News Releases

OLYMPIA — Washington workers and businesses would see significant cuts to payroll taxes under one of the biggest tax relief bills of the year, filed today by Sen. Karen Keiser (D-Des Moines). “We have to respond to the continued economic strains on family budgets and business bottom lines around our state,” said Keiser, chair of the Senate Labor, Commerce & ...

OLYMPIA — Workers in Washington state would benefit from new apprenticeship programs in growing fields, reinvigorated support for existing apprenticeships, and significantly increased state funding for apprentices at public colleges, under two bills scheduled for committee hearings on Thursday. “The ‘earn-while-you-learn’ approach, with both classroom instruction and supervised on-the-job training, makes apprenticeships accessible to many—especially women and people of color—who can’t take time off work or afford ...

OLYMPIA — A large bipartisan, bicameral group of Washington state legislators has signed a strong letter of protest urging the Biden administration to withdraw its challenge to the Washington state law strengthening workers’ compensation access for workers at the Hanford nuclear site. The 2018 law grants presumptive workers’ compensation coverage for sick workers who were exposed to toxic fumes and ...

OLYMPIA — Sen. Karen Keiser (D-Des Moines), chair of the Senate Labor, Commerce & Tribal Affairs Committee, released this statement after the announcement that the Biden administration will continue a Trump administration challenge to the Washington state law strengthening workers’ compensation access for workers at the Hanford nuclear site:

“I am both angry and sad at the Biden Administration’s appeal to ...

Read More

Please join your lawmakers from the 33rd Legislative District for a town hall meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 24. This is their chance to hear from you as well as update you on their work in Olympia on your behalf. The 33rd District includes SeaTac, Kent, Des Moines, Burien, and Normandy Park. WHO: Sen. Karen Keiser, Rep. Tina Orwall, ...

OLYMPIA — The 86,000 patients in Washington with kidney disease now have a greater hope of someday receiving a transplant—the only lifesaving treatment—under a bill signed into law today. “Organ donors who give the gift of new life to another person should not be punished by higher premiums for their health or life insurance,” said Sen. Karen Keiser (D-Des Moines), the ...

OLYMPIA — With the passage of Senate Bill 5478 today, the Legislature has now put $2.2 billion in unemployment insurance (UI) tax cuts back into the pockets of Washington’s employers. “Businesses around our state have been suffering during this pandemic,” said Sen. Karen Keiser (D-Des Moines), the bill’s sponsor and chair of the Senate Labor, Commerce & Tribal Affairs Committee. ...

OLYMPIA — A bill to provide hard-hit businesses with $500 million from a state funded unemployment relief account to reduce unemployment insurance (UI) premium taxes in 2022 passed the Senate today on a unanimous vote of 49-0. “This awful pandemic has hit some businesses much harder than others,” said Sen. Karen Keiser (D-Des Moines), the bill’s sponsor. “We took urgent action ...

OLYMPIA — The businesses hit hardest by the pandemic would see $500 million in state assistance for their unemployment insurance (UI) premium taxes in 2022, under a bill introduced by Sen. Karen Keiser (D-Des Moines) and passed out of the Senate Ways & Means Committee today by a strong bipartisan vote. “Small businesses across our state are hurting,” said Keiser. “We ...

Please join your lawmakers from the 33rd District for a town hall meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 24. This is their chance to hear from you as well as update you on their work in Olympia on your behalf. The 33rd District includes SeaTac, Kent, Des Moines, Burien, and Normandy Park. WHO: Sen. Karen Keiser, Rep. Tina Orwall, Read More