Dear Friends and Neighbors,
The legislative session is over! The final week consisted of reconciling the differences between the versions of bills that passed the House and Senate. Some of the most important bills that are being negotiated are the state’s two-year operating, transportation, and capital budgets. Read on to learn a little more about districts in the project in the final capital budget, my bills that passed this year, or watch the video below.
Capital Budget Projects
The capital budget is the state’s construction budget. Rep. Santos, Sen. Saldana, and I worked hard to prioritize projects in our community. The final capital budget was just released, and I am proud to say that our efforts resulted in allocation of nearly $70m for 26 projects across the 37th district!
These fantastic projects span healthcare, housing, early learning & youth, community investment, and arts & recreation. I’ll highlight each of these categories in upcoming newsletters, starting with healthcare in this edition. If you don’t want to wait for my email, you can see go see the full list here or explore a map of the district to see where projects are located.
Tubman Center for Health and Freedom
The Tubman Center for Health and Freedom is a South Seattle-based non-profit healthcare organization that seeks to address health and wellness from both a systemic and clinical approach. They were instrumental in COVID outreach and now are ready to break ground to create the only healthcare clinic in Washington owned and operated by people of color. Their services will include primary and preventative care, community resources, social services, and political education and advocacy. This year’s budget includes $11.7m to help build their very first flagship health services and workforce development center right here in the 37th District.
Indian Health Board
The Seattle Indian Health Board is a community health center that has been serving Seattle, specializing in the care of native people, since 1970. It operates two clinics in Seattle and serves of 4,500 patients a year. This year’s budget includes $305k for improving their dental facilities and equipment.
Bills Passed!
This year, four of my prime–sponsored bills passed the House and Senate and have been signed into law. I also worked closely to pass two other important pieces of legislation. As the prime co-sponsor of HB 1155, the My Health, My Data Act, I helped pass the first piece of data privacy legislation in Washington. I also worked closely with Sen. Derek Sanford to help usher his bill on battery recycling through the House. Read on to learn about my bills that passed this year!
HB 1155: My Health, My Data
It is more important than ever that websites, apps, and other non-HIPPA covered entities are accountable for the privacy of our health care data. I’m glad to be able to leverage my professional experience to help Rep. Slatter, the prime sponsor of HB 1155, craft The My Health, My Data Act. This bill closes the gap on privacy protections by prohibiting the sale of Washingtonian’s health information and requiring companies to implement stricter privacy standards for consumer health data.
Passed House: 57-39
Passed Senate: 27-21
SB 5144: Battery Recycling
Batteries power many products throughout our society, and their use will only proliferate as we electrify our economy. We have to ensure that the materials in these batteries are reused to reduce the cost of creating more batteries and prevent the toxic chemicals in them from polluting our environment. Sen. Stanford ran a companion to my bill, HB 1533, and we got it through both chambers and to the Governor’s desk for signing!
Passed House: 57-40
Passed Senate: 40-6
HB 1170: Planning for Climate Resiliency
Washington seems to have added a new season to its calendar, smoke season. Climate fires continue to worsen, atmospheric rivers create abnormal flooding, and cold snaps blanket our region in ice. We have not done enough to prevent climate change, and now we’re suffering the consequences.
HB 1170 requires the Washington Department of Ecology to update the Integrated Climate Change Response Strategy every four years in coordination with the University of Washington Climate Impacts Group. By continuously evaluating the latest science and adapting our plans for dealing with climate events, we can minimize the impacts on our communities. Washington is a state of scientists and innovators. We should utilize our talent to plan for the future.
Passed House: 82-14
Passed Senate: 34-14
HB 1657: Marriages by Federal Judges
Most judges in Washington can perform a wedding, but federal judges cannot. A constituent was affected by this and suggested a fix. I was not only happy to work on behalf of one of our community members, and it was especially fun to pass this bill on Valentine’s Day!
Passed House: 96-0
Passed Senate: 46-0
HB 1303: Property Tax Administration
As a member of the Finance Committee, the Department of Revenue asked me to sponsor legislation to improve the collection of taxes. This bill makes it easier to appeal property tax decisions and easier to collect property tax levies. This is a good government bill supported by county assessors across the state.
Passed House: 95-0
Passed Senate: 49-0
HB 1254: Periodic Adjustments at the Department of Revenue
This updates two inflationary indices that are now defunct with indices that are comparable and still active. This was another request from the Department of Revenue.
Passed House: 96-0
Passed Senate: 48-0
Thank you for reading my e-newsletter. Hearing from you helps me represent you better. I hope you will share your thoughts, ideas, and opinions with me.
Sincerely,
Chipalo Street
State Representative
37th District