Claire Wilson has represented the people of the 30th District since 2018. She is in her second year as chair of the Human Services Committee and is proud to serve as vice chair of the Early Learning and K-12 Committee. She is also a member of the Transportation Committee, Rules Committee and holds the role of Assistant Majority Whip.
In her time as Senator, Claire has been a strong proponent of reform in the juvenile justice, child welfare and corrections systems. She is motivated to disrupt the institutions that keep people where they are instead of providing them the tools and resources they need for successful reentry.
Claire is proud to have sponsored legislation ending the use of solitary confinement for youth, as well as a bill providing post-secondary education opportunities in the Department of Corrections. This year, she is looking to provide people exiting corrections facilities key support to help them successfully transition back into their communities into productive jobs and stable living conditions.
Claire is also the force behind major education legislation. She sponsored Senate Bill 5395, which requires all Washington public schools to provide comprehensive sexual education. She also championed the landmark Fair Start for Kids Act, which invested $1.1 billion to make childcare and early learning more affordable for Washington families.
Before her time in the legislature, Claire spent 25 years serving as an administrator in early education and family involvement at the Puget Sound Educational Services District. Prior to that, Claire taught pregnant and parenting teens at Mt. Tahoma High School and was a Program Director for the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Supplemental Food and Nutrition Education Program in a rural community in Montana. She also served as an elected school board director for Federal Way Public Schools for eight years.
Throughout her career, Claire has volunteered for and served on numerous organizations and boards including the PTA, Citizens for Federal Way Schools, the Advisory Board of the Washington Family Engagement Trust, The Sidekick Collective, the Mentor and Me Program and the South County Tool Library.
Claire identifies as a lesbian woman and mother and is one of seven LGBTQ lawmakers in the Washington State Legislature.
Currently, Claire also serves on the following task forces, work groups, and committees:
- Professional Educator Collaborative
- Child Care Collaborative Task Force
- Early Learning Advisory Council
- Task Force on Improving Institutional Education Programs and Outcomes (IIEPO Task Force)
- Washington State LGBTQ Commission
- Washington State Leadership Board
- Education Ombuds Appointment Committee
- Child Support Guidelines and Report Review Work Group
- Children and Youth Behavioral Health Task Force
- Reentry Services Work Group
- NCSL State Policy and Research in Early Education (SPREE) Workgroup
- Early Learning Strategic Plan Committee
- Sentencing Guidelines Commission
- Advisory Board for UW Center for Early Childhood Policy and Equity
- DCYF Oversight Board (Chair
- Commission on Children in Foster Care
- The Hunt Institute Early Childhood Caucus
- Help Me Grow Advisory Committee
- NCSL Child Welfare Fellows Program
- CSG West Education Committee
- CSG West – Western Legislative Academy (WLA) Class of 2022
- Correctional Industries Advisory Committee
- Jt. Select Committee on Governance & Funding for Institutional Education
- Jt. Legislative and Executive Committee on Behavioral Health