Committees
- Ways & Means
(Assistant Ranking Member) - Financial Institutions & Insurance
Olympia Office
218 Cherberg Building
Olympia, WA 98504-0434
(360) 786-7667
Local Governments
News
Senate passes watered down bill that does not protect firefighters, kids from toxic flame retardants 4/17/2013
Sen. Sharon Nelson, D- Maury Island, today issued the following statement after ESHB 1294 passed on the Senate floor:
"I am disappointed that the majority of Washington State Senators voted to pass a gutted version of the Toxic-Free Kids and Families Act. The changes made to this bill in committee and voted for on the Senate floor removed much-needed protections for our babies, children and families from these harmful flame retardants that are known to cause cancer.
Let's prevent return to predatory lending 4/16/2013
This op-ed co-authored by Rep. Cindy Ryu and Sen. Sharon Nelson appeared in the Everett Herald on Tuesday, April 16:
Today lobbyists in Olympia are working to throw our families back into a spiral of debt under the guise of a new installment loan product. This product isn't needed because payday borrowers already have the right to a better, cheaper installment loan option.
Payday loan bill hurts the vulnerable, helps the lenders 3/21/2013
The Olympian's editorial board has added its voice to the chorus of opposition against payday lending legislation that recently passed in the Senate:
A bipartisan group of state senators is trying to undo the restrictions placed on high interest-rate payday lending four years ago. If passed, Senate Bill 5312 would once again permit payday lenders to prey on our state’s poorest and most vulnerable citizens.
Sen. Nelson’s statement on the March revenue forecast 3/20/2013
Today Sen. Sharon Nelson, D-Maury Island, a member of the Senate Ways & Means Committee, issued the following statement after the release of the March revenue forecast, which showed a net gain of $40 million in revenue over the next two years and that the forecast is mostly unchanged from November projections:
Senate honors Seattle Raging Grannies 3/13/2013
Nelson grades Republicans on education 3/7/2013
Yesterday the Washington State Senate voted to approve Republican education bills that fail to address the requirement set forth by the Supreme Court to fund education and our schools. Sen. Sharon Nelson, D-Maury Island, issued the following statement:
Refusal to take vote kills critical bill to protect environment, kids 2/22/2013
Sen. Sharon Nelson, D- Maury Island, issued the following statement after Senate Republicans in the Energy, Environment and Telecommunications committee refused to take a vote on SB 5181 which would require the removal of toxic chemicals from common household items.
Sen. Nelson expresses outrage at Senate vote to revive predatory lending 2/20/2013
The new payday lending scheme that passed off the Senate floor today will ensure that middle class families and military personnel can once again be trapped in a spiral of debt.
In 2009, we passed payday lending reform. It put safeguards on a predatory lending product, allowing borrowers to make reasonable payments and not end up buried in high-interest loans.
More important information emerges on toxics 2/19/2013
Today the Washington Toxics Coalition released testing showing that children's nap mats purchased in our state -- the kind you would find in daycares in any community -- contain toxic flame retardants.
There is no reason for terrible loans 2/18/2013
Today The News Tribune and Olympian covered legislation that would re-launch the predatory lending industry in Washington, after earlier reforms had cut the number of these high-interest loans owed by our men and women in the military by 90 percent since 2007:
Lawmakers and consumer advocates are crying foul as legislation seen as an end-run around payday loan restrictions heads for the Senate floor.
Detractors say the “small consumer loan” would have effective interest rates of more than 200 percent. They say the loans would be nothing more than a new kind of payday-style loan, but with even higher limits.