Dear friends and neighbors,

The first week of session we sent you a link to our survey to learn about your priorities. Many of you took it and I want to thank you so much for participating! It really does make a difference to hear from you and learn what you are most concerned about.

I’d like to share the survey results in the graphic below. Your top five priorities are housing & homelessness, community safety, reducing gun violence, K-12 education, and health care access & affordability. These, among others, are also priorities for me and I can assure you I will be supporting legislation that tackles these challenges.

FIND MY BILLS EASILY

The Legislative website was redesigned over the interim and paths to pages like bill sponsorship have changed. For easy reference, click here or on the image below for the site where you will find all the bills I am prime sponsoring with links to their individual pages so you can check their status anytime.

A QUICK GLANCE AT MY BILLS

I’d like to share a bit of information on some of my bills that have already been heard in committee. Clicking on the bill numbers will take you to the bill history page for each one:

HB 1035 – Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS) is the emotional distress that arises when someone vicariously experiences the traumatic experiences of another individual. The toll of tending to someone’s painful experiences can create very real symptoms in caregivers, including teachers. Our state already has laws in place to support K-12 educators experiencing STS, my bill would create policies and resources to address STS in the higher education workforce.

HB 1079 – My bill allows school districts to provide all students enrolled in online school programs the option to take statewide standardized tests remotely. This is a safe, secure, and effective alternative to in person testing. It relieves the heavy travel burdens, financial costs, and other challenges that online public school families face just to participate in state testing, as well as costs to the districts. And it leads to better participation and more accurate measures of student learning.

HB 1177 – This legislation requires the Department of Children, Youth, and Families to increase the number of households served by the Child Welfare Housing Assistance Program by at least 200, and to prioritize serving families on wait lists.

HB 1036 – As we continue to expand options for students, we need to address the growing interest in ideological and experiential diversity at universities and colleges. This measure adds a member from labor to each Board of Trustees for the regional universities, community and technical college districts, and the Evergreen State College. It also adds a member from business to each Board of Trustees for community college districts.

HB 1141 – Most cannabis employees have the right to organize under the federal National Labor Relations Act, but agricultural cannabis workers are excluded. This bill will increase the stability and equity of the workforce by giving agricultural cannabis workers the same rights as other private employees to organize for better wages and safer workplaces.

VIDEO UPDATE

In my first video update of 2025, I thank you for entrusting me to represent your interests in Olympia once again. I also take this opportunity to discuss how some of the decisions made at the federal level are threatening many Washington families and individuals. Click here or on the image below to watch it.

SUPPORTING OUR MOST VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES

The news coming out of the other Washington are very troubling. For our immigrant and refugee communities, they are downright worrying and deeply frightening. These are hardworking people just trying to make an honest living, like you and me. And they are our friends, neighbors, maybe even family members.

We are not going to let fear define our state. Instead, we will continue to lead with compassion, action, and a commitment to justice:

• As chair of the Latino Democratic Caucus, I issued a statement to address safety concerns among our vulnerable communities. Click here or on the image below to read it (available in English and Spanish).

• The House Democratic Caucus Speaker, Rep. Laurie Jinkins, also issued a statement on the federal executive orders that are threatening Washington residents. Read it here (available in English and Spanish).
• Every child in Washington deserves access to a safe, high-quality education, regardless of immigration status. As Superintendent Chris Reykdal recently reaffirmed, public schools have both a constitutional and moral obligation to serve all students.
• The Commission on Hispanic Affairs put together a rapid response hub that provides essential legal, financial, and social service information to help families navigate these uncertain times.

If you know someone impacted by immigration policy changes, please share this DSHS resource link to help them access critical information.

THANK YOU & KEEP IN TOUCH

I want to thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter. I hope you found its contents useful and, if you need more information on any of the topics discussed here, please don’t hesitate to contact my office.

We are living very uncertain times, which is generating a mounting sense of anxiety among many families in our district and around the state. I hope we can trust and rely on each other for support. If there was ever a need for grace and compassion, this is where we are now.

In solidarity,