Friends and neighbors,
Government can and should help people — that’s why I got involved in politics. But at the federal level, we are seeing a concerted effort to instead make peoples’ lives harder. In this Washington, we are prepared to defend ourselves against these unjust attacks on reproductive health care, LGBTQ+ rights, immigrants, and diversity and equity initiatives. And that work has already begun.
Attorney General Nick Brown, who represents our state in court when taking legal action against the federal government, filed a suit to block President Donald Trump’s executive order attempting to unconstitutionally end birthright citizenship. He’s also working to block an order to end federal funding to medical institutions providing gender-affirming care.
In the Legislature, we have passed numerous policies to safeguard all Washingtonians. We know from previous efforts to attack reproductive and gender affirming care that the anti-choice playbook is to attack those seeking care, take legal action against providers, and try to obtain sensitive medical data to frighten people into compliance. We are ready to resist. State law explicitly protects the right to seek reproductive care, shields providers from prosecution, and keeps medical information private – protections that also extend to gender affirming care.
Washington also upholds immigrant rights through the 2019 Keep Washington Working Act, which prevents state police from detaining individuals based on immigration status, sharing non-public information with ICE, allowing ICE interviews in custody, or holding people on ICE warrants. While ICE operates within its legal authority, Washington law enforcement will not act as an extension of federal immigration enforcement.
On climate policy, Washington has long worked alongside the federal government. While the future of that collaboration is uncertain, we’re not slowing down. The Climate Commitment Act and Clean Energy Transformation Act cement our path to carbon neutrality, and this session, we’re refining state laws and regulations to stay ahead in the evolving energy sector.
If you are concerned about what is happening at the federal level, I encourage you reach out to your congressional officials. Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell and Congressman Rick Larsen will want to hear from you. Click on their names to find their contact info.
I’ll be honest: the chaos is the point. Democracy, cooperation, and even compassion are roadblocks to people who insist on having their way. Don’t let doomscrolling drain your energy to fight for what matters. Step away, get some fresh air, give back to your community, and invest your time in the people and causes you care about. We’re all in this together.
And now for something completely different….
Since becoming chair of the Environment, Energy & Technology Committee, much of my work has been focused on improving Washington’s electrical grid. New ways of generating and storing electricity and increasing its demand will require grid enhancements, new battery technology, and upgraded transmission infrastructure.
When working to make our electrical grid more resilient, we have a lot of potential threats in mind: natural disaster, fire, extreme weather, wildlife and vandalism. Unfortunately, the residents of Sri Lanka recently learned how important grid resiliency and redundancy is after a single monkey(!) knocked out power for the entire country. The unfortunate primate came into contact with a transformer and caused a power outage that affected all 22 million residents!
It’s a reminder of just how important it is that we keep working to upgrade our electrical infrastructure and preserve people’s reliable access to affordable energy.
Keep in Touch!
You can reach me anytime at Sharon.Shewmake@leg.wa.gov — your input is always valuable.
Sincerely,
