Dear friends and neighbors,
People sometimes ask what a state senator does outside of the legislative session! We are a part-time Legislature and like many senators, I have another job to work the rest of the year – but that doesn’t mean I stop being a senator. The interim between sessions is an important time to learn about emerging issues in our communities, see how our bills are being implemented on the ground, and get ideas from you for new bills for the next session. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been continuing my work on housing affordability. I travelled to Clark County to learn more about how we can support kit homes for a lower-cost construction option, visited an affordable ‘middle housing’ development in Pierce County that we can build more of thanks to legislation like our landmark HB 1110 reform, and received an award from my friends at the National Alliance on Mental Illness recognizing our work to improve behavioral health care, along with so much more.
One of the important things we do is track our email inbox and the subjects we’re hearing about the most from you, our constituents. I wanted to share my stance on two important issues that I’ve heard a lot about in the past few weeks.
Protecting our mail-in voting system
I appreciate your concerns over Donald Trump’s recent threats against mail-in voting. That is exactly what they are – threats, intended to cause panic and confusion over the upcoming mid-term elections.
The U.S. Constitution is clear. Congress and state legislatures have the authority to set the times, places and manner of elections – not the president. Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown has announced he will respond with litigation to any attacks on Washington’s voting system.
Washington voters have been voting by mail for nearly two decades. It has proven to be convenient, safe and secure. The Washington State Secretary of State takes election misinformation very seriously. They monitor social media posts and platforms for any misleading information, responding and sharing factual information on their own social media sites and their “Rumor Has It…” webpage.
Washington is a leader in voting accessibility, which strengthens our democratic processes. Over the last several years, we have been passing legislation to protect Washington’s election security and voting rights.
- Dramatically reduced barriers to voting access by implementing and enhancing automatic (2018 HB 2595; 2023 SB 5112; 2025 SB 5077) and same-day voter registration (2018 SB 6021).
- Provided a state-level alternative to federal voting rights litigation (2018 SB 6002; 2023 SB 1048).
- Banned foreign nationals from voting in state and local elections (2020 SB 6152).
- Enhanced protections for voting systems to repel cyber and other threats (2021 HB 1068; 2024 SB 5843).
- Protected election staff from threats (2024 HB 1241).
- Provided a mechanism for people to identify and seek damages for “deep fake” election materials that aren’t properly labeled (2023 SB 5152).
I will continue to support legislation that increases voter accessibility and reduces barriers to voting.
Redistricting Washington’s congressional map
Like many of you, I’ve seen stories in the news about efforts in California, Texas, and other states to pass mid-cycle redistricting plans ahead of the 2026 election. This is extremely unlikely to occur in Washington. The redistricting system in Washington is unique from many other states and gives us little opportunity to make the sort of changes that are being discussed elsewhere.
In 1983, voters approved Senate Joint Resolution 103, amending the state constitution and establishing an independent redistricting commission. The amendment removed the Legislature from directly overseeing the redrawing of the legislative and congressional districts and instead authorized legislators to appoint members of the independent commission. The five-member commission is appointed every 10 years and is dissolved when the redistricting process is finished.
A commission can be reconvened, but that would require a two-thirds majority in the House and Senate. This means Republican support, and legislative Republicans have already stated they will not support a reconvening of the commission. Even if the commission were reconvened, they need bipartisan support within the commission to pass a redistricting plan.
The Washington State Standard recently had an article on this issue with statements from Washington State House and Senate leaders. You can read the article here.
As we prepare for the next legislative session, I’m already developing bills and policy ideas that we intend to pursue. Whether it’s affordable housing, supporting our schools, protecting our immigrant friends and neighbors, or any of the other critical issues facing our state, I know we have a lot of work to do. Your input and ideas matter a lot to me, and I always appreciate your emails and hearing about what our district’s top priorities are. You can always reach me at Jessica.Bateman@leg.wa.gov. Thanks so much for reading!
Jess
