Dear Friends and Neighbors,
The 2026 Legislative Session concluded back in March, and since then I’ve taken some time to reflect on all that we were (and were not) able to accomplish this year. Similar to last year, we entered the session facing significant challenges: a continued budget deficit, overreach and chaos coming from the federal government, and Washington families continuing to struggle under economic stress.
My priority remained protecting our neighbors (especially our immigrant communities), protecting access to services for food assistance, health care, and education, and continuing to make progress toward our goals of justice and affordability for every Washingtonian.
2026 Legislative Wins:
We had major wins in the areas of education, the environment, and housing this year including:
- Prohibiting certain types of restraint tactics within our schools (HB 1795)
- Directing the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction to create a framework to address behavioral health supports for students (HB 1634)
- Closing loopholes to strengthen compliance with the Climate Commitment Act (HB 2215) and the Clean Energy Transformation Act (SB 5982)
- Encouraging the development of shelters, transitional housing, emergency housing, and permanent supportive housing (STEP) in every community (HB 2266)
- Allowing nonprofit housing providers to keep their property tax exemption even when the property is temporarily used for community purposes (HB 2610)
Protecting Washingtonians
We saw and heard from our constituents about the fear our immigrant friends and neighbors were experiencing as a result of the Trump administration’s ramped up and violent deportation effort. While we can’t control what the federal government does, this year, we did everything we could to stand up for our neighbors and protect Washington residents.
We passed:
- The Immigrant Worker Protection Act (HB 2105), which requires employers to provide notice when federal employment eligibility (I-9) audits occur, limits the voluntary sharing of worker records without proper legal process, and prohibits retaliation against workers who assert their rights.
- Legislation prohibiting local, state, and federal law enforcement officers — including ICE and Customs and Border Patrol (CPB) agents operating in Washington — from wearing face-concealing masks while interacting with the public (SB 5855).
- Legislation to regulate automatic license plate reader (ALPR) cameras (for example, Flock cameras) and the data they share (SB 6002).
- Legislation banning impersonation of a peace officer, prohibiting anyone other than law enforcement from wearing badges or other law enforcement insignias (HB 2165).
- A bill creating uniform standards for all enforcement, ensuring all law enforcement leaders abide by the same accountability measures as the officers they lead, including enforcing all of Washington’s laws (SB 5974).
Affordability
We know many working families are struggling to make to ends meet. That’s not the Washington we want to live in. We want every family who chooses to call Washington home to thrive, not just survive. That’s why we passed several bills this session aimed at making our state more affordable for everyone.
We passed legislation:
- Ensuring workers aren’t blocked from taking a job with better pay or starting their own business by banning noncompete agreements (HB 1155).
- Creating a statewide energy assistance program to provide more predictable and accessible support for Washington households facing the greatest energy burdens (HB 1903).
- Expanding access to customer-owned energy devices, helping make energy upgrades for homeowners and renters more affordable, while helping households save on their energy bills (HB 2296).
- Ensuring that families won’t suddenly have to start paying out-of-pocket costs for preventive health care services, like routine cancer screenings and vaccines, regardless of what happens at the federal level (HB 2242).
- Prohibiting outdated restrictions that keep grocery stores or pharmacies from reopening in vacant commercial spaces to help reduce scarcity and affirm that access to fresh food and medicine should never be dictated by a zip code (HB 2294).
- Helping workers get the pay they’re owed by creating a new wage recovery program (HB 2479)
- Improving access to abortion medication by ensuring the state can easily distribute its abortion medication stockpile (SB 5917) and securing long-term, consistent, and stable funding for abortion service providers by creating an abortion savings account (SB 6182)
But the most significant step we took this session to address affordability for Washingtonians was passing the Millionaires Tax (which I talked about in my last newsletter here). This will lower costs for working families and small businesses in our state while bringing more fairness to our outdated tax code.
37th District Projects
This year, we were able to secure over $11 Million in investments for projects in the 37th district through the supplemental budget. These projects include:
- Cherry Street Village Restoration: $515,000
- Skyway Homeownership Project: $2,550,000
- Nickelsville Kitchen & Laundry Upgrade: $114,000
- Tubman Health Center in Rainier Beach: $4,000,000
- International Community Health Services Holly Park Clinic: $106,000
- Whitworth Orca K-8 Roof Replacement: $3,600,000
- Norman Mitchell Manor Renovation: $258,000
- African Cultural Arts Center (ACAC): $258,000
- KVRU Repairs and Security System Installation: $85,000
This funding builds on work I’ve been able to support over the past four years. Since the 2021-2023 biennium, we’ve been able to bring over $131 Million dollars to the 37th district, supporting great organizations and projects in our community such as:
- Eritrean Community Center Expansion Project
- Arté Noir
- Cascade Public Media
- Empowering Youth and Families Outreach Youth Enrichment Center
- Be’er Sheva Park Improvements and Shoreline Restoration
- Seattle JazzED
- Petah Villages Outdoor Preschool
- Wa Na Wari Capital Improvements (Seattle)
- Skyway Affordable Housing and Early Learning (Skyway)
- Cham Community Center (CCC) (Seattle)
- Rainier Valley Food Bank
This funding and these policies are just a sampling of the work we’ve been able to accomplish for the 37th. I share a bit more about what we focused on during the current biennium in my annual joint newsletter with Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos. Keep an eye out for that in your mailboxes or read it here.
We still have so much more work to do, but I am proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish thus far, and I look forward to building on this momentum in the future.
Interim District Survey
I could not do this work without you and your perspective. Please take a moment to fill out our interim survey and provide your input as we look forward to the next legislative session. Your feedback helps guide my work moving forward.
Election Year Restrictions
Finally, a note about my communications through the rest of the year. During an election year, there are certain restrictions on my communications to prevent the use of state resources for election purposes. Some of these restrictions include freezes on email updates, websites, and Facebook pages. This means that you will not be receiving updates from me beginning May 4, 2026, until after the general election in November. That is why this will be the last email update you’ll receive from me for a while. However, you can still reach out to my office with questions, requests for meetings, or to deliver messages to me.
In the meantime, have a great summer and fall and I will talk to you again soon.
Rep. Chipalo Street