Friends, neighbors –
Somehow, we’ve already had five weeks, dozens of committee hearings, and 18 inches of snow in this legislative session! Five of the bills I’m prime-sponsoring have made it out of committee, including a measure to make child care more accessible to community college student-parents, as well as bills to support military families and communities.
And this Monday, I’m very excited to introduce a bill to establish a pathway to universal health care in Washington! (See more below.)
We also just welcomed our newest member, Sen. Liz Lovelett, from the 40th District! I’m excited to work with her to expand health care access, support working families, and make college more affordable.
Spotlight: a pathway to universal health care
Monday is going to be a big day for me, and more importantly, for Washington state. In the Senate Health & Long Term Care Committee hearing, I’m going to introduce SB 5822, the pathway to universal health care in Washington. As I wrote last week, this bill isn’t intended just to send a message or to check a box. It’s about taking concrete steps to prepare us for a future where we cover ALL Washingtonians.
This bill would lay the groundwork by convening a group of stakeholders to lay out a clear, step-by-step path to implement a universal health care system in Washington.
With the chaos and the hostility to expanding health care in the current administration, we know that we are not going to get the waivers we need from the federal government right now for a universal health care system. This task force would set us up to get that support when there’s a change of administration. We can’t afford to wait around—we need to start preparing now, and that’s what we’re going to be doing come Monday.
My week in Olympia
I believe in transparency, and I want to keep you all informed about what I’m doing on behalf of the 26th District in Olympia. That’s why I’m making a practice of posting my calendar each week on Facebook. You can see last week’s calendar here.
Send photos!
Calling all the photographers out there in the 26th! Send us photos of the most beautiful spots you know in the District, if you’d like to potentially see them in the banner of a future e-newsletter. To fit the space, the best photos are very wide landscapes. Take a look at the heading at the top of this newsletter and you’ll see what I mean.
Keep in touch
We are all eager to hear from you about your priorities. I hope you’ll follow me on Facebook so you can see what we’re up to. And please feel free to reach out anytime at 360-786-7560 or Emily.Randall@leg.wa.gov. The more we hear from you, the better our work in Olympia can reflect our shared values and goals.
All my best,
