Dear Friends and Neighbors,
The 2026 Legislative Session is in full swing! This year is what we call a “short session”. That means we have just 60 days to pass important legislation to make Washington more affordable and fight back against the fascist actions coming out of DC. In this newsletter, I share how I’m advancing the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and working to make Washington more affordable.
MLK Jr. Day
This week, we took a short break from working in our committees, hearing public testimony, and meeting with our constituents to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. I reflected briefly on what this day means to me in this short video. Click here to watch it.
Watching our federal government’s actions is just one reminder that the work of MLK Jr. is far from complete. During the first Trump administration we passed the Keep Washington Working Act to prevent ICE and CPB from harassing Washingtonians. We’re back with more legislation now that masked federal agents are executing citizens on American streets.
This includes banning ICE from entering schools and hospitals without a warrant, requiring businesses to tell employees about imminent ICE inspections, and prohibiting law enforcement from wearing masks. These are important bills that can ensure our community knows who is policing them, and can help us hold them accountable.
I will be supporting these policies and several others (pictured here) that are designed to do as much as we can to protect our communities here in Washington.
Affordability
I am dedicated to making sure Washington is a place where everyone can afford to live and to thrive. Housing, education, and basic needs are just a few of the areas where we’ve seen prices rise dramatically. Here are a few bills I am working on to help move the needle.
Housing is the largest cost for families and the price to buy or rent a home has skyrocketed.
I was proud to pass tenant protections, like rent stabilization, but we won’t be able to regulate our way out of this problem.
The Department of Commerce estimates that we’ll need to build 1.1 million homes in the next 20 years. That equates to over $3.3 billion of investment with the median cost of building an apartment at $300k. Savvy readers will note this is a low estimate since we’ll want to build a mix of homes including ones more expensive than just apartments. We can’t rely only on the government to solve this problem. We need to appropriately incentivize the private market.
HB 2480 is one way I think we can enable smart and creative residential development. The bill prevents cities from blocking residential housing in commercial and mixed-used zones. It would also get rid of requirements for certain residential buildings to have businesses on the sidewalk level and instead would allow residential use on every floor.
Food insecurity is rising across the state.
Eleven percent of all Washingtonians are food insecure and the rate of food insecurity has increased each year since 2021. Findings by University of Washington show that the food insecurity rate among low and moderate income people is fifty-five percent, five times higher than among the population as a whole.
Food insecurity disproportionately impacts families with young children, seniors living alone, people of color, and rural residents. Reducing food insecurity leads to many benefits such as: reduced behavior problems and better academic outcomes for children; improved mental health and reduced anxiety and depression; improved maternal health; and improved health and independent living for seniors.
SNAP, aka food stamps, and other nutrition assistance programs are among the most effective tools for reducing food insecurity, improving diet quality, and supporting local economies. Despite this, Trump’s monstruous One Big Beautiful Bill makes drastic cuts to these programs.
To fight these cuts, I’m drafting a state-wide soda tax bill to generate revenue dedicated to SNAP and other food assistance programs. Admittedly, I’m wary of things that look like sales taxes because they are often regressive. However, a study from 2022 looked at the benefits and cost of soda taxes in Seattle, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. It concluded that soda taxes may be equitable policy since the increase in food assistance for low-income families outweighs the lost revenue from the tax. I will be approaching this policy with care, but I feel it’s necessary to do what I can to blunt Trump’s devastating cuts.
College tuition is making higher education inaccessible to many across our state.
The Washington College Grant and College Bound Scholarships provide tuition support to students from low-income families. As part of balancing the budget last year, we cut these programs for students who attend non-profit private universities. This puts an additional hardship on those students, many of whom may not be able to afford higher education without this support. My bill, HB 2567, restores scholarships for low-income students who want to attend a private university.
Incarcerated people face a litany of fees and fines.
These can be deducted from an inmate’s spendable account, limiting their ability to buy hygiene products and other essentials. A constituent brought me this issue and together we created HB 2539 which raises the minimum account balance that is protected from deductions from $25 to $100.
A short session moves quick! So be on the lookout for more updates on these bills and so much more happening in the legislature. You can also follow my legislative Facebook page where I post regular updates about what’s going on.
As always, stay in touch and please reach out to my office if you have any questions, comments, or feedback.
In Solidarity,
Rep. Chipalo Street