Hi John,

THIS SUNDAY, April 11 is the deadline for bills to be pulled for a House or Senate floor vote, otherwise they will be considered dead for session and can’t be reintroduced until next year. The good news is that several bills we've been advocating for this year already made it past the cutoff date and are one BIG step closer to the Governor’s desk to be signed into law! 🎉🥳

• SHB 1151: On March 31, Governor Inslee signed this bill to allow access to the Disaster Cash Assistance Program (DCAP) more than once in a 12-month period, implement a 5-month transitional food assistance program starting next summer for those no longer income eligible for other food assistance programs, and update the “standard of need” to reflect current costs of living used to calculate benefit amounts. More details to come!
• 2SSB 5214: This bill exempts months when the state unemployment rate is above 7% from the 60-month lifetime limit for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Click here to e-mail your lawmakers to also include a 15% increase to the TANF monthly cash grant, continue to increase access to assistance in response to COVID-19, AND add an $80-per-month diaper benefit in the state budget!
• ESHB 1410: Starting 2022, this bill eliminates penalties on past-due property taxes and in 2023 reduces interest on past-due property taxes from 12% to 9% for homeowners.
• HB 1525: This bill automatically protects up to $1,000 in bank accounts from garnishment, meaning the account holder would no longer need to take court action to recover their money over-garnished up to this amount.
• ESHB 1054: This bill bans Washington police officers from using chokeholds, neck restraints, military weapons, and no-knock warrants!
• SSB 5010: This bill originally eliminated using credit scores to calculate insurance rates but, was substantially weakened and never made it to a floor vote this session. However, on March 22, Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler issued an emergency rule to ban credit scoring for auto, renter's, and homeowner's insurance for 3 years!

Your voice makes a difference! 📣

Let's keep the pressure on as the House and Senate negotiate the state budget between now and April 25, the last day of the 2021 Legislative Session. E-mail your lawmakers to make sure they prioritize the needs of those hardest hit by the pandemic and include measures to rebalance our state tax code so Washingtonians struggling to make ends meet are not paying more than their fair share.

Click here to read our analysis and comparison of the House and Senate 2021-2023 state budget proposals!