Dear Friends and Neighbors,

We begin the second week of this short 60-day session with a long list of challenges, and we’re focusing on moving everyone forward with policies that address our state’s most urgent needs.

Like last session, you will see legislation advancing racial equity and justice in our state, efforts to address the climate crisis and air quality issues, and policies that improve safety and strengthen our economic well-being.

We will also work on delaying and carefully reviewing the state’s long-term care plan to see if it should be implemented. Likewise, we’ll need to make adjustments to the police accountability measures passed last year. Over the interim I worked with caucus leaders, law enforcement, and behavioral health experts to clarify responses to individuals experiencing mental health crises.

Watch my first video update of the year where I discuss three of my priority measures (click on the image below to play):

House Bill 1153, increasing language access in public schools (for an in-depth look at why we need this bill, please watch the second installment of my Tina Talk series).

House Bill 1916, supporting crime victims and witnesses by promoting victim-centered, trauma-informed responses in the legal system.

House Bill 1181, establishing programs and measures to prevent suicide among veterans and military members.

And here are brief descriptions of other bills I am prime sponsoring:

HB 1989: concerning commercially sexually exploited children and adults (human trafficking).

HB 1703: modernizing the statewide 911 emergency communications system.

HB 1848: addressing crimes concerning fraud in assisted reproduction.

HB 1849: creating a work group to study and make recommendations on a monument to honor residents who died in the global war on terror.

I also have a couple of budget provisos:

Expanding our 2021 pilot of Running Start in the Trades by providing pre-apprenticeships to students.

Expanding supports to foster youth/families as part of an innovative model, including Keeping our kids in Kent (Mockingbird HUB & satellites).

988 Update

As you know, last year we passed legislation to get our state ready for the 988 suicide prevention lifeline, which will begin this summer. The fact that our state promptly stepped up to the plate has garnered media attention around the country and I want to share two of the most recent stories I have seen about this issue:

KATU TV: Washington, one of few states to fund new suicide hotline

REUTERS: U.S. suicide hotline 988 is set to go live, but many states may not be ready

I also covered the implementation of the 988 system in the third episode of my Tina Talk series. My guests were Sen. Manka Dhingra, whose work was pivotal in the successful passage of the bill, and Abraham Dairi, who lost a loved one to suicide and has become an advocate to improve the way the state responds to behavioral health crises. Click on the image to watch it on YouTube.

We may be virtual, but we’re listening

The plan was to hold a hybrid session, but due to the Omicron variant it wouldn’t have been safe, so we’re back on virtual mode. We learned a lot last year and have improved processes to ensure that we can safely and effectively do the work the people of Washington have entrusted upon us.

We had record participation from people across Washington last year and, if the first week of this session is any indication, those numbers will continue to grow. When constituents can connect to the Legislature and participate in our democracy without having to travel, it is so much easier to have a say on the issues that matter to you.

Here are several ways to stay engaged remotely in the legislative process and provide input:

Watch all the action! TVW.org broadcasts all of the debates and votes that happen in the House and Senate, as well as committee meetings and other events in the public interest.

Need info on a bill and committee agendas? Find it all here.

Curious about the legislative process from start to finish? Check out this page.

Want to share your thoughts on a bill? Visit the How to Testify in Committee page.

Keep up with what I’m doing by signing up for my legislative e-newsletter here and following my official Facebook page.

And don’t hesitate to contact my office by sending an email or giving us a call at 253-656-5265.

Tell us how to change Washington state’s tax code!

For the last few years, the Tax Structure Work Group (TSWG) has aimed to identify options to make the Washington State tax code more fair, adequate, stable, and transparent for both individuals and businesses. After conducting extensive analyses of Washington’s current tax structure, as well as modeling many possible scenarios for updating the code, the TSWG wants to hear your thoughts!

Learn more about the Work Group and the work they do in this 2 minute introductory video. 

Provide your feedback on ideas for changing Washington’s taxes by completing the TSWG survey before the January 31 deadline. These are just ideas at this point – the Work Group has not developed policies or bills yet. Depending on how much time you have, I encourage you to fill out either the short version of the survey (takes approximately 5 minutes) or long version of the survey (takes approximately 30 minutes). There are also multilingual surveys available in Spanish (Español), Vietnamese (tiếng Việt), Korean (한국어), Traditional Chinese (正體字), Simplified Chinese (简化字) and Russian (русский). Thank you in advance for helping to shape the future of taxes in our state.

Keep in touch!

Thanks for taking the time to read this newsletter; I hope you found it informative. If you have any feedback, questions or concerns, please contact my office.

Sincerely,