Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Welcome to my first legislative newsletter! I will be sending these updates out every other week to keep you informed about my work in Olympia. This first week has been a whirlwind. Outgoing Rep. Steve Kirby resigned at the end of the year, providing me the opportunity to be sworn in before the start of the 2023 Session on Saturday, January 7th. I was sworn- in on the House Floor by Chief Justice of the Washington Supreme Court Stephen González.
On Monday, other House Representatives took their oath in the House chambers in person for the first time in two years. As part of the opening ceremonies, I was chosen by colleagues to be part of the official delegation informing Governor Inslee that the House was officially in order.
It didn’t take long for the action to get started as my bill, HB 1047, to ban toxic chemicals from cosmetic products was the first bill to get a hearing in the 2023 Legislative Session. I talked to KING 5’s Drew Mikkelson about how many of the cosmetic products that use these chemicals are targeted at women of color. Watch the segment here. Or to watch the committee hearing and hear from experts, scientists, and women impacted by these products.
This week has remained busy as two of my other bills received a hearing this week. My bill to reduce plastic pollution, HB 1085, was heard on Tuesday in the House Environment & Energy Committee. This bill takes simple steps that will have a big impact over time. It reduces plastic pollution in three ways. First, it requires that new drinking fountains have a bottle filling station, reducing single-use plastic bottles. It requires large hotels to provide soap in dispensers instead of individually wrapped soaps or small bottles. Finally, it reduces polystyrene in our waters and aquatic life by banning foam in floating docks. Watch the hearing to hear more about how this bill will lead to a cleaner and healthier Washington.
On Friday, the State Government & Tribal Relations Committee will hear my update to the Washington Voting Rights Act (WRVA). The Washington Voting Rights Act was groundbreaking legislation passed in 2018 to protect voters, especially those from communities of color, in local at-large voting systems.
After several years, we have seen the strengths and the weaknesses of the WVRA. My bill, HB 1048, would make updates to the WVRA to make it even more effective. It has several components. First, it allows for persons or organizations to recover the costs of bringing a WVRA complaint if the political subdivision they are filing a complaint against adopts a remedy without going to court. The WVRA allowed for the recovery of costs, but only if the case went to court. We have found that simply bringing a complaint, which can be expensive to file, sometimes causes a change. It also allows organizations, which have more resources, to challenge election systems on behalf of their members.
Tune in on Friday at 8:00 AM to watch the hearing and learn more about how this bill will make Washington’s voting system fairer and more equitable.
Ways to stay in touch and participate
Learn—The whole legislative process, from start to finish, is explained at leg.wa.gov/legislature/Pages/Overview.aspx
Watch—Go to TVW.org for broadcasts of debates, votes, committee meetings, and other events in the House and Senate. There’s also an extensive archive of past events if you missed watching a live show.
Research—To look up legislation by lawmaker or topic, visit https://app.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/
Contact A Legislator or Testify — To get in contact with us or to share your testimony on any bill, visit https://leg.wa.gov/legislature/Pages/Participating.aspx
Legislative Facebook
Follow me on my new legislative Facebook page, facebook.com/RepSharlettMena, for more regular updates throughout the session.
Thank you for reading my first newsletter. Hearing from you is the most important part of my job. Please do not hesitate to reach out with your thoughts and ideas.
Sincerely,
Sharlett Mena
State Representative
29th District