These wonderful students from the Youth Ambassador leadership class at Pacific Middle School testified in the Education Committee this week on Rep. Tana Senn’s bill to develop standards for Social Emotional Learning (SEL). You can read more about this bill here.
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Improving the free breakfast program for all students
Experts have been telling us for years that hungry children don’t learn as well in the classroom as those who start off the day with a healthy breakfast. Rep. Zack Hudgins (D-Tukwila) wants to change that by passing a bill that creates a “Breakfast After the Bell” program in Washington state.
Breakfast After the Bell provides free breakfast in the classroom for all students. The goal is to make sure every student has a nutritious meal to start the day and to remove the stigma many low income students feel for taking free breakfast. And by providing the meal at the beginning of class, rather than requiring students to show up early before school starts, the anxiety of being singled out is taken away.
I was pleased to support this bill with my “yes” vote in the Education Committee.
More on the program can be found at Public News Service.
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Update on my bills
The suicide rate in Washington state is higher than the national average. Three of my bills this session focus on suicide prevention:
Approximately 2-3 youth between the ages of 14-24 complete suicide every week in our state. In a Washington State Department of Health death review study, 23 percent of people who die by suicide are men and women who have served our country. HB 1138 creates a Task Force on Mental Health and Suicide Prevention at the higher education institutions to determine what policies, resources, andtechnical assistance are needed to support the institutions in improving accessto mental health services, and improving suicide prevention responses. We need a statewide committee to begin to understand this issue and to see how we can better support students who are struggling with mental health issues. But most importantly – in a person’s darkest hour, when they have the courage to reach out for help, they will get the help they need and deserve.
HB 1140requires the state Health Care Authority to establish a program to support primary care providers in their assessment and provision of the appropriate diagnosis and treatment of adults with behavioral health disorders through consultation services. The program would be phased in and eventually implemented statewide. This resource is important because it will help ensure that persons with mental health issues receive the treatment and support they need to stabilize and thrive in the community and avoid unnecessary hospitalizations.
HB 1424 is a “fix” bill to my previous suicide prevention legislation, HB 2315. It extends the timeline for the Department of Health to adopt rules to establish minimum standards for training programs through a work group collaboration to ensure key components are in trainings, including lethal means and addressing veterans’ issues. It also creates a model list of approved trainings that will provide clarity to professionals on trainings that will meet the new requirement.
I highlighted HB 1068, my bill concerning testing of sexual assault examination kits, in a previous newsletter. I thought I’d share this link to an article on NPR on how the City of Detroit is working to eliminate their backlog of testing 11,000 rape kits and how the DNA evidence is turning up serial offenders, and their efforts to find funds to pay for the testing.
I’m pleased to report that all of these bills are progressing.
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ASK TINA
In this episode I respond constituent emails on what we are doing to ensure Washington’s most vulnerable people get the help they need, and on why I am supporting a tax on capital gains.
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Free Online Tax Preparation for Constituents
The IRS has partnered with private tax software companies to provide free online tax preparation and electronic filing for people with incomes of $60,000 or less. There are also some free services available for people over that income threshold. www.IRS.gov/freefile
The IRS website also has a page with information about Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) eligibility: https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/EITC-Home-Page-Its-easier-than-ever-to-find-out-if-you-qualify-for-EITC
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OTHER NEWS:
- State budget problem: Without taxes, something has to go (News Tribune)
- Editorial: Oil Train Safety is Job 1 (Columbian)
- Editorial: Value in all-day kindergarten (Everett Herald)
- Editorial: Cost shouldn’t prevent humane mental health care (Bellingham Herald)
- Editorial: Mentally Ill Need State’s Aid (Columbian)
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