Friends —
While legislative session hasn’t technically started, the chess moves already have. We’ve received the Senate and House Committee and Chair assignments. So here’s some highlights:
- Rep. Strom Peterson (D-21) will replace Rep. Gerry Pollet (D-46) on the House Housing Committee, which has major implications for housing and land use legislation.
- The House Local Government Committee also changed chairs from Rep. Pollet to Rep. Davina Duerr (D-1), so that sets up democracy-strengthening and housing legislation a bit better than last year!
- Sen. Marko Liias (D-21) will replace previous-Sen. Steve Hobbs (now the Secretary of State) on the Senate Transportation Committee, making room for more progressive transportation legislation.
- Looks like the House Public Safety Committee will be “Community Safety, Justice, & Reentry,” but the Chair is the same.
- Since now-Sen. Noel Frame (D-36) switched chambers, the House Finance Committee Chair will be Rep. April Berg (D-44). This committee impacts odds of passing a wealth tax.
Now for A Year in Review
This year, we fought for a democracy that is visionary, that is exciting, that is inclusive of all voices. Our statewide coalition was busy in 2022. Together, we passed ranked-choice voting in Seattle, won equitable electoral maps, helped administer a groundbreaking $340M in COVID relief for our immigrant neighbors, and leveraged community power to shape historic legislation.
We’re so proud of the work that we accomplished together this year—and we hope you are too! Check out our End Of Year video to celebrate with us:
See in you in 2023!
What do you think? Have any questions? Tweet us your thoughts @WACommAlliance.
Keep up on the action and opportunities to get involved through our legislative newsletter, The Tally.
