I\u2019m thrilled that five of my bills passed the Legislature this session. The governor has already signed one of them into law, and he’ll soon sign the other four! Here\u2019s what passed:<\/p>\n
- \n
- SB 5105<\/a> strengthens protections against child sexual exploitation by holding predators accountable for creating, viewing, distributing, or possessing fabricated sexually explicit images of minors, including those produced through generative artificial intelligence (AI).<\/li>\n
- SB 5395<\/a> prohibits private insurance companies from using AI as the only means to deny, delay, or modify health care services for patients. This bill will ensure only health professionals \u2014 not AI systems \u2014 have the power to make critical insurance decisions about a patient’s care.<\/li>\n
- SB 5957<\/a> expands the membership of the Homeless Youth Advisory committee, which leads our state’s efforts to reduce, prevent, and strengthen pathways out of homelessness for youth and young adults. By expanding the committee’s membership, we’re ensuring people with lived experience as homeless youth are helping guide our state’s planning and prevention efforts.<\/li>\n
- SB 5938<\/a> strengthens and clarifies the Foreclosure Fairness Act, so we can help keep people in their homes whenever possible.<\/li>\n
- SB 5520<\/a> revises state laws allowing people wrongly convicted of felonies to seek compensation from the state. This is a critical bill for ensuring innocent people can more easily seek justice for their wrongful convictions and imprisonment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
One of the perils of shorter legislative sessions is that we simply don\u2019t have enough time to pass as many bills as we\u2019d like. I\u2019m disappointed that some of my priority legislation didn\u2019t make it this year, but I will continue fighting next session to address the important issues affecting our district. That includes mitigating the health and environmental impacts on people living near SeaTac airport, delivering tax relief for homeowners and property owners who were affected by last December\u2019s floods, protecting our critical infrastructure from copper wire theft, and holding businesses accountable for engaging in human trafficking.<\/p>\n
Flood relief and recovery<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/orwall\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2026\/03\/6343-Passed-Senate-300x252.png\")
Sens. Tina Orwall and Claudia Kauffman, leaders of the bicameral, bipartisan Flood Caucus.<\/p><\/div>\n
As chair of the bipartisan, bicameral Flood Caucus, I\u2019m proud of the work we\u2019ve done this session to help our state recover from last December\u2019s historic flooding. Our final capital and transportation budgets invest significantly in our recovery efforts while our state waits for federal aid.<\/p>\n
Our capital budget allocates $41 million specifically for recovery and prevention, including grants to cover the cost of debris and waterway clearance. The budget also directs funding for levee and floodplain investments on the Nooksack, Green, and Samish rivers, as well as a needs and risk assessment in Whatcom, Skagit, Snohomish, King, Pierce, and Lewis counties to help identify the highest-value flood preparedness projects for funding in future years.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m particularly pleased we secured a $2 million investment to design and upgrade the levee system near Signature Point to a 500-year flood protection level, which will directly benefit about 2,200 Kent residents. This investment represents a critical step toward long-term flood resilience in our community.<\/p>\n
Our transportation budget also invests heavily in our infrastructure recovery efforts. It includes $45 million for state and local highway recovery, as well as $2 million to help people who live in RVs that were damaged by the floods.<\/p>\n
Budget investments to help keep our district moving forward<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Speaking of budgets, I wanted to highlight some of the local investments we\u2019ll be seeing in communities throughout our district.<\/p>\n
Helping kids with asthma<\/em><\/h3>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/orwall\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2025\/04\/King-County-Asthma-Program-300x185.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nAs an airport community, our residents face higher rates of chronic diseases, especially asthma. The air we breathe has higher levels of ultrafine particles associated with aircraft, which can cause inflammation in the lungs and make it more difficult for people with asthma to breathe, especially children.<\/p>\n
Over the last few years, I\u2019ve secured funds to help provide clinical interventions for kids in our community who have poorly controlled asthma, and I\u2019m thrilled our budget includes $592,000 to help continue these free services. This is an incredibly effective program that has reduced kids\u2019 symptoms, improved their sleep, reduced inhaler use, and resulted in fewer days where asthma has interfered with daily life.<\/p>\n
Any King County resident who is 5 years or older and has uncontrolled asthma is eligible for the program<\/a>. I\u2019ve included a flyer \u2014 one in\u202fEnglish<\/a>\u202fand\u202fSpanish<\/a>\u202f\u2014 with more information about what the program includes and how to enroll.<\/p>\n
Funding for capital construction projects<\/em><\/h3>\n
I\u2019m proud to have worked with my seatmates, Reps. Mia Gregerson and Edwin Obras, to secure more than $4.3 million for several construction projects in our district. This includes:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Building Kent\u2019s Open Doors Multicultural Village, a support hub for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. After working closely with Open Doors for four years, I’m thrilled we have secured the final funding they need to break ground on a 233-unit housing development that will serve those with lower incomes and intellectual and developmental disabilities. The village will also feature an inclusive learning center, a resource center, and retail space.<\/li>\n
- Improving the community kitchen at Living Well Kent, an organization that promotes wellness and health in south King County.<\/li>\n
- Purchasing and repairing a community facility for Para Los Ninos, an organization in Burien that\u2019s dedicated to supporting the education of children from our Latin American community.<\/li>\n
- Building the African Diaspora Cultural Anchor Village and Welcoming and Healing Center. These projects will provide essential affordable housing, community, and support for African immigrants and refugees in King County.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
These are important investments that will not only create jobs but also improve people\u2019s quality of life and access to opportunities.<\/p>\n
Supporting people in crisis<\/em><\/h3>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/orwall\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2026\/03\/Kittery_suicide_sign_ME_0528-300x169.jpg\")
A 988 sign over the Piscataqua River Bridge between Maine and New Hampshire. Photo courtesy of Spectrum News\/Sean Murphy.<\/p><\/div>\n
I\u2019ve been working on suicide prevention measures and increasing access to mental health services every session since joining the Legislature in 2009. Washington continues to make great progress to help people when they need it, especially with our 988 suicide and crisis line, but there\u2019s more we can do to increase awareness about this essential service.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m thankful our transportation budget provides funding to install signs displaying the 988 line \u2014 like the one in the picture above from a bridge between Maine and New Hampshire \u2014 on or near bridges in our state that are at high risk for suicides. This is a lifesaving measure that will connect people to services when they are in crisis.<\/p>\n
Other wins for Washington<\/strong><\/h2>\n
In addition to my five bills that were passed this session, I wanted to highlight some of the critical legislation Senate Democrats approved to hold Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials accountable, protect our immigrant neighbors, enhance our state\u2019s data and privacy laws, and help fix Washington\u2019s upside-down tax code.<\/p>\n
Holding ICE accountable and protecting our immigrant neighbors<\/em><\/h3>\n
The federal government\u2019s aggressive, out-of-control tactics have left many of our immigrant friends and neighbors living in fear of deportation and other harm. This session, we refused to stand by and let masked ICE agents violate people\u2019s civil rights and commit horrible acts of violence. We passed several bills this session that will bring\u202fadditional\u202ftransparency, accountability, and protection from the terror ICE is inflicting on our communities.<\/p>\n
Senate Democrats successfully fought<\/a> to prohibit law enforcement officers \u2014 including ICE agents \u2014 from wearing face-concealing masks while interacting with the public. We also worked to preserve the integrity<\/a> of Washington\u2019s law enforcement by making it a crime for people who are not law enforcement officers to wear badges or other law enforcement insignia.<\/p>\n
And to help better protect immigrant workers, we passed legislation that now requires employers<\/a> to notify their staff about federal I-9 form audits. ICE has significantly increased the number of notices of inspection issued to employers nationwide in recent months. The legislation would ensure that workers get the same information as their employers when federal officials request an audit of their employment eligibility information.<\/p>\n
Enhancing privacy protections<\/em><\/h3>\n
Many cities in Washington, including some in our district, have purchased and installed \u201cFlock\u201d cameras, which continuously photograph and identify vehicles with AI-powered Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) technology. These cameras pose significant privacy concerns because they store that data in a network that can be searched by law enforcement agencies across the country.<\/p>\n
- SB 5395<\/a> prohibits private insurance companies from using AI as the only means to deny, delay, or modify health care services for patients. This bill will ensure only health professionals \u2014 not AI systems \u2014 have the power to make critical insurance decisions about a patient’s care.<\/li>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/orwall\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2026\/03\/20260310_094940cr-300x200.jpg\")
![\"Signature](\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/orwall\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2025\/02\/Orwall-sig-300x80.jpg\")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"