Dear friends and neighbors,

The days are getting shorter and next year’s legislative session gets closer every day. We’re already hard at work hearing about the implementation of policies we passed, learning about the biggest needs and issues facing our communities, and preparing bills and the budget accordingly.

Food assistance and health insurance premiums

We all see the impacts of the federal shutdown on our friends, family, and neighbors. Federal cuts to benefits like SNAP food assistance, and the expiration of tax credits that otherwise help people afford health insurance are real and having serious impacts on affordability here in Washington. As a state legislator, I can’t control what the federal government does, but I can ensure we’re doing everything we can at the state level to protect our community from the hurt being caused. Our budget this year directed $93 million to support food assistance, and a new order by Governor Ferguson is providing an .

Thanks to a lawsuit filed by Washington and other states, as of this week the federal government has been ordered to restore food assistance, albeit at a lower level than normal. I don’t want to see this go on any longer than necessary, but it’s important for people to know that your state government is fighting as hard as we can for you.

Defending vote-by-mail and voter privacy

Many of you shared concerns about the Trump administration’s opposition to vote-by-mail and its requests for private voter data. I stand strongly against these efforts. Washington’s election system is a secure, accessible model for the nation — something we can all be proud of. Congress and the states regulate elections, not the president. In fact, the Secretary of State’s Office already announced it won’t share the private voter data requested by the federal Department of Justice. I’m proud our state is standing up to defend our rights and privacy.

If you’d like to track all the cases our attorney general files to protect us from federal overreach, you can do so here (continuously updated).

Protecting our immigrant neighbors

It’s also clear the heavy-handed and inhumane immigration enforcement we’re seeing in Washington and nationwide is on everyone’s mind.  From expanded ICE raids and family separations to mass deportations and military-enforced camps, these actions are not just political — they are personal. They target our neighbors, coworkers, and families.

Washington state will remain a place that values every person, no matter where they were born, what language they speak, or how they identify.

Together we’ve passed dozens of state laws to shield our neighbors from inhumane deportation, protect reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights, expand access to health care and education, and ensure no worker is exploited because of their immigration status or identity, including:

And before all that, we already passed bills requiring schools to adopt inclusive policies that support LGBTQ+ students, established the Keep Washington Working Act to limit local cooperation with ICE, and expanded college financial aid eligibility for undocumented and DACA students.

The state Commission on Hispanic Affairs has many resources available with information and assistance around immigration support, health and housing services, educational opportunities, and more. The state’s Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance also has resources online here (and in Spanish here) about state policies and services.

Implementation of our new sales tax law

I take my new role as Vice Chair of Finance for the Senate Ways & Means Committee very seriously because it’s about harm reduction: any new revenue helps prevents deeper cuts, especially under the Trump administration. Every change we make to toward the goal of a less regressive tax code can have a meaningful impact on the bottom line of working families. I was proud our revenue proposal led with my Financial Intangibles Tax (“wealth tax”) that would only affect 4,300 of our state’s wealthiest residents, and a payroll expense tax that would affect only the largest corporations. All while each of the same people in our state’s top 1% will keep $77,820 in taxes on average, thanks to our federal government, while working class people only get 720 bucks.

Unfortunately, the financial intangibles tax and other progressive revenue ideas were taken off the table and I had to pivot to other ideas. At the end of the day, SB 5814 helped us balance the state budget by modernizing our nearly century-old sales tax code to better reflect today’s economy. It was part of a package that invested $2 billion in our public schools, expanding special education services and covering materials, supplies and operating costs to keep schools open.

I know SB 5814 is a long and complicated combination of tweaks and changes, and there’s been a lot of questions. I’m keeping track of them all for next session as the Department of Revenue continues to provide ongoing guidance. Please use and share widely the following:

 

I hope this information is helpful! If you have questions about these issues or any others, you can reach me any time at Noel.Frame@leg.wa.gov. Thank you for reading!

Sen. Noel Frame