Dear Neighbors,

Session is officially over. It was an extremely busy session due to the budget situation, which I’ve spoken about in previous newsletters, but I’m proud of all we accomplished. I’m excited to get some R&R in before we hit the ground running again to prepare for our next session. Keep reading to learn more about big wins, the people who made it possible, and what’s next.

Some of my bills

Governor Ferguson signs Senate Bill No. 5414, April 22, 2025. Relating to requiring social equity impact analysis in performance audits and legislative public hearings thereon.
Primary Sponsor: Sen. Bob Hasegawa

Five of my bills passed both chambers and are either already signed or ready to be signed into law. I also amended parts of my other bills and priorities into other legislation this session. These are huge wins for our communities in the 11th and across the state.

SB 5102 ensures proprietary information is not included in public records — a straightforward bill that keeps certain public risk pool information private. Gov. Ferguson signed this bill into law!

SB 5104 is on the governor’s desk and ready for his signature. This bill protects employees from coercion in the workplace based on immigration status, which is especially important in our current political moment. The federal government is deporting permanent residents, students, and more with no due process. This legislation ensures the perceived and actual immigration status of employees and their friends and loved ones is not leveraged against the worker or used to force them to accept sub-minimal pay and other illegal working conditions.

SB 5142 is also on the governor’s desk! Known as the “Houston Eminent Domain Fairness Act,” this legislation ensures landowners whose land is procured by school districts using a process called “eminent domain” have right of first refusal if land is not being used for its stated purpose. The bill mandates school districts offer the land to the previous owner at the original procurement price. This is an important step in ensuring homes and land, the most important forms of creating generational wealth, are not procured and sold for profit instead of building a school down the line. The bill is based on the story of the Houston family from Renton — you can read about them here. Special thanks to John Houston and Family for having the strength and principle to endure and share their story. You can watch his testimony here.

SB 5414 requires the Office of the State Auditor to include social equity impact analyses in their performance audits of public agencies, programs and services going forward. We often discuss justice and equity issues, and this puts that discussion into practice. Gov. Bob Ferguson signed this bill into law, and I’m excited that this has the potential to create fundamental change by daylighting inequitable practices and impacts throughout state government. Special thanks to State Auditor Pat McCarthy and her team, including Scott Nelson, for their visionary support.

SJM 8004 is a Joint Memorial to the federal government asking for either 1) a national universal health care program, 2) to partner with Washington to establish a universal health care program here, or 3) to grant Washington state the necessary waivers from federal restrictions on our ability to establish our own program. This is a necessary step for us to create a universal healthcare plan in Washington state.

I also passed a couple key amendments to others’ bills to include important policies I’ve been working on. HB 1131 provides certain reformed justice system involved immigrants who are facing deportation to an expedited hearing before the Clemency and Pardons Board to avoid being sent back to countries they’ve never known. I was also successful in amending HB 1440 to raise the standard of evidence in a process known as Civil Asset Forfeiture to give more Constitutional security for those whose property is seized by law enforcement.

Caucus victories

The Senate Democrats passed a slew of good legislation to put people first. We passed rent stabilization, historic investments in the Housing Trust Fund, school funding (especially special education), transportation improvements, reproductive health care, and much more! I am saddened, though, that a few of my other game-changing proposals didn’t garner more support (like my public banking and social housing bills) but as they say in the sports world, there’s always next year.

Budget wins for the 11th district

The budgets, especially the capital budget, include earmarks for projects all over the district. Here’s just a selection:

  • $2.5M for the Somali Community & Cultural Innovation Hub
  • $1M for Health Point Tukwila
  • $1M for Tukwila Health & Wellness Center
  • $1.5M for Renton Legacy Square Project
  • $2.5M for Starfire Commons
  • $2.5M for Griffin Campus Affordable Housing
  • $14M for Olympic Heritage Behavioral Health modernization
  • $1M for WA Community Center Riverside Trail and Canoe Launch
  • $184K for the Renton Chamber of Commerce to provide navigation and education resources
  • The Community Reinvestment Program now must also include by-and-for community organizations from the Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities, as well as from the Black/African American, Latino, and Indigenous communities.

Overall, there is nearly $30 million in funding for projects across our community. Keep an eye out for progress as they get underway!

My staff

This work wouldn’t be possible without my staff. Thank you so much to Sarah, Britt, Priya and Hannah!

Senator Bob Hasegawa with staff – April 25, 2025

What’s next

First up, some rest and recuperation. This has been a long session full of tough decisions. The Legislature considered 1953 bills and passed 433 of them. We had to figure out how to fix a $16 billion deficit, which resulted from increasing needs (“caseloads,” in legislative parlance) due to deteriorating current social conditions like record income and wealth inequality, homelessness, behavioral health issues, increasing population, lower federal supports, and inaccurate revenue projections.

I look forward to some motorcycle rides and spending time with family.

I’ll continue working in the interim to prepare for the next session. I’m especially eager to continue my efforts to establish a public bank and some other exciting projects.

Contact

Below are some great ways to contact and keep in touch with my office. I’m still here to serve you even when the Legislature isn’t in session!

Phone: 360-786-7616 (during regular business hours; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.)

Email me!

Follow me on Facebook and Instagram! I’ll post videos during the interim to keep you informed.

If you’d like to schedule me to speak with your organization to talk about my important initiatives on public banking, social housing or others, please schedule something with my Exec. Legislative Office Manager Sarah Ellerbrock, who is also my scheduler at sarah.ellerbrock@leg.wa.gov.

Thank you for reading and following along this session and for trusting me in this role to represent our 11th District.

Talk to you again soon,
Bob