Dear friends and neighbors,
We are more than halfway done with the 2021 session, so there is a lot of news to report.
This week, I’d like to give you a quick update about legislation that I either wrote or strongly support.
Next week, the House and Senate will start to unveil proposals for our state’s three budgets: operating, transportation, and construction.
Update on legislation I introduced
High school graduation
Today’s students are tomorrow’s workforce and the future of Washington.
All of our students need a meaningful pathway to graduation, so they can apply their skills and knowledge to meet the needs of our state.
I sponsored House Bill 1162 to help all our young people find the right path forward in life by making the road to graduation relevant , accessible, and future-focused.
The bill passed the House and is now in the Senate Early Learning/K-12 Committee.
School-based health centers
Students need to be healthy to do well in school. I wrote House Bill 1225 to promote more school-based health centers and ensure the one million students in our public schools have access to better health care.
Health centers based at public schools are an idea that’s already working in Washington state. They help kids not miss school for health care appointments and save parents from taking half-days off work to pick up and drive their child to an appointment.
This legislation will help school districts interested in this idea. It’s better for the education of students in public schools, better for their parents who won’t be missing work, and leads to healthier kids.
After passing the House, this bill is being considered by the Senate Health & Long Term Care Committee.
Liquor license fees
I introduced this bill to help small business owners struggling during the COVID pandemic.
Happily, this bill passed the House and is moving on to the Senate Labor, Commerce & Trade Committee.
Working Families Tax Credit
Right now, working families and the middle class pay a higher rate of taxes than millionaires and billionaires. Our tax system is upside down and unfair. The COVID pandemic only made this problem worse, with the ultra-rich profiting while the rest of us are one paycheck away from not paying the rent or mortgage.
It’s time we rewarded work instead of wealth, and built an economy that works for working families.
To help reverse this, we passed the Working Families Tax Credit (House Bill 1297). If it becomes law, more than 400,000 taxpayers across the state will become eligible for a tax credit between $500 and $950 per year.
This is about rewarding hard-working people who are just trying to get by. This tax credit will be especially helpful to Black, Indigenous, and families of color who have been hit hardest by the pandemic.
The new Working Families Tax Credit is in addition to the new American Rescue Plan’s federal tax credit of $300 per child per month if you make less than $75,000 as a single parent or $150,000 as a married couple.
I believe this tax credit will help reclaim the American Dream as a tool for racial justice, economic recovery, and community health.
A Fair Start for Kids
Any working mom or dad knows that child care is increasingly hard to find and expensive. Some parents pay $27,000 or more per year for two kids in child care.
That’s unsustainable, and the lack of child care is keeping too many workers—often women—out of our work force. Workers are losing $14.7 billion a year in personal earnings, businesses are losing $57 billion in reduced output and our state is missing $35 billion in productivity.
A Fair Start for Kids (House Bill 1213) will help fix this problem by investing in child care and early learning to help make it more affordable and accessible for all.
Get in touch
If you’re curious about a particular bill, or want to share your thoughts, please get in touch with me.
I hope to see you all soon after our vaccination push is over and we’re back to normal!
