Approaching the finish line
Dear neighbors, We have just two weeks remaining in the 2025 legislative ...
Read MoreWATCH: March 15, 2025 town hall
If you weren’t able to make it to the 45th Legislative District ...
Read MoreTHIS SATURDAY: 45th district town hall
Dear neighbors, We are now more than halfway through the 2025 legislative ...
Read MoreAbout Manka
Manka Dhingra is Deputy Majority Leader of the Washington State Senate. She brings two decades of experience as a prosecutor and behavioral health expert to her role as chair of the Senate Law & Justice Committee. She also serves on the Environment, Energy & Technology and Ways & Means committees.
Dhingra was first elected to the Senate by the constituents of the 45th Legislative District in November 2017, the first Sikh state legislator elected in the nation. Since then, she has sponsored and passed legislation addressing a wide range of issue areas, including curbing domestic violence and sexual assault, preventing firearm violence, providing property tax relief for seniors and people with disabilities, prosecuting financial fraud, and reforming the criminal justice system with an evidence-based approach.
During her time in the Senate, Dhingra helped pass legislation and funding to transform the Washington state behavioral health system, reorienting it around prevention as well as improving crisis response. She is one of the state’s key proponents of expanding the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline and continues to strive to ensure Washingtonians with behavioral health needs get the treatment they need and deserve.
Read Manka’s full biography here.
Manka in the News
The Olympian: WA Senate honors missing & murdered Indigenous women: ‘No more stolen sisters’
The Washington state Senate adopted a resolution Monday honoring the lives of ...
Read MoreTri-City Herald: March 31 was Transgender Day of Visibility: About the history and celebration in WA state
Each year, March 31 is marked as International Transgender Day of Visibility ...
Read MoreSeattle Times: WA bill would help coroners, correctional officers get PTSD coverage
After fatal car crashes, fires or other emergencies, coroners and medical examiners ...
Read MoreSeattle Times: New plans would provide lawyers for UW mental health patients
A University of Washington behavioral health facility temporarily stopped admitting new patients in ...
Read MoreWashington State Standard: Funding for crime victim services in Washington is running short
With dwindling federal funds and a looming state budget shortfall, Washington lawmakers ...
Read MoreKING5: Bars, nightclubs would need drug testing strips under bill proposed by Kirkland teens
OLYMPIA, Wash. — Establishments that hold liquor licenses would be required to ...
Read MoreSeattle Times: Abortion rights rally urges WA lawmakers to push back on Trump agenda
OLYMPIA — “Who’s glad they live in Washington state?” The question, asked ...
Read MoreSeattle Times: New UW behavioral health hospital limits admissions amid defense dispute
In May, the University of Washington opened a highly anticipated $244 million behavioral ...
Read MoreKOMO News: New legislation would require bars, nightclubs to offer date rape drug test kits
OLYMPIA, Wash. — New legislation in Olympia centers around date rape and drink ...
Read MoreWashington State Standard: Ferguson presses for $100M police hiring plan
One of Gov.-elect Bob Ferguson’s signature campaign promises was a $100 million proposal to ...
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