— from State Senator Kevin Ranker —
With Democrats in the majority in the Washington State Senate, we have begun advancing critical legislation that reflects our progressive values. We have already introduced the Voting Rights Act, the Equal Pay Act, the Evergreen Free College Act, a bill to institute better workplace protections for immigrants, a package of bills to push back on the Trump Administration’s attacks on women’s reproductive rights, additional protections for LGBTQ and transgendered populations, protections from oil spills and a ban on net pen aquaculture of invasive species, and legislation that puts a price on polluters through a carbon tax and another that dictates that Washington state’s entire electrical grid be carbon-free.
As the new Chair of Higher Education & Workforce Development Committee, I am sponsoring and co-sponsoring a package of bills addressing affordability and access to college and careers through the Student Loan Bill of Rights, expanding financial aid to DREAMers, the Evergreen Free College Act, and several bills that remove barriers and create more opportunities for foster children and homeless children to go to college or secure apprenticeships.
As the Senate Democratic Majority moves forward this year, we will be working to pass progressive bills that have been blocked for years, continuing our efforts to better fund our schools, protect human rights and the environment, pass a capital budget creating thousands of jobs while absolutely finishing our work on time on March 8.
Senate Democrats will show what it means to govern. We will leave the days of endless sessions, partisan bickering and political gridlock behind. We will be motivated by kindness, and we will protect and respect every single Washingtonian and their fundamental human rights.
