23rd-District Legislative E-News: Week 10

Dear friends and neighbors,

Session is nearly two-thirds over!

As I write this there are 40 days left in the 105-day legislative session. This is the time in a long session when dead bills are stacked up like cordwood; that is the fate, in fact, of most bills introduced in either the House or Senate. There are so many hurdles that any piece of legislation must clear before reaching the governor’s desk that I’ve heard it said, only half-jokingly, that the purpose of the Legislature is to keep bills from becoming law.

Considering that, I’m somewhat surprised and very grateful that as of today, four of the six bills I introduced this year are still alive and moving through the process. Each of those four has cleared at least some of the hurdles I mentioned, and a few are nearing the finish line. I’m told that, for a first-term lawmaker, this is an unusual degree of success, and as I said, I’m grateful.

I’ve written in detail about each of my bills in previous newsletters, so I won’t repeat that here. But a quick summary of where the four survivors stand would be:

• HB 1078, automatically restoring the right to vote to formerly incarcerated individuals, passed the House and is in the Senate Rules Committee awaiting a vote of the full chamber. It was not amended during the Senate policy committee consideration so if it is approved by the full Senate without a floor amendment, it will go to the governor for his signature.
• HB 1086, creating the state office of behavioral health consumer advocacy, had a public hearing in the Senate last week and will be voted on by the Senate Behavioral Health Subcommittee this Friday, March 19.
• HB 1282, modifying the earned release time for certain offenses currently used by the Department of Corrections, is exempt from ordinary cut-off dates for bills and is now under consideration by the House Appropriations Committee.
• HB 1411, expanding healthcare workforce eligibility for thousands of qualified Washingtonians by prohibiting the Department of Social and Health Services from automatically disqualifying persons with criminal convictions from certain caregiver jobs, is awaiting a hearing in the Senate Health & Long Term Care Committee.
  
  

Washington is number one . . . again

That’s right, we’ve been here before or, rather, we haven’t left since we hit first place last year. Washington is the first state in the nation to occupy the number one spot two years in a row. U.S. News & World Report, considered an unbiased authority in rankings and civic journalism, evaluated all 50 states across a range of categories to capture how states best serve their residents. Washington is among the top 10 states in infrastructure, education, economy, fiscal stability, and health care. Adding it all up puts us above all the other states for overall well-being. Click here to learn more about why we’re at the top. To ensure that the Best States rankings are objective and fair, U.S. News weighted eight categories based on results from a representative survey to determine the factors that most influence Americans’ satisfaction with their home states.

The latest on COVID and vaccines

The CDC is out with new guidance for people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Here’s the latest: Those who have gotten the vaccine can gather indoors with other fully vaccinated people without wearing a mask and with non-vaccinated people from one other household without masks, as long as they don’t have a high risk for serious illness from COVID-19.

People are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after their second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or two weeks after their single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Whether you’re vaccinated or not, the CDC is still urging people to keep taking precautions in public, like wearing a mask, staying 6 feet apart from others and avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces. Check out the Phase Finder tool to see if you’re eligible for the vaccine. Information about the next vaccine phases is also available in English at this link and in Spanish (en Español) at this link. I know that many of us are eager to get vaccinated and frustrated by the distribution process. I understand; I’m still waiting myself. But consider that in just 12 months, we’ve come together, developed multiple vaccines, and given more than 2 million doses in Washington state. We're on the right track and we’re not turning back.

Working Families Tax Credit

The Working Families Tax Credit, or Recovery Rebate, is our promise to the people of Washington that when they work hard to achieve their dreams, their community will rise up to support them. I am so overjoyed by the collective hope and resilience of everyone who has advocated for this policy since 2008. This is our chance to reclaim the American Dream as a tool for economic recovery, racial equity, and community health. Our state is known for our upside-down tax structure, where those who make the least pay the most in taxes. Putting people first means recognizing our wrongs to make them right. The Recovery Rebate is a lifeline for the immigrants, refugees, people of color, and low-income workers who have always kept our communities strong. It’s our turn to lift them up and give everyone a chance at a healthy, happy life.

Fair Start for Kids Act

Accessible, affordable, high-quality childcare is the key to restarting our economy, getting parents back to work, and giving our kids a fair start in life.⁠⁠ The House passed HB 1213, the Fair Start for Kids Act, because our economy and our children's success begins with childcare!⁠⁠ I’m proud to be a cosponsor of the Fair Start for Kids Act, because we urgently need strong support for childcare and early learning programs so families and businesses can thrive. And we need to ensure livable wages for our childcare providers, who are overwhelmingly women of color going without sufficient pay.⁠⁠ Children are our most precious resource. Investing in them is an investment in the future of Washington.⁠⁠

Prioritizing de-escalation and limiting unnecessary use of force

After months of work by the families of victims of excessive police violence, law enforcement organizations, elected officials, and community groups, the House of Representatives passed HB 1310. This bill sets the clear expectation that de-escalation should be an officer’s first instinct and that deadly force should only be an absolute last resort. Current law allows police to complete an arrest “by any means necessary,” a broad authorization that essentially allows an unlimited amount of force. When determining use of force, officers would now be required to consider circumstances, such as a person having a disability, experiencing a mental health crisis, pregnancy, or the presence of children. By setting that new standard, deadly force would be a last resort after de-escalation efforts failed.

HB 1310 is one of a series of bills brought forward by members of the Policing Policy Leadership Team in the House Democratic Caucus. Already, the House has passed HB 1267 to establish an independent agency to investigate police uses of deadly force and HB 1054 to ban dangerous and unacceptable police tactics. None of these bills limit the ability of our law-enforcement professionals to protect the public. All evidence, in fact, points the other way, as they help communities perceive police as the public servants they should be, rather than as occupying forces. HB 1310 is now awaiting a vote by members of the Senate Law & Justice Committee, which is scheduled to come this week.

As always, thank you

I'm very grateful for the trust you've placed in me. Please help me to do my job better by sharing your thoughts about these and other legislative issues. 

Sincerely,

Rep. Tarra Simmons