Friends and neighbors,
Thank you to everyone who joined our virtual town hall last weekend. If you couldn’t make it, you can watch the replay in English and American Sign Language translation here, and in Spanish (para español) here. Stay tuned for more information about our next town hall!
I also want to give a big thank you to all those who participated Monday in African American Legislative Day. The Black Members Caucus spoke about our commitment to creating lasting change in the Legislature and throughout Washington state, as well as our focus on racial equity. For the latest on the BMC, sign up for our newsletter here.
Supporting respiratory therapists and expanding scholarships
Since my last update, two of my bills were voted out of committee with bipartisan support: the Respiratory Therapy Support Act and the Scholarships Access Expansion Act.
The Respiratory Therapy Support Act, HB 1383, would help get more respiratory therapists into our communities, especially areas that have been hardest hit by the pandemic.
This bill is personal to me. My mom has a chronic lung disease that puts her at higher risk of complications from COVID-19. My bill will help ensure that people like my mom, and many other Washingtonians, have access to highly-qualified medical professionals.
Meanwhile, my Scholarships Access Expansion Act, HB 1425, would expand access to scholarships for community and technical college students.
Small businesses, COVID-19 relief and economic recovery
State House and Senate lawmakers have already passed several bills to provide assistance to businesses struggling to keep the lights on and workers paid.
First, unemployment insurance taxes were slated to automatically skyrocket because of layoffs this past year. But since many of those layoffs were due to COVID-19 shutdowns and restrictions, we passed SB 5061 to prevent this automatic increase. The bill also helps low-wage workers by raising their minimum benefit if they get laid off.
The Legislature also moved quickly to allocate $240 million in federal funds for small business and nonprofit grants as part of our step one for community and economic recovery plan, which Gov. Jay Inslee signed earlier today. The package includes hundreds of millions of dollars for rental and housing assistance; vaccine administration, contact tracing and testing; and to help school districts plan for a return to in-person learning.
Another great bill to help rural, smaller communities passed the House last week. HB 1279 would support small businesses by expanding the Main Street Program, a vital resource for businesses that needed help pivoting to new business models during the pandemic, and for helping new businesses get started.
The House operating budget will be announced next month. I’m looking forward to the Legislature taking more steps to provide additional relief to small businesses, temporarily waive fees and taxes, and help ensure businesses can retain workers. We can’t just return to where we were before the pandemic, we need more support for local communities.
Thanks for reading! Please don’t hesitate to reach out at 360-786-7898 or Jamila.Taylor@leg.wa.gov. And don’t forget to sign up for the Black Members Caucus’ newsletter. It’s an honor to represent the 30th Legislative District.
Jamila Taylor