Dear friends and neighbors,

Community engagement is vital for our democratic process. I always welcome input from people from diverse communities and with a wide range of lived experiences. That’s why I am grateful to those of you who took the legislative priorities survey that I sent you a couple of weeks ago. Here are the results:

Video Update

In this update I discuss why it is crucial that we address the adverse effects of Sea-Tac Airport activity in our communities, and I also talk about my legislation to adopt the social work licensure compact. You will find more information on both of these topics below.

Mitigating harm and improving equity in large port districts – HB 2103 / SB 5955: both bills were heard in their respective committees on January 16.

The measures tackle the health and environmental inequities in communities around Sea-Tac Airport by directing a small portion of Port of Seattle revenue, as well as funding from the state’s Climate Commitment Act, to address the significant noise and air pollution that burden communities around the airport. The funds would be used to provide residents soundproofing for their homes, air purifiers for schools, and increased green spaces.

Senator Karen Keiser and I held a press conference last Monday where we were joined by local elected officials and members of the community to demand economic and social justice for people living near Sea-Tac Airport, which is in our very own 33^rd Legislative District.

• Click here or on the photograph to watch my remarks at the conference.
• Watch the full video of the press conference on TVW here.
• Photos from the press conference and of one constituent’s failed port package are available here.

Social Work Compact – HB 1939: passed the Postsecondary Education & Workforce Committee unanimously on January 12 and is now in the Rules Committee.

Enacting the Social Work Licensure Compact would make the state’s workforce more robust by streamlining the process for social workers moving to Washington.

This legislation addresses the increase in need for behavioral health services among youth and adults from all walks of life, including those serving in our armed forces. Social workers provide post-traumatic stress disorder treatment and suicide prevention. There is a high concentration of these issues in the military for active-duty members, National Guard members, and veterans. Passing this bill will saves lives.

With the establishment of the 988 hotline, we need more people running the call centers; adopting the compact would allow more social workers to come to Washington and serve in these roles.

MLK DAY

Last Monday, we celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. We honored Dr. King’s legacy in a special celebration and adopted a resolution on the floor. His vision for equality and justice for all inspires us to continue fighting for what’s right: a more just and inclusive society. The quotes in the image below are from a speech delivered by my friend and colleague, Rep. Chipalo Street.

American Sign Language

This year I introduced HB 2221 aimed at increasing the number of ASL interpreters to improve access to healthcare, education and others services for persons who are deaf and hard of hearing. My legislation would direct the office of the deaf and hard of hearing to establish a work group dedicated to finding solutions for the shortage of qualified and certified ASL interpreters and protactile sign language interpreters in the state.

My bill is a good step forward, but so is a new feature for folks to stay informed on what is happening at the state Capitol: picture-in-picture American Sign Language interpretation is now available for select committee hearings during the 2024 legislative session on TVW and TVW.org!

The schedule of picture-in-picture ASL interpretation can be found at the Washington State Legislature website: https://app.leg.wa.gov/committeeschedules.

You can also find this information by visiting https://tvw.org/schedule, click on the three lines on the top left of the webpage to enable the menu. Then choose “media archives.” Set the start and end dates of your choice, under “categories” select “ASL”, and click on “submit.” All the hearings you will see listed will have ASL interpretation available.

Learn more about the accessibility accommodations offered by the Washington State Legislature: https://bit.ly/AccessibilityInfo

Thank you for reading my newsletter.  If you need more information on any of the issues discussed here, or on any other legislative matter, please don’t hesitate to contact my office.

                                      Sincerely,