In The News

The state Senate has passed a bill to remove licensing and background check fees for those entering Washington's childcare workforce. Senate Bill 5316 sponsored by Senator Claire Wilson (D-Auburn) would waive application and background check fees for those applying for childcare jobs.

For every 100 young people aging out of foster care, according to the Department of Children, Youth and Families, 17 of them will end up living on the streets within a year and one in 4 young adults are arrested within a year of aging out. How do we change these statistics and get more of these young people to become ...

Alarmed at the number of special education students shipped away from Washington, state lawmakers and education officials hope to use this legislative session to increase oversight of kids sent out of state, prohibit or limit the use of isolation and restraint, and ultimately find a way to bring those students back home.

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, joined Washington state women leaders at a Seattle Planned Parenthood clinic to sound the alarm about the urgent need to protect the right to abortion and pass the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA), in the wake of news that the Supreme ...

The State Legislature concluded their 60-day lawmaking in Olympia on March 10, with Sine Die, which is Latin for “without a day.” Among those legislators retiring after the 2022 legislative session is Rep. Jesse Johnson (LD30).

The 2022 Washington State Legislature passed several key pieces of legislation, overhauling taxation, protective orders, and updating past law enforcement legislation from the 2021 ...

$50,000 is allocated for constituents to help shape boards and commissions with their lived experiences. Drayton Jackson was homeless for two decades, living in shelters in New York City and, later, Washington state. Over the years, he compiled notes on what it's like to experience homelessness and how policymakers could help, and now he uses that knowledge and experience to lead ...

Hundreds of families owe the state a total of $1.1 million in outstanding detention fees, a practice made legal in WA 45 years ago.

The day that Tracy Oakes learned his son had been stopped by police and arrested for riding in a stolen car was a bad one. The afternoon he learned that 16-year-old Trace would be sentenced to nearly ...

Representatives from the 30th and 31st Legislative Districts will be hosting two separate town halls this week. The town halls will be an opportunity for legislative representatives to update participants on their priorities and on other key issues facing the Legislature. Click here to read more...

Representatives from the 30th and 31st Legislative Districts will be hosting two separate town halls this week. The town halls will be an opportunity for legislative representatives to update participants on their priorities and on other key issues facing the Legislature.

30th Legislative District

The 30th District includes Federal Way, Algona, Pacific, Milton, Des Moines and Auburn.

Senator Claire Wilson (D-Auburn), Representative Jesse ...

By Jenn Smith, Education Lab engagement editor / Washington is emerging as a leader in adopting effective early childhood policies and strategies over the past year, according to a new national report. The accolades come after state lawmakers greatly expanded child care initiatives the 2021 Legislative session by passing the Fair Start for Kids Act. The state ...