Just as we begin to emerge from the pandemic, war in Europe has broken out. To our Ukrainian-American neighbors, my heart is with you and yours. It’s a time when we think about our commitment to freedom and honoring those with differing opinions, but also our role in the world. That is why I support the Governor's ban on state contracts with Russian entities and HB 2135 that directs our state agencies to divest public funds that support Russia.

It’s the last day of the legislative session and I have been working long days and nights in Olympia. The House and Senate have passed several important bills the past few weeks and I wanted to provide an update on what’s happened, and what has not.

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Addressing Gun Violence

As a legislator, I am driven to have a greater impact on addressing gun violence. I am haunted by every mass shooting that has occurred in the last two decades and I want do my part to reduce gun violence in our state.

That is why I am so proud that Washington will join the eight states that have banned large capacity magazines. After years of hard work, SB 5078 passed off the House floor last week and will now be signed into law by the Governor.

The bill prohibits the sale of gun magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds, along with the manufacturing, distribution or import of high-capacity magazines in Washington state. The bill does not criminalize the possession of high-capacity magazines but instead focuses on dealers. I know that this bill is controversial and that there are people in our district who disagree on this policy. I believe that this policy will save lives and make our communities safer, and I work to represent the values of our district each and every day.

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Increasing the Availability of Affordable Housing

Unfortunately, our Accessory Dwelling Unit Incentive bill did not make it through the Senate. Even with limited rent and making the additional housing available only to low-income families, there was concern in the Senate that the property tax exemption for the ADU would be abused.

There have been a number of bold proposals to to increase housing stock this session. One of them, was my bill HB 2020 which focused on creating sustainable, equitable, and affordable housing around transit corridors we have already committed to, and providing bonuses for passive housing, which is an energy-efficient building standard that does not have an active heating system. I will continue this work in the interim.

The cooperative housing bill that provides another pathway to home ownership (SB 5713) did advance and another proposal to incentivize the conversion of surface parking lots to housing is on the move.

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Transportation Package

With economic performance in our state exceeding expectations, and an influx of Federal money, a transportation package has been crafted with some of these resources, and some new ones. The House and Senate have both passed the package, though I have expressed concern with fees that I believe disproportionately affect working families without access to transit. That’s the revenue side. The spending side has robust investments in the 48th district in anticipation of the estimated 30,000 jobs coming to our district in the next couple of years. A few projects I advocated for in our district include:

• SR 520 Seattle Corridor Improvements to help reinforce one of our busiest arterial corridors and to finish the 520 bridge expansion.
• SR 520 & 148th Avenue NE Bicycle/ Pedestrian Crossing to improve safety crossing SR 520, connecting homes, businesses, and the SR 520 Regional Trail to the Overlake Urban Center.
• Eastrail Multi-Use Corridor through Bellevue to give Washingtonians a safe, well-lit, and Green walkable path that bridges the gaps between our cities.
• Mountains to Sound Greenway Trail “Bellevue Gap” Similar to the Eastrail improvements, we’re bridging the biking gap on the Mountains to Sound Greenway, giving bicyclists a safe and efficient ride to work or downtown.
• I-405/SR 167 Corridor Improvements to ensure we finish our projects along the WA-167 and I-405 corridor improving the flow and safety of traffic for working families and bolstering our rapid bus transit option to give drivers an alternative method of daily commute.

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Police Accountability Implementation and Clarification

Photo Credit: LSS Photography

Last year the Legislature passed a package of bills designed to improve trust between law enforcement and the community and to uphold the policing profession. Since this legislation went into effect, we have heard concerns and confusion from police, from mental health professionals and from the public that these new laws might be restricting what police can do, especially in trying to help people suffering from mental health crisis.

Two bills that were introduced to clarify portions of the new laws are HB 1735 and SB 5919.

• HB 1735 clarifies that officers can use force in behavioral health circumstances, for involuntary treatment commitments, in instances of child welfare, and other related circumstances. The use of force is still subject to the newly established reasonable care standard. HB 1735 ensures that officers have the certainty they need to respond to community caretaking calls. The bill has been signed into law.
• The second bill, SB 5919 provides a standard for law enforcement authority to use physical force and providing the authority for a peace officer to engage in a vehicular pursuit when there is reasonable suspicion a person has violated the law and the officer follows appropriate safety standards. The bipartisan bill replaces the phrase “probable cause” with the term “reasonable suspicion” in allowing police to chase suspects.

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Supporting Small Businesses 

Our small business community is not over the pandemic. Many of our small business neighbors kept their enterprises alive using credit cards or taking out second mortgages on their homes.

Several policies advanced or are advancing this session that I feel were not introduced at the right time, given the fragility of this community. Oftentimes, initiatives aimed to support workers are conceived with major corporations in mind, but these same regulations or tax requirements are a significant burden to our small family-owned businesses, women and minority owned businesses, and our start-up community.

I am happy to report that SB 5980 has passed the Finance Committee. The bill reforms Business & Occupation tax, which provides real relief for small businesses both in taxation and filing requirements. We are advocating for passage of HB 1957, small business disaster recovery financial assistance program. There is also $200 million in the operating budget to support the recovery of the hospitality industry.

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Collective Bargaining for Legislative Staff

I have been concerned about the working conditions of our legislative staff since I was elected to state office. Our staff in the State Legislative deserve the same rights that other public employees have. I have continued to advocate for legislation that allows legislative staff to unionize and I am hopeful that HB 2124 will pass the Senate floor this week. A collective voice will allow our staff to advocate for fair compensation and better working conditions.

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Preventing Hazing

Most parents have no clue how prevalent hazing is on college campuses when they send their graduate to school. The parents of Sam Martinez tragically lost their son to hazing that occurred at WSU in 2019. We owe it to parents and students to reduce the occurrence of hazing. I have heard from many families in our district about this issue and  I'm pleased to report that House Bill 1751 which establishes prevention, educational and reporting requirements to address hazing on college campuses passed the Senate and will be signed into law. 

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My Thoughts on Tax Reform

Recommendations will be forthcoming from the Tax Structure Work Group. I do believe that when we have strong revenue, our obligation is to:

• Replenish reserves
• Invest in infrastructure
• Invest in families in need and other vulnerable people
• Spend one-time money on one-time investments, not ongoing commitments

It is evident to me that stimulus money during the pandemic saved us from recession and kept our economy churning. We should not lose this momentum, but we also have significant revenue surpluses. We have capacity to deliver real tax relief to those in need at this time. I did not support the Labor Day Sales tax holiday because I do not believe this provides meaningful tax relief for those who need it most, but I did co-sponsor a bill to reduce the state sales tax.

In our district, perhaps what is most meaningful is property tax relief, and I am committed to pursue that reform in the package of structural reforms coming in 2023. Given the likely rise in interest rates and the uncertainty of global movement of goods, services, and money, I think we should budget conservatively.

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Virtual Town Hall

Next week we will be hosting a post-session virtual town hall. You are invited to join your 48th District legislators for a virtual town hall on Tuesday, March 15 at 6:00 pm. We will answer your questions and provide an update on what we accomplished this legislative session.

The meeting will be streamed live on Facebook and Youtube and you can submit a question in advance at this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/48thVirtualTownHall 

 

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Thank you for taking the time to read my newsletter. As always, if you have questions, concerns, or ideas please email me at amy.walen@leg.wa.gov or call my office at 425-883-3366.

Sincerely,