News Releases

OLYMPIA – Daniel Zipperer, 14, served as a page in the Washington State Senate during the week of February 14. Pages are typically sponsored by the senator from their legislative district. Sen. Rebecca Saldaña (D-Seattle) sponsored Zipperer’s week in the Legislature. The page program offers a hands-on opportunity for students to find out how state government works. The interactive learning ...

OLYMPIA – The Senate today voted 40-6 to explore giving access to unemployment benefits to those who become unemployed due to family caregiving responsibilities. Currently, unemployment insurance law does not allow individuals to collect unemployment benefits if they leave work voluntarily without “good cause.” The definition of what qualifies as “good cause” is too narrow and denies these essential benefits ...

OLYMPIA – Senator Rebecca Saldaña (D-Seattle) dropped a bill today that would require certain counties, cities and towns to secure prior approval for proposed changes in electoral practices that would dilute the voting power of racial and/or ethnic groups. Senate Bill 6688 would require jurisdictions with a large population from a single racial, ethnic, or language minority group to ...

OLYMPIA – On Friday, Rep. Javier Valdez (D-Seattle) and Sen. Rebecca Saldaña (D-Seattle) accepted the Social Justice Champion Award from SEIU 775 on behalf of the Member of Color Caucuses (MOCC) of both chambers of the Washington State Legislature.

“We are thrilled to award the House and Senate Members of Color Caucuses the SEIU 775 ...

OLYMPIA – Today Gov. Jay Inslee signed legislation that will implement the 2018 Washington Voting Rights Act by requiring timely elections for governing body positions after districting plans are modified.

This comes shortly after the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Rebecca Saldaña (D-Seattle), was awarded the King County Municipal League’s Joaquin G. Avila award, which honors those ...

OLYMPIA – Yesterday Gov. Jay Inslee approved the creation of a committee to address safety in the application of pesticides in Washington.

Senate Bill 5550, sponsored by Sen. Rebecca Saldaña (D-Seattle), will establish a Pesticide Application Safety Committee to examine how state agencies collect and track data related to the application of pesticides, and ...

OLYMPIA – Yesterday Gov. Jay Inslee signed legislation establishing a work group that will develop recommendations for a program to aid international medical graduates in overcoming barriers to professional careers in Washington state.

The work group established by Senate Bill 5846 will recommend strategies to reduce barriers for graduates of medical programs at institutions ...

OLYMPIA – A law approved by Gov. Jay Inslee today establishes a child welfare housing assistance program to shorten the time that children remain in out-of-home care.

Senate Bill 5718, sponsored by Sen. Rebecca Saldaña (D-Seattle), creates a Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) pilot program to provide housing assistance to parents whose ...

OLYMPIA – Gov. Jay Inslee signed into law today a bill applying stricter penalties to public works contractors who violate prevailing wage laws.

Sen. Rebecca Saldaña (D-Seattle) sponsored Senate Bill 5035 at the request of the state attorney general to combat wage theft and delay by contractors on public works contracts, all of whom are ...

OLYMPIA -- In an April 22 letter to the Office for Coastal Management at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 21 Washington Democrats voiced concerns over proposed procedural changes to the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) federal consistency review process.

The state senators expressed concern that the proposed changes would reduce the voice of ...