Dear neighbors,
Since sine-die, I’ve been back to working my day job and spending time with my family. I was honored to receive the Geekwire Public Policy Champion for Innovation Award for partnering with industry, community, and my colleagues in government to maintain Washington’s role as a leader in global innovation for the tech sector.
Going into this legislative session, I had three main priorities: help Washingtonians and their businesses rebound successfully from the pandemic, improve access to housing and health care (behavioral, reproductive, the whole person), and ensure tax reform provides equitable tax relief to those who need it most.
I am glad that we made significant progress on these issues. Below are some additional details on the strides we’ve made in the fields of equity, empowering, and protecting Washingtonians, and balancing behavioral health treatment with accountability. I hope you’ll find it useful! To learn more about legislation I have supported this year, click here.
Celebrating Juneteenth
This Monday, Washington celebrated Juneteenth in remembrance of the last Black Americans emancipated in Galveston, Texas in 1865. Two years ago, I voted proudly for our state to recognize this holiday. To continue to address historical inequities, our budgets reflect the prioritization of righting the wrongs of a painful and exclusionary history.
This year, our budgets include $200 million for the Community Reinvestment Account, $150 million for the Covenant Homeownership Program, $88 million for equity initiatives across state agencies, $81 million for refugee support and education, and $53 million to provide health care for undocumented adults (children are already covered). We’ve also passed the following legislation:
- HB 1474: Addressing the history of discrimination and systematic racism in the real estate industry.
- HB 1177: Establishing the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Persons Cold Case Unit.
- HB 1169: Legal Financial Obligation reform for those who are trapped in a cycle of debt.
- HB 1048: Enhancing the Voting Rights Act.
Protecting Consumers
The rise of emerging technologies and a rapidly shifting economic landscape has made it even more apparent that Washington needs to remain vigilant in protecting consumers and businesses. Last session, we passed legislation to protect consumers from Robocall scams and predatory lending practices, created a fair and welcoming business environment to keep our economy functioning as the best in the nation, and developed best practices for professional licensing to allow people to work and keep our consumers safe. We also expanded and added new protections to Washington’s Consumer Protection Act. As chair of the Consumer Protection & Business Committee, I believe we’ve created an important foundation to develop future policy to protect Washingtonians.
Empowering Survivors of Domestic Violence
Empowering survivors entails more than just protecting victims after an incident This year, we funded over $62 million in programs that will expand domestic violence services for survivors and utilize recently passed legislation like HB 1715 to prevent a predictable and preventable crime through lethality assessments, increased access to counsel, and utilizing modern technology to monitor offenders. Funding also supports implementation of legislation such as HB 1562, a three-year effort to modernize how domestic violence offenders apply for restoration of their firearm rights. These noble effort helps keep the most vulnerable among us, safe.
Balancing Behavioral Health Treatment & Accountability
In May, the Governor called a special session to craft a new drug possession law. To avoid a patchwork of ordinances, policies, treatment options, and penalties, we passed legislation that provides clarity and stability for our communities (SB 5536). The new law supports recovery and provides accountability with offramps to treatment. This law limits exposure to the justice system for those suffering from substance use disorder, limits financial penalties, and caps incarceration time for the first two offenses, but also gives law enforcement the tools they need to keep our families safe. Addressing this public health problem requires a public health response.
The Work Ahead
Despite great strides in housing, tax reform, small business recovery and community safety, important work remains. I look forward to continuing to advocate for more housing for more families, mandatory reporting of child abuse by members of the clergy and preventing cosmetic testing on animals and other animal welfare issues. Additional priorities of mine this interim include estate and property tax reform, protection of consumers in banking and technology, and many other issues. Most importantly, I work for you and want to be of service to you and your family.
I Would Love to Hear from You!
Now that session is over, I am back home in our community, listening to you, and working on creative solutions to your most pressing challenges. Please consider meeting me for coffee tomorrow, June 24th, from 11 am – 12 pm at Woods Coffee to tell me more about the issues that matter to you, and to learn more about this year’s legislative session.
In Service,
State Representative Amy Walen
48th Legislative District