Dear Friends and Neighbors,
First, I want to acknowledge the recent tragedy that’s shaken our district – the fatal shooting on Rainier Avenue that took the lives of 18-year-old Tyjon Malik Stewart, and 17-year-old Tra’Veiah Houfmuse. I attended the vigil for these two young souls, and my heart is with their families, friends, classmates, and everyone grieving. We are devastated, and we are demanding answers and action.
Many of us know gun violence all too well. We cannot accept this as normal. We have a responsibility to respond with urgency and care, both by supporting those most impacted right now and addressing root issues of violence. I will continue to fight for common sense gun regulation, secure funding for violence interrupters, and work with community groups to prevent future violence.
Moving from tragedy in our district to my work in Olympia, I have a lot of updates for you. This is Black History Month, and I find that many of the bills in this year’s legislative session have direct ties to the fight for civil rights. You may have heard that we officially dropped a Millionaire’s Tax to help fix our upside-down tax code. Last week, I provided a list of some bills that push back on ICE and out of control immigration enforcement. We’ve introduced more since then!
Before I jump into all of this, I want to raise awareness of my favorite event of the year – the 37th district town hall. We’re in person and back at Asian Counseling and Referral Service (ACRS) on February 21st from 10:00am – 11:30am. Mark your calendars. Our whole delegation will be there, and we are looking forward to hearing from you!
Black history is now – fighting federal overreach 
James Baldwin said, “History is not the past. It is the present. We carry our history with us. We are our history.” It’s clear we must continue fortifying all the civil rights that we have fought for in this country. As a lawmaker and community member, it’s even more salient to me because of the current administration’s many attempts to roll back our rights, tear down our accomplishments, and erase our history. These attempts will not work. I, and many others, continue to fight to maintain what we’ve earned and obtain what we are owed.
Voting Rights
The federal administration has made it a point to attempt to change and disrupt our most fundamental right: the right to vote. They’ve tried to force mid-decade redistricting to gain more seats in Congress, sued states (including ours) for voter data, forcibly seized state’s ballots, changed the postmark process which can disrupt mail-in voting, and even suggested elections should just be taken over by the federal government entirely.
The right to vote is sacred – something that so many fought and died for. In Washington, we’re going to protect it through policies such as: tightening the rules for challenging a voter’s registration, reviewing major election changes for cities and town to ensure they don’t unintentionally harm protected voters, protecting military members’ and citizens’ living abroad ability to vote, and protecting our representation by allowing our state to do mid-decade redistricting if another state does.
Ensuring an accurate education
We’re also in the midst of a war on education at the federal level with the administration making drastic changes to our student loans programs for higher education and working hard to remove curriculum that highlights or celebrates the diverse history of this country.
In this Washington, we are standing up for our students and teachers. Education policies we are looking at include: restoring scholarships for low-income students who want to attend a private university, increasing access to state financial aid for former foster youth and unaccompanied homeless youth, and requiring schools to teach Black, Asian American, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and Latino American history.
Reparations
Last year I was successful in spearheading the effort to secure money for a statewide study on Reparations for descendants of chattel slavery. While we didn’t get the full $1,000,000 that we requested, the budget included $300,000. This was a historic first step as we’re just the 3rd state to begin to grapple with this issue. It’s been great to see this initial win catalyze action for other jurisdictions. King County contributed an additional $300,000 and other counties are considering further donations.
The Commission on African American Affairs (CAAA) has chosen a research entity to conduct the study. I thank community members for weighing in on this initial decision. I, and the Legislative Black Caucus, will be engaging with the CAAA and selected research entity to get an overview of next steps and keep the study moving towards the defined goal.
These topic areas are just a few ways we are pushing back against the federal administration. Beyond this, I am proud to be a member of the largest Legislative Caucus on the West Coast. Our guiding themes this year are: Protecting Black Children and Youth; Encouraging Stability, Ownership, and Generational Wealth; and Advocating for Accountability, Equity, and Community Power. You can learn more about our agenda here and how together we’re fighting for policies that will benefit Black Washingtonians.
A historic opportunity to move towards a fairer tax code
What’s the deal with the “Millionaire’s Tax”?
One of my core promises when coming to the legislature was to make our tax code more progressive. It’s only fair that Washingtonians who have profited the most from doing business here pay a similar portion of their income in taxes as do the poorest in our state. We’ve started to chip away at our regressive tax code through updating our estate tax and new taxes on highly profitable business, but that is not enough.
This session we have the chance to make seismic changes to our tax code by implementing an income tax on annual household income over $1,000,000 per year. As Vice Chair of the Finance committee, I’ll be pushing for structural change like this which is desperately needed to make sure everyone equitably contributes to the services that keep our state running.
Tax stewardship
I think it’s imperative that the legislature is a good steward of your tax dollars. If we can fix issues in our tax codes or use tax incentives in a meaningful way, that can mean more money in your pocket and our communities.
Tax incentives are a great way to attract, maintain, and grow industries here in Washington. We should judiciously use them to accomplish a legislative purpose and periodically check that they are achieving legislative intent. The legislature has given the aerospace industry tax breaks in the past “to maintain and grow Washington’s aerospace industry workforce.”
Unfortunately, the body that reviews tax preference performance (JLARC) has said that the legislature has not specified a measurable metric to be able to determine if the aerospace tax preferences are meeting legislative intent. That’s why I sponsored HB 2730 which provides a metric JLARC can use to report back to the legislature about whether the tax preferences we are giving the industry are performing as desired. Recently, the Seattle Times had an article about Boeing employment in WA. I think it’s a good example of how this is a complicated and important issue that impacts all of us and I am excited to better measure whether tax preferences are meeting legislative intent.
I’ve also introduced HB 2610 which allows nonprofit housing providers to keep property tax exemption even when the property is temporarily used for community purposes. Developing housing can take many years. Activating the properties with art and cultural events is a great use of the space before the redevelopment has completed. These nonprofit housing providers should not lose tax breaks if they provide a public benefit while undertaking the long process of housing development.
ICE Out! 
Finally, I am seeing what’s happening all across the country, and right here in our own communities. I am hearing from so many of you about the fear and anxiety you are experiencing. You are outraged. So am I.
Here, in Olympia, we are doing everything within our power to blunt the impact of the federal administration’s chaotic and hostile behavior. In my last update, I provided a list of some bills that push back on ICE and out of control immigration enforcement. Here are more bills this session that protect and support all Washingtonians.
- Remedies for violations of federal constitutional rights occurring during immigration enforcement (HB 2597) – I have no confidence that the federal government will conduct impartial investigations when it calls Rene Good a domestic terrorist or says that Alex Pretti was at the protest to massacre law enforcement. As such, this bill provides a path for Washington state to hold federal agents accountable if they violate our constitutional rights.
- Concerning state and local law enforcement interactions with federal immigration enforcement officials (HB 2648) – This bill ensures that Washington state law enforcement officers use their body cameras to report and keep records of interactions with federal immigration agents. Collecting evidence that the feds can’t tamper with is an important step to holding bad actors accountable.
- Modernizing terminology when referring to individuals who are not citizens or nationals of the United States (HB 2632) – Removes the outdated and exclusionary word “alien” and replaces it as appropriate with “noncitizen.” This simple yet powerful change makes the language we use more accurate and helps to humanize our valued community members.
We will not turn our backs on our friends and neighbors. I will keep fighting for these protections and others.
Thanks for reading through all of this. We covered a lot of ground, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg. I want to hear your thoughts on these proposals. You can always reach out to my office with your questions or concerns, and even schedule time meet with me during session. Your input is valuable and it’s an honor to bring your voice to Olympia.
In Solidarity,
Rep. Chipalo Street