Dear neighbors,
Our lives today are shaped in many ways by our forgotten history. One of the important reasons we have such a thriving maritime economy in Washington today is a federal law passed just over 100 years ago by one of our early U.S. Senators, Wesley Jones. This week, members of the maritime community traveled to Olympia to celebrate the centennial of the Jones Act, which helped make the Puget Sound the gateway to Alaska in the 20th century, and watched from the Senate gallery while we presented a resolution to mark the occasion.
The Jones Act requires that cargo traveling by sea between two American ports must sail on a ship owned by Americans, built in the U.S., and crewed mostly by U.S. citizens. The legacy in Washington state is that today, we have 22,500 maritime jobs, which generate $1.5 billion in income for workers each year. And the benefits for the whole economy of our state are even larger – more than $6 billion.
I was honored to sponsor a resolution, SR 8611, recalling this history and looking forward to the next century of a thriving maritime economy in our state. We recognized guests from the American Waterways Operators, Puget Sound Metal Trades Council (AFL-CIO), Puget Sound Maritime Trades Council (AFL-CIO), Transportation Institute, and Washington Maritime Federation. You can watch the resolution here.
Guests from the American Waterways Operators, Puget Sound Metal Trades Council (AFL-CIO), Puget Sound Maritime Trades Council (AFL-CIO), Transportation Institute, and Washington Maritime Federation.
Ideas for legislation come from you!
Last summer, Absa Samba, a young graduate student at UW pursuing a double master’s degree in public administration and social work, brought forward an urgent issue to me: female genital mutilation. She warned that Washington state was becoming a destination for the practice because so many other states had already banned it. We developed a bill with the help of our community’s advocates to address this problem.
This week, she and many other brave Washingtonians gave moving testimony before the Law & Justice Committee on SB 5453, which would ban this horrific practice in Washington state.
FGM is the cutting or removal of the external female genitalia for non-medical reasons to control a girl’s sexuality and make her acceptable for marriage in the community in which she lives. It is an extreme form of gender-based violence that the World Health Organization has recognized as a human rights violation
40 US states have already banned FGM, and it’s time for Washington to become the 41st.
Absa Samba testifying on SB 5453 FGM
Highlight of the week: Working Families Tax Credit
Each week this session, I’ll highlight a resource that may be of use to you, your family, or your neighbors. I hope you’ll pass the information along to anyone who may be able to take advantage of it. This week, I want to let you know about the Working Families Tax Credit.
It’s a refund of sales taxes paid by low income working families as a way to make our tax system more fair. If a working family already qualifies for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, (EITC), they probably also qualify for our new state Working Families Tax Credit.
Applications for the Working Families Tax Credit are now open, and more than 500,000 families are eligible. Depending on income, the rebate can range from $50 to $1,200. Click the link to find out if your family qualifies: https://workingfamiliescredit.wa.gov/apply.
Stay in Touch
Thank you to all the constituents and advocates who came to Olympia this week to make your voices heard. I was delighted to meet with a delegation of union members from the 33rd District who were in town for the Washington State Labor Council legislative conference today.
Keith Weir (IBEW), Katie Eagleson (IAM), Sen. Keiser, Diana Noinala (IAM), and Sara Franklin (OPEIU)
If you’d like to follow what I’m working on, you can like my official legislative Facebook page here.
Please don’t hesitate to stay in touch. Stay safe and take care.
Always,
Sen. Karen Keiser
Senate President Pro Tempore
Chair, Senate Labor & Commerce Committee
