified translators and interpreters by directing the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop language access program standards and a credentialing process, and to collaborate on ways to support more interpreters and language access coordinators in school settings. For more details on this bill, I encourage you to read this press release and watch the floor debate, where you’ll hear compelling remarks by several of my colleagues who I applaud for their passion, dedication, and perseverance to finally pass this legislation that has been five years in the making. |
Affordable Housing Through ADUs
We are not building enough housing to keep up with demand. It’s driving up rent and housing prices. But there is a tool to help us a build quickly, cheaply and preserve the character of neighborhoods – accessory dwelling units or ADUs.
Also known as backyard cottages or mother-in-law units, this type of housing makes use of existing space by building on top of a garage, in a basement, or in a backyard. But in many cities, local regulation makes ADUs prohibitively expensive or difficult to build.
Courtesy of the City of Olympia
That’s why I supported House Bill 1660 to remove certain barriers to construction and require comprehensive plans under the Growth Management Act allow for ADUS within an urban growth area.
In 2017, California passed legislation to encourage more ADU development. Since then, the state has seen ADU permitting requests increase from about 1,000 units a year to over 12,000 units a year. While HB 1660 makes more gradual adjustments than the California legislation, it will allow for substantially more ADUs to be built in Washington.
The bottom-line is that ADUs are a great option for someone looking for an affordable apartment, to make extra income off an unused space on their property, or to provide a home for their aging parents. HB 1660 is in an important step in confronting our housing crisis and making ADUS an option for everyone.
Giving a Voice to Washington Workers — WA Silenced No More Act
Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) have been used for decades to protect trade secrets and proprietary information. But at the height of the #MeToo movement, we began to see the pervasive abuse of these agreements to silence employees and shield employers from accountability for inappropriate—and even illegal—conduct in the workplace. Since that time, we have fought to end the use of NDAs to prevent employees from coming forward to speak out against wrongdoing. Every worker should have the right to share their story in their personal pursuit of justice, healing, and protecting their peers. I was proud to join my colleagues in passing Washington’s Silenced No More Act (HB 1795) to prohibit employers from using NDAs and settlement agreements to block employees from speaking out about harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and wage-theft they experience in the workplace. As home to many of the largest corporations, Washington’s Silenced No More Act will likely play a significant role in extending worker protections far outside the state’s borders. The bill now moves to the state Senate for further consideration. |
Small Business Flex Fund
Many small businesses are still struggling due to the pandemic. As our neighborhood hubs and the engine of our economy in Washington, they need help keeping their doors open, repairing damage or renovating, and keeping treasured employees on the payroll.
That’s why the Department of Commerce set up the Small Business Flex Fund in June of last year. Through this fund, small businesses and nonprofits can borrow up to $150,000 to spend flexibly on payroll, building repairs and improvements, utilities, rent, supplies, marketing, and other expenses. Already, they’ve provided loans to over 100 small business owners like those you see below. These are our neighbors that provide a place for people to gather, to get childcare, get a haircut or manicure and shop with the certainty that they’re supporting their community.
The Small Business Flex Fund is a forward-thinking, public-private partnership to help small businesses and nonprofits recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and grow their business again, and this session, we will be advocating for it to continue.
Information on the Small Business Flex Fund is available in English, Simplified Chinese (简化字), Russian (русский), Spanish (Español), Vietnamese (tiếng Việt), Amharic, Arabic, Tagalog, and Korean. Our beloved local stores and businesses need a partner in government to help them stay open, create opportunities in our communities, and be resilient in the face of disaster. We hope this Small Business Flex Fund is one part of that partnership.
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.
I am here for you!
All best wishes,
Rep. Debra Lekanoff