legislative bill tracker
Below is a highlight of bills that were of specific interest to APIC and other BIPOC organizations during the 2023 legislative session.
Operating Budget (SB 5187)
Increase Funding for Naturalization Services
Allocated for $3.5 million per year
Description: Naturalization services help refugees and immigrants, predominantly those who are disabled and elderly, attain citizenship through assistance in completing the USCIS N-400 naturalization application and fee waiver requests, classes in American history and civics, and interview preparation. By maintaining funding for Naturalization services at $2,540,000, we can better serve immigrants and refugees in our state.
Maintain Funding for LEP Pathways
Allocated for $2.366 million per year
Description: The Limited English Proficient (LEP) Pathways’ primary goal is to promote economic self-sufficiency for refugees and immigrants through job training, English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, work support, and social services. By maintaining funding for the LEP Pathways program at $2,366,000, we can better support low-income and limited English speaking immigrants.
Washington New Americans Program
Allocated for $2 million per year
Legal Defense for Immigrants
Allocated for $8 million per year
International Families Justice Coalition
Allocated for $150,000 in 2024 and $150,000 in 2025
Description: Invest $150,000 in the International Families Justice Coalition from the Office of Civil and Legal Aid to ensure legal representation for vulnerable immigrants in family law and domestic violence cases.
Health Equity for Immigrants
Received notable, but insufficient funding in the final budget—$45.7m will be allocated towards a Medicaid-like program, to launch in July 2024, and will be available to undocumented immigrants and low-income community members. Based on these final numbers, we expect to see healthcare coverage for a smaller patient pool, and the program to launch at a startup date six months later than promised. Despite this, these actions will be an impactful step taken toward expanding health coverage for all.
Description: Ensure that all Washingtonians are able to access high quality healthcare by funding a Medicaid-equivalent state program that is open to all regardless of immigration status. Pass legislation to codify this program into state law, and allocate adequate funds to ensure recipients are not burdened by health insurance cost sharing.
Bills & Policies
SB 5249/HB 1075 & HB 1477: Working Families Tax Credit
HB 1477—Signed by Governor, Effective 1/1/2024
SB 5249/ HB 1075—Did not pass
HB 1477 Description: WFTC Technical Fixes. The legislature funded the Working Families Tax Credit, and the program will launch at the beginning of 2023. There are a small number of technical fixes which will improve access and equity for those eligible, such as creating a loopback period of three years.
HB 1075 & SB 5249 Description: WFTC Expansion. The WFTC will launch in 2023, but still can be improved to provide greater benefits to a larger number of Washington households by expanding from 25-65 to 18+.
SB 5112/HB 1229: Secure Automatic Voter Registration
SB 5112—Signed by Governor, Effective 7/23/2023
Description: Washington can improve our Automatic Voter Registration system by moving to a back-end system where citizens will be automatically registered or have their registration updated, also eliminating chances of human error that could result in non-citizens being asked about registering to vote.
SB 5082/HB 1158 Eliminating Advisory Votes
SB 5082—Signed by Governer, Effective 7/23/2023
Description: The legislature has the opportunity to remove confusing and non-binding advisory votes from the ballot, making it more accessible to new voters and voters with limited English proficiency, also saving state time, money and admin. resources
SB 5208: Online Voter Registration
Signed by Governor, Effective 7/15/2024
Description: Updating the process for online voter registration by allowing voter applicants to provide the last four digits of social security number for authentication.
SB 5078 Establishing Duties of Firearm
Industry Members
Signed by Governor, Effective 7/23/2023
Description: Protecting public safety by establishing duties of firearm industry members.
HB 1240: Restrict Access to Assault Weapons
Signed by Governor, Effective 4/25/2023
Description: Semi-automatic assault weapons have been used in all five of the deadliest shootings in U.S. history. These weapons were designed for the battlefield—they have no place in our neighborhoods. We are urging the legislature to greatly restrict the sale, transfer, and importing of assualt weapons.
HB 1460: Conservation of Public Lands
Signed by Governor, Effective 7/23/2023
Description: Concerning the department of natural resources land transactions, revenue distributions, and creation and management of a trust land transfer program.
HB 1579 Independent Prosecutor
Did not pass
Description: We need an independent prosecutor to make the charging decisions for police use of deadly force. In 2021 the legislature created a state-wide office to do the criminal investigations into officer's use of deadly force where there is a death or serious injury. The caseload from this office needs to be handled by an state independent prosecutor separate from the 39 county prosecutors.
HB 1282: Reduce Carbon Emissions
Did not pass
Description: In construction and in operation, buildings in Washington produce 25% of our greenhouse gases. Over their lifetimes construction represents over half of that. We have a big opportunity to reduce our greenhouse gases by installing the most efficient, clean building systems and by constructing with the cleanest possible materials. We won’t know how clean our construction is unless we make good plans and have accurate information on materials. HB 1282 begins the next steps on those objectives.
HB 1025: Access to Fairness
Did not pass
Description: For families and survivors of police misconduct. Civil litigation serves a valuable function for families and other victims of police violence. Currently there is a gap in what type of remedy and relief can be brought to state court and this proposal authorizes civil suits for violations of state constitutional rights for police misconduct.
SB 5109/HB 1095: Unemployment Benefits for Undocumented Workers
SB 5109—Did not pass
HB 1095—Did not pass
Description: Address the structural exclusions built into the unemployment system by building a permanent, separate unemployment system that provides benefits to undocumented workers, creating a social safety net to help around 150,000 Washington residents and their families.
HB 1513: Traffic Safety for All
Did not pass
Description: Traffic stops are the most common interaction people have with law enforcement. Ending traffic stops for non-moving violations will increase safety for the public and officers. It will increase equity and is a solution for the disproportionate stops involving Black, Latino, Native American, and Pacific Islander drivers.
HB 1445: AG Investigations & Reform
Did not pass
Description: Accountability for Police and sheriffs departments is an important part of culture change. This grants authority to the state attorney general to do investigations of agencies where there is an alleged pattern and practice of violating the civil and constitutional rights of persons. This state-level authority would complement the US. DOJ authority and will promote a basic level of quality policing across the state.
SB 5486: Wealth Tax
Did not pass
Description: In Washington State, the lowest income people pay far more in share of their income than the wealthiest do. This state has the most regressive tax structure in the US. And, additional revenue is needed to support the many needs that are still unfunded, including health care, housing, education, disability services, and more. So the only way to raise money for these services is to put a new tax on the wealthiest people in this state. The wealth tax would put a 1% tax on the financial property of people who have more than $250 million in stocks, bonds, and similar investments. This would make the tax system more fair while also raising needed revenue.
HB 1045: Guaranteed Basic Income
Did not pass
Description: Create an Evergreen Trust Basic Income Pilot Program that would put cash directly into the hands of vulnerable Washingtonians facing economic instability.
HB 1228: Language Education
Did not passs
Description: Building a multilingual, multiliterate Washington through dual and tribal language education.
SB 5241: Regulate Healthcare Systems
Did not pass
Description: Currently large Healthcare Monopolies which are often affiliated with religious institutions are buying up hospitals and medical practices in Washington and go largely unregulated. This practice limits the control we have and the choices we can make about our healthcare. More than 50% of hospitals in Washington are owned by religious institutions. Whether it be having a choice about reproductive care or end of life care; those choices should not be limited by who owns the hospital or medical practice you seek your care in. SB 5241 (KOCA) (The keep our care act) will limit and regulate Mergers and Acquisitions of healthcare institutions.
HB 1131: WRAP Act
Did not pass
Description: Pass the WRAP Act to modernize our entire recycling system here in Washington. We can stop throwing away $104 million worth of materials that could be recycled. We can support Washington's economy by building new, green jobs. We can make recycling easier for all residents of Washington. We can join other nations of the world and 4 states in the US by implementing Extended Producer Responsibility.
Support Hepatitis B & C Testing and Hepatitis Vaccinations for All Washington Adults
Description: Legislation is essential to induce Washington primary health care providers to begin offering preventative services care for hepatitis including hepatitis B virus (HBV) screening and vaccination and hepatitis C virus (HCV) screening to all adult patients to the extent the services are covered by the individual patient’s health insurance and with no civil or criminal violation for provider or patient noncompliance. These preventive services are needed to reduce the incidence of liver disease, including cirrhosis, liver cancer and death caused by HBV or HCV, across all communities.
Capital Projects (SB 5200)
Asian Pacific Cultural Center Construction
Allocated for $1.08 million for renovation and $2 million for expansion
Description: APCC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit community based organization formed in 1996 to bridge communities and generations through arts, culture, education and business. APCC is finalizing its fundraising efforts to build an 18,500 sq ft two story building in Tacoma in place of the old South Park Community Center owned by Metro Parks Tacoma – to include a large event room with a capacity of over 350 people, classrooms, offices, commercial/teaching kitchen, arts gallery, library and gift shop.
APCC is approved and listed on the Governor budget for $1,080,000 under the Commerce Building Community Fund. We are urging the Legislature to support the full approved allocation for APCC for the State Dept of Commerce Building Communities Fund already allotted for APCC. We are also urging the Legislature to please support a legislative ask of $2 million to help APCC with rising costs of construction due to present inflation costs.
Indian American Community Services
Allocated for $794,000
Description: The IACS Community Center in Kent will be an inclusive, safe space in the heart of Kents small business district where community can find resources and support services for all age groups while also accessing vocational training, digital literacy, technical assistance for small businesses, free legal and mental health services, early learning and developmental screening along with programming for health and wellness, youth support services, inter-generational activities and opportunities to connect as a community. The center will also participate in the city and county’s culinary network to empower culinary and food delivery business.
IACS has raises 50% of the cost of purchasing the center and is now requesting additional state, county and federal funding for our capital improvements in order to make the space operational. We are requesting $2,000,000 from the state legislature to support this project.
UTOPIA Mapu Maia Clinic
Was not allocated funding
Description: UTOPIA’s Mapu Maia Clinic serves as a trusted, culturally aligned, free health care resource for Pacific Islanders in the LGBTQI community. The Mapu Maia Clinic provides resources for substance use and mental health services, including prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery support services. The clinic has served the community since the outbreak of the pandemic and has provided health care needs and services to community members through trusted partnerships and volunteer efforts of health care providers and organizations. In partnership with other health care providers, the Mapu Maia Clinic currently operates a once-a-month pop-up event to provide some of its health care and support services.
We are requesting $700,000 from the Washington State Legislature to enable UTOPIA the physical capability to establish a fully functional drop-in clinic that operates weekly and after-hours to meet the needs of the community members with a diverse range of substance use and mental health related services.
Communities of Concern Commission
Was not allocated funding
Description: The Communities of Concern Commission is a 23-member statewide nonprofit coalition of community-based organizations in communities of color and poor rural communities seeking public investment to build and preserve capital projects in our respective communities to reduce poverty. Member organizations have identified 42 capital projects that, if financed, would build community wealth in their respective communities.
We are requesting $500,000 in the operating budget for organization capacity building, technical assistance and Commission operations; and, $1 million in the capital budget for project predevelopment.
Refugee Artisan Initiative
Was not allocated funding
Description: RAI is seeking $778,000 in capital funding from the State as part of its $4.7 million campaign to remodel a 7500 sq. foot space in Lake City into an urban manufacturing space and art gallery. RAI was founded in 2016 to partner with immigrant and refugee women to foster an inclusive, prosperous transition to the US through training and microbusiness development. Since its inception, RAI has trained and supported 40 refugee and immigrant artisans who left Ethiopia, Burma, Bhutan, Morocco, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and China to start a new life in Washington after escaping discrimination and hardship in their home countries. The artisans are typically mothers, between the ages of 30 – 55 years old, with young children who earn their first paycheck in the US through the support of RAI. Artisans express their culture through sewing and handcrafting work while receiving entrepreneur training and a living wage. The new space will include exhibit space to showcase the incredible talents of our artisans. The campaign launched last year and will run through 2025.