Hello friends and neighbors!

We’ve just passed the halfway point of the legislative session and I’m excited to update you on the action. We’re on the floor now, through March 8, passing bills through the Senate before we begin considering the bills that our colleagues in the House have passed over to us. It’s a busy time – we’ve passed more than 150 bills in the past week – but some great things are happening.

Personally, I passed one of my important bills off the Senate floor earlier this week. SB 5280, to make members of the clergy mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect, got unanimous support from the Senate and is on its way to the House. You can read more about the bill on my website, but the basic idea is that teachers and others currently who have close relationships with children usually have to take on the responsibility of being mandatory reporters of child abuse. Faith leaders have similarly trusted relationships with children in their communities and should share the same responsibility. I’m glad that this protection for children is on its way to becoming law.

I’ve passed some other good bills too, like SB 5130 to help people in behavioral health crisis get what’s called assistant outpatient treatment – a “Goldilocks” sort of option for someone for whom full involuntary commitment in a hospital is too much but who needs more support than just doing voluntary outpatient treatment – and SB 5229, my rural economic development bill to help make sure all of Washington can benefit from the robust economic infrastructure that it takes to grow a thriving economy like we have here in the 36th District.

We’ve passed plenty of other good bills too – Sen. Marko Liias’ legislation to promote transit-oriented development so we have more housing and density near public transportation, Sen. Karen Keiser’s bill to cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month, and Sen. T’wina Nobles’ bill to guarantee that elementary school students get time for recess – which if you can believe it, some kids don’t.

We’ve got a few more days until the deadline for bills to be passed off the floor on March 8, and I’m excited to be keeping up the work!

 

What’s Next – Wealth Tax Hearing

With floor action wrapping up, we’ll be going back to considering bills in committees, and I’m excited to let you know that the Senate Ways & Means Committee has scheduled a hearing on my Washington State Wealth Tax proposal next Thursday, March 9!

SB 5486 would create a narrowly tailored property tax on extreme wealth derived from the ownership of stocks, bonds, and other financial assets, with the proceeds dedicated to education, housing, disability services, and tax credits for working families. The first $250 million of assessed value is exempted, meaning only the wealthiest people in Washington would pay the tax, including some of the wealthiest individuals in the world.

As I’ve said, the wealth tax operates similarly to Washington’s well-established property tax on homes and real estate. By extending the property tax to include stocks, bonds, and other financial assets, the Washington State Wealth Tax ensures that extremely wealthy Washingtonians – some of the richest people in the world – are taxed on their assets just like middle-class families are already taxed on theirs.

With our state facing unprecedented crises in access to affordable housing and meeting the needs of our students and our family members with disabilities, this bill will fund our future and invest in our communities. I’m glad it’s being heard, and I’m hoping for your help to show the support in our state for the proposal.

What You Can Do To Help

We know there’s massive support in Washington for fixing our upside-down tax code and taxing the wealthy, but we need to show that in the committee hearing. Having folks signed in to support the bill is great, and you don’t need to come to Olympia or actually testify to do it – you can sign up to support the bill, right now, and it’ll take less than 30 seconds. Here’s what you do –

  • Go to this link on the Legislature’s website.
  • Then, choose “Pro” as your position on the bill, put in your contact info into the form (your name will be publicly listed as a supporter, but your email, phone number, and address won’t be) and click “Submit Registration” at the bottom, and you’re done!

If you want to submit written testimony in addition to registering your position, use this link instead. You’ll have a text box where you can submit your message to the committee in addition to choosing “Pro” and listing your contact info. Be concise, polite, and let committee members know our key points:

  • We have an upside-down tax code that benefits some of the wealthiest people in the world, and the ultra-rich should pay what they owe.
  • Making the wealthy few pay what they owe in taxes would allow us to fund our communities with the quality schools, affordable health care, and good paying jobs that ensure all our families can thrive.
  • This bill is simply asking some of the richest people in the world to be taxed on their wealth, just like middle-class homeowners are taxed on their wealth through the property taxes they pay on their houses.

Having all of you sign in to support this effort would really help, and I appreciate your taking the time to do it. I hope you all know I’m pushing hard here in the Legislature to bring this bill forward in the process and hopefully into law.

Virtual Town Hall

Since my seatmates and I held an in-person town hall at the beginning of session, we wanted to hold our mid-session town hall event virtually, to accommodate people who might not be able to come to an in-person event. We’re going to be holding a virtual town hall on the evening of Monday, March 20, from 6 to 7 p.m., where we can update you on what’s happening during session and take your questions about the issues you’re most concerned about.

The event will be streamed on each lawmaker’s Facebook page starting at 6 p.m. You can RSVP to the event here, and questions can be asked during the event or submitted ahead of time here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/36TownHall.

If you can’t make that date and time, you can always keep in touch with me at Noel.Frame@leg.wa.gov. Your feedback, input, and stories are essential for me to do my work of representing you in the Legislature.

Thank you as always for reading, and please keep in touch!

Stay well,

 

Sen. Noel Frame