{"id":3185,"date":"2026-04-03T10:24:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T17:24:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/?p=3185"},"modified":"2026-04-07T08:38:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T15:38:24","slug":"protecting-our-rights-and-freedoms-from-federal-overreach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/2026\/04\/03\/protecting-our-rights-and-freedoms-from-federal-overreach\/","title":{"rendered":"Protecting our rights and freedoms from federal overreach"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Dear friends and neighbors,<\/p>\n<p>One of my top priorities is to protect our state as the Trump administration assaults the rule of law, undermines science, and targets vulnerable communities in Washington. The Legislature took significant steps this session to defend our hard-fought rights and values in all of those areas. Just this week, the president <a href=\"https:\/\/www.seattletimes.com\/seattle-news\/politics\/wa-eyes-legal-challenge-to-trumps-mail-in-voting-executive-order\/\">signed an unlawful order targeting our secure and successful state voting systems<\/a>. I\u2019m grateful to our Attorney General Nick Brown for his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atg.wa.gov\/news\/news-releases\/ag-brown-releases-statement-president-trump-s-latest-unlawful-executive-order\">many efforts to fight back<\/a> on behalf of Washington residents.<\/p>\n<p>The state\u2019s supplemental operating budget signed into law this week will help protect Washingtonians&#8217; core needs, while mitigating harms from the Trump Administration. The budget will provide food benefits for 30,000 immigrants with lawful status denied SNAP benefits, backfill Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood, and provide healthcare for very ill or disabled Washingtonians who were kicked off Medicaid.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats in Olympia\u00a0have been pushing back against\u00a0Trump since\u00a0we\u00a0took back the majority in 2018\u00a0and that work will continue.\u00a0Here are several bills passed this year that will help protect our state from federal overreach:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/app.leg.wa.gov\/BillSummary\/?BillNumber=5855&amp;Year=2026\">SB 5855<\/a> prohibits law enforcement, local police, federal agents, and immigration officers, from wearing masks during public interactions. It ensures transparency, accountability, and public trust by requiring officers\u2019 faces to be visible and mandates display of identifying information while performing routine duties such as stops, patrols, arrests, and crowd control.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/app.leg.wa.gov\/BillSummary\/?BillNumber=2105&amp;Year=2025&amp;Initiative=false\">HB 2105<\/a>\u00a0requires employers to notify workers about federal I-9 form audits, protects against retaliation, limits federal access to employment records, and\u00a0establishes\u00a0enforcement mechanisms and penalties to ensure that workers\u2019 rights are respected.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/links-1.govdelivery.com\/CL0\/https:%2F%2Fapp.leg.wa.gov%2FBillSummary%2F%3FBillNumber=6002%26Year=2025%26Initiative=false\/1\/0100019bcc42bb9c-649f1ba2-8946-42f4-9bc4-62ee3c0b2688-000000\/s5YOf9foIFZaqXeBnW9Gd1uNUCUPR2C0rTifDeG79cI=440\">SB 6002<\/a> Establishes reasonable regulations on automatic license plate reader cameras \u2013 such as the Flock cameras\u2013 to prevent their use by immigration enforcement and provide true community safety for all Washingtonians.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/app.leg.wa.gov\/BillSummary\/?BillNumber=2242&amp;Chamber=House&amp;Year=2025\">HB 2242<\/a> preserves continued access to affordable preventive health care services in Washington, including vaccines.\u00a0The legislation updates state law so\u00a0coverage of vaccines is tied to recommendations from the Washington State Department of Health instead of federal guidance.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/app.leg.wa.gov\/BillSummary\/?BillNumber=5892&amp;Year=2025&amp;Initiative=false\">SB 5892<\/a> protects sensitive voter information by designating certain information (full birthdate, SSN, driver&#8217;s license number) as confidential. An election officer or designee who discloses confidential voter information will be guilty of a class C felony.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/app.leg.wa.gov\/BillSummary\/?BillNumber=2165&amp;Chamber=House&amp;Year=2025\">HB 2165<\/a> prohibits individuals who are not law enforcement officers from making, providing, or possessing badges or other law enforcement insignias.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/app.leg.wa.gov\/BillSummary\/?BillNumber=5974&amp;Year=2025&amp;Initiative=false\">SB\u00a05974<\/a>\u00a0ensures law enforcement leaders are held to the same standards of professionalism and accountability that we ask of every other officer in the state.\u00a0It will now be clear that a sheriff\u2019s duty,\u00a0first and foremost, is to uphold the Constitution and the\u00a0laws of Washington state, including the Keep Washington Working Act, which is critical for the safety of our immigrant community,\u00a0as well as gun violence prevention laws, such as ensuring weapons are removed from domestic violence\u00a0abusers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter. If you missed my newsletters on\u00a0the <a href=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/2026\/03\/19\/millionaires-tax-passes-as-2026-session-ends\/\">Millionaires Tax<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/2026\/03\/26\/legislature-increases-support-for-affordable-housing\/\">affordable housing<\/a>, they are available on my\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/\">website<\/a>. Please don\u2019t hesitate to reach out to me with any questions at\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:Jamie.Pedersen@leg.wa.gov\">Jamie.Pedersen@leg.wa.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Best wishes,<\/p>\n<p>Jamie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dear friends and neighbors, One of my top priorities is to protect our state as the Trump administration assaults the rule of law, undermines science, and targets vulnerable communities in Washington. The Legislature took significant steps this session to defend our hard-fought rights and values in all of those areas. Just this week, the president signed an unlawful order targeting our secure and successful state voting systems. I\u2019m grateful to our Attorney General Nick Brown for his many efforts to fight back on behalf of Washington residents. The state\u2019s supplemental operating budget signed into law this week will help protect&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":3186,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"disable_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e-news","category-news-release"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Protecting our rights and freedoms from federal overreach - Sen. Jamie Pedersen<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/2026\/04\/03\/protecting-our-rights-and-freedoms-from-federal-overreach\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Protecting our rights and freedoms from federal overreach - Sen. Jamie Pedersen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dear friends and neighbors, One of my top priorities is to protect our state as the Trump administration assaults the rule of law, undermines science, and targets vulnerable communities in Washington. The Legislature took significant steps this session to defend our hard-fought rights and values in all of those areas. Just this week, the president signed an unlawful order targeting our secure and successful state voting systems. I\u2019m grateful to our Attorney General Nick Brown for his many efforts to fight back on behalf of Washington residents. The state\u2019s supplemental operating budget signed into law this week will help protect...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/2026\/04\/03\/protecting-our-rights-and-freedoms-from-federal-overreach\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sen. 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