To my community —

In 105 days, we accomplished a lot. We acted to protect reproductive freedom and gender-affirming care, reduce gun violence by banning assault weapons, worked hard rapidly address our housing supply and invested in building out our behavioral health systems. You can read more about the budget I worked on and the bills we moved across the finish line below but the bottom line is: it remains my honor and privilege to represent you in Olympia.

That said, we are not quite done yet… By the time you are reading this, the Legislature is preparing to reconvene for a special session to continue working on a statewide drug possession law. For more info on that, click here.

This session, I served as one of two Senate Democrats negotiating and writing the  capital (infrastructure) budget. I am proud to report that we ended up with a balanced budget that prioritized the needs of all our communities, urban and rural, Republican and Democrat. Between the capital construction and operating budget, we invested over $1 billion in housing to address affordability and the housing crisis. Those investments include:

  • $400 million in the Housing Trust fund for Affordable Housing projects
  • $141 million for emergency housing and rental assistance
  • $60 million for encampment response and outreach
  • $30 million in additional funding for children and youth homelessness

We also secured funding for projects across the 27th including:

  • $1,000,000 for Affordable Housing provided by Shiloh Baptist Church
  • $1,000,000 for Chinese Reconciliation Park
  • $1,500,000 for fife Aquatic and Community Center
  • $2,446,000 for the CLR Certified Community Behavioral Health Center
  • $90,000 for the Latino Arts and Culture Community Center
  • $3,000,000 for the Scott and Sis Names Family YMCA
  • $3,500,000 for the Sea Mar Community Health Center in Tacoma

Several bills I introduced are officially though the process — not just at the Legislature but are now signed into law! I am honored to share them with you:

  • Jury Diversity (SB 5128) will provide accurate data on jury demographics and address top reasons jurors may be unable to serve. We also secured a pilot juror pay program in Pierce County, which addresses a significant barrier to jury service for many in our community, specifically for hourly and low wage workers who cannot afford to take the time off. Fun fact: The amount has not changed since it was put into statute in the 1970s.
  • A new bachelor level certification for Behavioral Health Support specialists (SB 5189) will help folks access care and will lower barriers to allow for people to serve the communities they live in. These certified, behavioral health professionals will deliver brief, evidence-based behavioral health interventions for a workforce that desperately needs it and provide support in primary care settings to help address issues before a crisis occurs. Fun fact: This program is now going to be expanding statewide and to higher education institutions right here in the 27th!
  • Registering to vote online to register with a partial social security number (SB 5208) will expand voting access for young people and folks with disabilities. Right now, registering to vote online requires a driver’s license number but not all Washingtonians have one and many young people have not yet developed sufficient signatures to pre-register and register. Fun fact: We will be joining nine other states, including Oregon who have successfully implemented this.
  • Making the Supporting Students Experiencing Homelessness pilot program permanent, (SB 5702) extends an invaluable resource for students who are unhoused or aging out of the foster care system, permanent. Fun fact: Over 90% of students to engaged in the pilot program went on to successfully complete their degrees.
  • HB 1469 Reproductive freedom has been under attack nationwide and Washingtonians have stood by protecting it. We protect our own, we protect those who are traveling to access care, and we protect the incredible providers.
  • Ensuring we have land use policies that allow us to build more homes that people can actually afford to rent or buy by authorizing middle housing. HB 1110 begins to address our state’s housing crisis, at scale. It allows us to rapidly build our housing supply to meet the needs of Washingtonians urgently.

 

You can also ask about these issues and more at our upcoming telephone town hall TOMORROW!

WHAT: 27th Legislative District Telephone Town Hall with Speaker Laurie Jinkins, Rep. Jake Fey and me.

WHEN: 6-7 p.m. Thursday, May 11

WHERE: Call 877-229-8493 and enter 116282 when prompted. Or join online here: https://vekeo.com/WHDC27/

WHY: For you to ask us questions about the recently concluded 2023 legislative session, as well as the upcoming special session starting May 16.

HOW: You can ask us questions live by phone, or submit questions ahead of time at the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/27thLDtownhall2023

We should talk…

About the issues above and more! If you cannot call in to our telephone town hall tomorrow, or if you have questions or thoughts to share, reach out any time.

Click here to visit my website or follow/contact me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter or by email (Yasmin.Trudeau@leg.wa.gov) and phone (360-786-7652). This work cannot happen without you so let us put our heads together — I want to hear from you!

Sincerely,

 

 

 

 

 

Sen. Yasmin Trudeau