News Releases

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

OLYMPIA — Washington would be the first state in the nation to bring the 40-hour work week to agricultural workers, some of the nation’s lowest-paid workers, under a bill passed by the Senate today. Farmworkers were exempted from the original federal Fair Labor Standards Act passed in 1938. A late compromise negotiated by Sen. Karen Keiser (D-Des Moines) and Sen. Kevin ...

OLYMPIA — Washingtonians with intellectual and developmental disabilities would have better options for community residential settings, under a bill passed unanimously today by the Senate. “This bill is the product of intensive negotiations by all parties over more than three years,” said Sen. Karen Keiser (D-Des Moines), the bill’s sponsor. “This is a balanced approach to transitioning developmental disabilities services from ...

The Senate Labor, Commerce & Tribal Affairs Committee has scheduled an oversight hearing at which representatives of the State Auditor’s Office and the Employment Security Department will present and answer questions.   WHAT: Senate Labor, Commerce & Tribal Affairs Work Session   WHEN: 8-10 a.m. Thursday, March 4    WHERE: Viewable on TVW here: Read More

OLYMPIA — The 86,000 patients in Washington with kidney disease would have a greater hope of someday receiving a transplant—the only lifesaving treatment—under a bill passed unanimously by the Senate late Friday. “When organ donors are considering giving the gift of new life to another person, they should not be punished by higher premiums for their health insurance or life insurance,” ...

OLYMPIA — Communities in Washington would have access to an innovative new approach to local public health improvements under a bill passed by a bipartisan majority of the Senate this afternoon. SB 5052 would establish a Health Equity Zones program in Washington to address health disparities in communities of color and other communities with disproportionately poor health outcomes—from pre-term births ...