Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Earlier this week we passed another deadline in the legislative session that we call the “house of origin” cutoff. With some exceptions for bills related to the budget or that impact state revenue, this is the deadline to pass bills off the floor of the chamber in which they were introduced. I’m very proud of the work we have done so far, but much work remains to make sure we address the needs of our communities as we mark one year since the World Health Organization declared that the global spread of coronavirus had become a pandemic.
Read on for information on three bills we sent to the Senate that will help us come out of the pandemic stronger than before.
Thanks for taking the time to read this update,
Giving our kids a fair start in life
Accessible, affordable, high-quality child care is the key to restarting our economy, getting parents back to work, and giving our kids a fair start in life. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the child care industry was already in crisis. In the wake of the pandemic, the problem has been exacerbated with huge numbers of parents, especially women, leaving the workforce or reducing hours due to limited access to child care.
House Democrats passed HB 1213, the Fair Start for Kids Act, because our economy and our children’s success begins with child care!
We urgently need strong support for child care and early learning programs so families and businesses can thrive. And we must ensure livable wages for our child care providers, who are overwhelmingly women of color going without sufficient pay.
Children are our most precious resource. Investing in them is an investment in the future of Washington.
Housing is a life-sustaining human right
We also passed HB 1236 to protect tenants from no-cause evictions by requiring landlords to cite a reason for ending their tenancy.
Without this legislation, Washington state law allows landlords to evict some renters with a only 20-days’ notice, without even telling the tenant why.
Stopping evictions means preventing homelessness. The majority of families of color in Washington rely on rental housing to keep a roof over their head. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed that the status quo is leaving too many vulnerable.
We cannot go back to a system where renters can easily be forced into homelessness through no fault of their own. A stable home is essential for all Washingtonians now more than ever. For all of us to stay healthy and safe.
Local planning should account for all our neighbors
This year I introduced HB 1220 to make sure we have a government that works for all people by requiring cities in our state to plan for housing at all income levels, even shelters, not just luxury housing for those at the top. I explained why I think this bill is so important in my remarks when we passed this bill off the virtual House floor. You can watch my speech here.
