Friend,

Among the retiring senators in 2024, Senate President Pro Tempore Karen Keiser will be departing later this year.

Senator Keiser has served the 33rd Legislative District (SeaTac, Kent, Des Moines, Burien) for 29 years and is a stalwart champion of women's rights, health care, and worker protections. 

Sen. Keiser has long been a proponent of women’s economic security. Washington State can credit Sen. Keiser for her leadership and two decades of commitment to pass the Paid Family Medical Leave Act, making WA the 5th state in the country to do so. In 2023, she was honored as a “Champion for Children” by the Children’s Alliance, in recognition of Sen. Keiser’s significant leadership to advance public policies that benefit children. She guided efforts to require businesses to provide pregnancy accommodations for employees and prohibited the use of non-disclosure agreements to cover up workplace abuses and sexual harassment claims. And, she took swift action to protect reproductive health by countering an out-of-state threat to the supply of abortion medication.

She also made important reforms to Washington’s health care system, including spearheading caps for out-of-pockets costs for insulin and epinephrine, making prescription drugs more affordable, addressing health disparities in communities of color, and fully implementing the Affordable Care Act.

In addition to her substantive legislative accomplishments, Sen. Keiser is heavily involved in organizations like With With Women, which recruits progressive women to get into political office and leadership positions. Recently, she published her first book, “Getting Elected is the Easy Part,” a guide for new lawmakers on how to be an effective legislator.

Best wishes to Senator Keiser as she enters a well-earned retirement at the end of the year! We can’t wait to see what she accomplishes next. 

-Team WSDC