Dear Friends and Neighbors,

 

Townhall March 11th information 

Join Rep. Tana Senn, Rep. My-Linh Thai and me for a live virtual town hall on Thursday, March 11 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. The event will be streamed live on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.

As we pass the halfway mark of session and House of Origin Cutoff, we will share our thoughts on our legislative priorities and answer your questions on the issues you care about. You can submit questions ahead of time here.

We look forward to seeing you there!

An update on vaccines for teachers

Under direction from President Joe Biden, Governor Inslee opened vaccine access to pre-K through grade 12 teachers, school staff, and licensed childcare workers. You can read more about the decision here. I am so happy to see teachers get pushed up on vaccine rollout, as I have been advocating for, and am hopeful that we see more schools able to open safely because of it. OSPI has shared this FAQ page, titled “‘Get Ready’ COVID-19 Vaccination Plan for School Employees” to spread information about how teachers can now access the vaccine. I will have more information and personal statements on this soon.

Keep Us Accountable

Over the summer, I joined my fellow Eastside legislators from the 5th, 41st, 45th, and 48th Legislative Districts to speak out about our commitment to confronting systemic racism this session. We pledged to the public that our intent was to fulfill this commitment and asked, “keep us accountable.” That is why I am thrilled to see SB 5051 pass the Senate and move to the House.

SB 5051 is a police accountability bill. It modifies the Criminal Justice Training Commission’s composition by adding more civilian members to promote community oversight, expands background investigations for people applying for officer positions, expands the conduct for which an officer can have their certification revoked, and creates a searchable database of complaints, investigations, and disciplinary actions of officers.

I signed onto this bill as a cosponsor and voted in favor as part of my commitment to creating public institutions that work for and protect all Washingtonians and address the ways these institutions have historically not worked to the benefit of our communities of color. The prime sponsor of this bill, Senator Pedersen, reflected on the tragedies Black, Indigenous, and people of color have faced at the hands of the police and his intentions for this bill.

“It is time that we turn the page. That we start to remake a system that can do justice for everyone in our society,” said Senator Pedersen. I found his remarks so powerful that I’d like to share them with you.

SB 5441 passed off the Senate floor

On Tuesday evening, my bill SB 5441 was brought to the Senate floor. I was excited to speak on the bill as the primary sponsor and discussed the gender inequalities in medicine, shared my daughters personal experience with breast implants, explained the bill, and thanked Senator Rivers and Senator Cleveland for their help with the bill. I was happy to see the strong bipartisan support for this bill and to see it pass off the Senate floor and into the House with 48 yeas and no oppositions.

SB 5441 wasn’t my only bill that passed off the Senate floor without opposition! On Wednesday evening my education bills SB 5299 and SB 5249 were heard back-to-back on the Senate floor and both passed unanimously to the House. These bills will allow the use of computer science credits to fulfill high school graduation requirements and help provide students with the skills needed to succeed in the 21st century.

Legislative Youth Advisory Council

The Washington Legislative Youth Advisory Council (LYAC) is the official nonpartisan youth advisory board to the state legislature and they are now accepting applications for its 2021-2023 cohort. Overseen by the Office of the Lieutenant Governor and the Washington State Leadership Board, LYAC is composed of 22 high school students from across the state with a variety of political and socioeconomic backgrounds. Some of LYAC’s projects include meeting with senators’ and representatives’ offices, testifying before the legislature, and providing a youth perspective to a variety of government agencies to advocate for policies relevant to youth priorities and promote statewide change. My office enjoyed meeting with two members of LYAC virtually this session, and if you know a high schooler in 9th, 10th, or 11th grade who is interested in civic engagement and the governmental process, please share the application. To learn more, visit www.walyac.org.  

 

Sincerely,