Every other year, The Asian Pacific Islander Coalition (APIC) organizes the API Legislative Day. According to event organizer Shomya Tripathy, the coalition usually busses thousands of API community members to Olympia to meet with lawmakers, advocate for their interests, and all but fill the State Capitol Building.
“On a normal day down here, we don’t really get to see many people from our Asian community,” Sen. Joe Nguyen (D-Seattle) said. “[API Legislative Day] is that one day a year where it feels like your family is coming to visit.”
This year, participants could easily roll out of bed minutes before the event’s 9:30 AM start time on Feb. 1st. Historically a social day of in-person lobbying, API Legislative Day adapted to the current pandemic health crisis and became 58 scheduled Zoom meetings packed into a week.
