We’ve been cutoff! One week to go

To my community ̶

With just a week to go in this legislative session, we’re rapidly approaching deadlines and trying to get bills across the final finish line. Last week marked another pivotal cutoff, where bills have to pass the opposite chamber to still have the chance of becoming law. This week, we’ll be working out any differences between bills passed by the House & Senate and voting on a final state budget.

But before session comes to a close, I just wanted to share a few of the bills I’ve sponsored and championed that made it this far and a little about what you can expect from our Capital Budget, which I help to negotiate.

Middle Housing

HB 1110 passed the Senate last week! I’ve been advocating for supply, stability, and subsidy with various bills since the beginning of session so we can begin to address our state’s housing crisis, at scale. It’s why I brought forward HB 1110’s companion, SB 5190. This bill puts us on a path to rapidly building up our housing supply to meet the needs of WA’s families and modest middle housing options is one of the most significant ways can address our growing housing shortage. And while the City of Tacoma has been working on this through “Home in Tacoma,” it is important to ensure that the rest of the state is doing their part to tackle our housing crisis as well.

Just before casting my vote on HB 1110 with Middle Housing champions, my colleagues, Reps. Bateman and Barkis.

I remain grateful for my colleagues across the rotunda, Reps. Jessica Bateman and Andrew Barkis for their leadership and support on getting this bipartisan legislation past cutoff and this close to the finish line. Let’s house the people!

Jury Diversity

Having a diverse jury is crucial for ensuring fairness and access to justice in our criminal legal system. I’m so glad my bill, SB 5128, made it through. It provides accurate data on jury demographics and addresses top reasons jurors may be unable to serve. I am also hopeful that as the Senate and House reconcile their budgets, we will have the support to pilot a juror pay program in Pierce County, addresses a significant barrier to jury service for many in our community.

Behavioral Health Support

We have a critical need for increased access to effective mental health treatment and for a workforce to support it. SB 5189 creates a new bachelor level certification for the role of Behavioral Health Support specialists. This bill will help folks access care by creating new positions of certified, behavioral health professionals who can deliver brief, evidence-based behavioral health interventions under the supervision of a credentialed medical provider.

Online Voter Registration

The foundation of our democratic form of government relies on voting ̶ it is essential to accurate representation. This is why our state explores ways to empower our communities to do their civic duty. 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. I brought forward SB 5208 to remove these barriers and allow people registering to vote online to register with a partial social security number. By doing this, we join nine other states, including Oregon, and Washington, D.C. that have already implemented this successfully.

Student Homelessness Pilot

The Supporting Students Experiencing Homelessness pilot program has been an invaluable resource for students who are unhoused or aging out of the foster care system. Nearly 20% of students experience homelessness and 38% face food insecurity. In three years, more than 2650 students have been served, with 91% of baccalaureate students and 85% of CTC students completing the quarter in which they received housing and food assistance, case management, or other accommodations. I offered SB 5702 this session so we can take what we know works and make it permanent so that we ensure more students can all the support and tools to be successful in their educational journey.

Budgets

We heard about many priorities over the interim for Washingtonians: from housing to education to climate action, behavioral health, and public safety. As a member of the Capital budget team, I’m very proud of a budget that reflects the values of our constituents statewide. My specific focus has been on affordable housing, behavioral facilities, investments in our Community and Technical Colleges and preserving our state’s natural resources, including water quality, salmon recovery, outdoor recreation and conservation, and air quality focus on our most overburdened communities While the final budget may look different, it will be a balance between our proposal in the Senate and a proposal from the House. You can check out other proposed highlights, here.

Don’t be a stranger

Questions or thoughts about any of the above? You can reach me any time (I have made as many channels available as possible) so that we can put our heads together and fight for our neighbors’ priorities. I want to hear from you! This work cannot happen without you. 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). Let’s get to work!