News Releases

Workers who lose their health insurance due to a strike or labor dispute are eligible to apply for health and dental insurance through the Washington Health Benefit Exchange thanks to new legislation, SB 5632, passed during the 2024 legislative session sponsored by Sen. Karen Keiser (D-Des Moines). Workers who lose health care coverage due to a strike now have a ...

OLYMPIA — The Senate Labor & Commerce Committee will hold a work session Tuesday on the present and future of Washington state’s social insurance programs. The state programs covered in presentations at the work session will be unemployment insurance, workers' compensation (industrial insurance), Paid Family and Medical Leave, and WA Cares (Washington’s long-term care benefit). “This work session ...

OLYMPIA – Washington workers will gain protection against employers who seek to force them to attend meetings where they are required to listen to the employer’s opinions on religious or political matters, under the Employee Free Choice Act, signed into law Thursday. SB 5778 makes Washington the sixth state in the nation to prohibit employers from disciplining or firing employees ...

OLYMPIA — Sen. Karen Keiser announced today on the Senate floor that she will retire later this year. “It has been my privilege to serve the people of the 33^rd Legislative District and the people of the State of Washington for the last 29 years,” said Keiser (D-Des Moines), the most senior member of the Senate. “I am in awe at ...

OLYMPIA — Residents living near Sea-Tac International Airport, who face disproportionate health risks due to aircraft noise and pollution, could receive assistance to repair failing soundproofing for their houses under legislation passed with overwhelming bipartisan support by the House today. SB 5955, sponsored by Sen. Karen Keiser (D-Des Moines), establishes a grant program managed by the Washington State Department ...

OLYMPIA – Kai Bjordahl served as a page for the Washington State Senate during the fourth week of the 2024 legislative session. Sen. Karen Keiser (D-Des Moines) sponsored his time at the Legislature. The page program offers a hands-on opportunity for students to find out how state government works. During a week-long interactive learning experience, students are visited by guest speakers ...

OLYMPIA — Homeowners in airport communities near Sea-Tac Airport who received flawed noise mitigation installations from the Federal Aviation Administration and the Port of Seattle may get relief from failing “port packages” that are leaking and allowing mold to grow in their homes, under legislation passed unanimously by the Senate today. SB 5955 would establish a port district equity fund ...

OLYMPIA – Workers would gain protection against employers who seek to force them to attend meetings where they are required to listen to the employer’s opinions on religious or political matters, under legislation passed by the Senate today. SB 5778 would make Washington the sixth state in the nation to prohibit employers from disciplining or firing employees who refuse to ...

OLYMPIA – The state would collect better data and be equipped to take steps to discourage consumption of cannabis containing high amounts of the intoxicating agent THC under legislation passed today on a vote of 44-5 in the Senate. “I am concerned that the proliferation of high-potency cannabis products — in some cases up to 100% THC, when a cannabis plant ...

OLYMPIA —Sen. Karen Keiser (D-Des Moines) continues to press for access to life-saving insulin even as she has won national recognition for her work in 2023 to reduce the cost of the drug to diabetes patients. Legislation capping out-of-pocket costs for insulin at $35 a month, passed in 2023, today earned Keiser the Diabetes Patient Advocacy Coalition (DPAC) Legislative Champion Award. “I ...