Legislative District 43

To help ensure public safety, it is imperative that we advocate for and enact laws addressing the root causes of crime and community disfunction. This agenda includes fighting poverty, creating social and racial justice, as well as promoting police accountability and criminal justice reform.

Public safety is about addressing harm, providing opportunity, and investing in services that promote healthy communities. As the Executive Director of a large social service provider (now known as Solid Ground), I saw the positive impact that healthcare, housing, and treatment has on people’s lives. For example, instead of incarceration for many people, we need to offer affordable and accessible substance use and mental health treatment.

One of the best ways to get people up and out of poverty, is to get an education. For example, I initiated and enacted the Workforce Education Investment Act in 2019, to mandate free college and university tuition for all low-income students, over 50% of whom are people of color. It is the best student financial aid program in the nation.

There are many ways to measure progress in these regards: lowering the number of people living in poverty, increasing high school graduation rates, as well as tracking the number of post- secondary certificates, degrees, and apprenticeships leading to employment with living wages.

In the legislature, I’ve fought for major public investments in affordable housing, free healthcare for kids, public education, and social services that have helped millions of Washingtonians. Anti- poverty programs, greater funding for public education, and free college tuition for all low-income students are essential to healthy and safe communities with public safety, based on economic opportunity and security.

As a legislator, I have compiled a long list of enacted legislation and budget allocations along these lines, including major revenue sources to pay for a great variety of community investments in our people, particularly for low-income communities.

It’s incumbent on me as a State Representative, to engage with communities of color and support their priorities for public safety, police reform and accountability. As a legislator who came up through the ranks as a community organizer, I have work with and consulted the folks most impacted.

For example, I met with members of the I-940 coalition and many others, including the families of victims of police violence and brutality. They helped set the agenda for legislation to implement police reform and accountability, including Initiative 940 and a set of legislative proposals in 2021 that were proposed by community-based coalitions of advocates.

I not only voted for the package of legislation in 2021, but also voted in 2022 against weakening those reforms.

Looking ahead, I will support legislation that enacts further reforms and combats systemic racism in policing and in all parts of our society. This includes much greater de-escalation training for police in handling confrontational situations.

Along with legislation like the proposed Treatment and Recovery Act, I’m optimistic that we can address many of the root causes of community safety issues. I greatly appreciate the leadership of the ACLU in this very important public policy of the Treatment and Recovery Act.

We have made some significant progress, but there is much work to be done.