Pramila Jayapal reacted angrily, charging here opponent for Congress with acting like Trump after Brady Walkinshaw reported that an independent group had rated her as among the state’s least effective elected Senators.    The list here is a much better defense of an activist who  has worked hard for her constituents.                                                 On the facts, I think both Brady and Pramila are determined progressives with great promise.  She should follow up with a public apology for calling Brady a racist and sexist. 

WON $5.25 MILLION FOR PRE-APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS

During Pramila’s first year as a State Senator, she fought to secure funding for pre-apprenticeship programs to ensure that women and people of color

Carley Lee FACEBOOK   Hi folks!
I first met Brady in January of 2014, shortly after he became a state legislator. I was in Olympia for the first time with Faith Action Network for social justice advocacy and visited Brady’s office with a group of eager interfaith advocates. I didn’t really know what I was doing — I had never met with a politician before nor was I particularly familiar with the legislation, so I figured I’d let others do the talking. I was pleasantly surprised when the conversation quickly shifted from asking Brady to support our causes to us asking Brady how we could best support him in getting the legislation passed. I was even more surprised to learn that Brady was literally and figuratively my neighbor – a partnered gay man near my age, living only a few blocks from my apartment.
That was almost three years ago. Since then, Brady (and his now-husband Micah) have become friends of mine and Todd’s and I have had the opportunity to witness how effectively he champions life-saving and life-changing progressive policies in the state legislature. I’ve seen how he shapes his policy priorities by bringing groups of advocates and stakeholders to a table for conversation. And I’ve seen how he builds bridges in a divided political environment by investing in relationships with people he disagrees with to find common ground. From all I’ve seen and heard, I’m convinced that Brady is the leader we need to make forward progress in a deeply divided Congress. I’m not alone in seeing this – over 40 of his colleagues in the state legislature have endorsed Brady.
Here’s a few things Brady has accomplished in the short time since I first met him:
Mental Health and gun responsibility reforms (Joel’s Law)
Criminal Justice reforms (Certificate of Restoration of Opportunity and sentencing alternatives for juveniles)
Chemical Dependency and Opiates (passed key reforms and started State’s roundtable on opiate addiction)
Economic development (legislative leadership to expand the WA State Convention Center)
Transportation (partnered with the City and County on the Transportation package and negotiated key housing provisions)
Reproductive rights (expanded access to Medicaid and emergency contraceptives as people exit incarceration)
Housing and homelessness (named Legislator of the Year by the Low Income Housing alliance and passed key legislation)
This election comes at an important time for both our country and our region. Our country needs strong progressive leaders in Congress who are able to make change despite partisan polarization. Our region needs strong federal partnership so we can address rapid population growth, invest in public transit, and tackle the epidemic of homelessness. I strongly believe that leader is Brady Walkinshaw.
P.S. It says something when Dan Savage and The Seattle Times agree on a candidate.

have access to well-paying union jobs. Pramila was the sponsor and chief architect of the legislation that required the Department of Transportation to allot funding for pre-apprenticeship programs and recruit women and people of color to participate. Governor Jay Inslee signed the bill into law during the 2015-2016 legislative session.

FOUGHT FOR MEDICAID REIMBURSEMENTS FOR CONTRACEPTION FOR LOW-INCOME WOMEN

Pramila stood up for women’s health equity by working to ensure that Medicaid recipients have access to reproductive health care. Pramila was the primary sponsor of SB 5806, which safeguarded contraceptive coverage for women on Medicaid. Pramila fought for women’s right to choose what form of contraception makes the most sense for their medical needs, regardless of their income. After the bill stalled in the Republican controlled State Senate, Pramila worked with the Governor and Planned Parenthood NW to ensure this was included in the budget.

PUSHED FOR LANGUAGE ACCESS FOR STUDENTS & PARENTS

Pramila worked to foster an equitable educational system that reflects the multilingual communities in Washington State. She served on the Equity and Opportunity Gap Oversight and Accountability Committee, where she led critical conversations about equity in education policies. Pramila was the primary sponsor of SB 5787 and crafted model policy and procedures for language access by limited-English proficient parents.

FOUGHT AGAINST A BILL EXPANDING PAYDAY LENDING

Pramila took on Payday Lender’s attempt to profit off of working families and low-income people. Pramila introduced dozens of amendments to stifle legislation that imposed repayment plans and additional fees that would make consumers more vulnerable and place them in a deeper cycle of debt. The amendments Pramila introduced cut fees and offered additional protections for borrowers.

PUSHED TO MAKE THE RAPE KIT PROCESS MORE EFFICIENT

Pramila contributed to Rep. Tina Orwell’s legislation that paved the way to justice for Washingtonians to set a national example of what services should be available to survivors of rape and sexual assault. Pramila co-sponsored a bill that received bipartisan support to track the status of rape kits. Pramila maintained the importance of giving survivors more security and control: “By empowering survivors to keep track of the progress of their kit, some of that sense of control can hopefully be regained, and ultimately ensure justice is served.”

CHAMPIONED LEGISLATION INCREASING THE MINIMUM WAGE

On Pramila’s third day in the State Senate, Pramila introduced legislation to raise the minimum wage in Washington State. Pramila was the primary sponsor of SB 5285, which would increase the state minimum hourly wage to $12 over four year.

Although special interests held up the bill in the Committee on Commerce and Labor, Pramila took her fight for fair wages to Seattle. The Seattle Mayor appointed Pramila to serve on the Committee that developed the successful proposal to raise the minimum wage to $15. Pramila helped form a strong and diverse coalition by organizing immigrants in Seattle to support the measure.

COMMUNITY COLLEGES

Pramila was the chief proponent of legislation to provide tuition-free community college for Washington residents without a bachelor’s degree, because she knows that a high school diploma, while foundational for every student, is not enough to equip many young people to navigate today’s economy. Answering President Obama’s call to expand educational opportunity, Pramila designed legislation that would make Washington students eligible to receive aid to attend community and technical colleges if they maintain a 2.0 GPA.

RENAMING RACIST PLACE-NAMES

Pramila worked with the Department of Natural Resources to create a system to review racially offensive place-names across Washington State. Pramila used renaming as a way to celebrate the people and cultures of Washington and remove racial epithets from the official map and everyday conversation. The first set of 36 names are set to be renamed by the end of 2016.

Racist names to be scrubbed from Washington maps, Crosscut: http://crosscut.com/2016/03/breaking-racist-names-to-be-scrubbed-from-washington-maps/

AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRATION

Pramila worked alongside Republican Secretary Of State Kim Wyman to push for legislation that registers eligible voters who have obtained licenses. Pramila also proposed using the state health benefits exchange system to identify potentially eligible voters with proof of citizenship. The Yakima Herald-Republic reported Pramila’s bipartisan leadership as a sign that “legislators have stepped toward mending … relationship[s]” across the aisle in Olympia.

LED NEGOTIATIONS ON THE WASHINGTON VOTING RIGHTS ACT

Pramila fought for Voting Rights in Washington State and worked to craft a bill that gained a great deal of support, even in a Republican-controlled Senate. During negotiations in the legislature, Pramila stood firmly behind a provision that gave State Courts the authority to review boundaries of proposed districts to protect fair representation for minorities and prevent gerrymandering.

ADDED A $205K BUDGET INSERT FOR RAINIER BEACH’S INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE PROGRAM

Pramila wrote a state-budget insert that provided a $205,000 grant for high schools with an IB (International Baccalaureate) Programs with 70 percent of their student population comprising of low-income students. Rainier Beach High School in Seattle and Davis High School in Yakima are eligible for funding. Seattle is the only large school district in the Pacific Northwest that offers an IB program but does not offer district funds.

HELPED CREATE TELEMEDICINE COLLABORATIVE TO EXPAND ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE

In 2016, Pramila co-sponsored bipartisan legislation to expand access to health care through telemedicine. Pramila helped craft SB 6509 to establish a collaborative for the advancement of telemedicine. The bill requires insurance companies and Medicaid managed plans to reimburse health care providers who use telemedicine technologies.

INVESTING IN MULTIMODAL TRANSPORTATION

Pramila helped secure investments for electric vehicle infrastructure during her service on the Transportation Committee. Pramila co-sponsored SB 5444, a bill that would allot a portion of sales tax generated from car purchases to an infrastructure bank to build charging stations along highways across the state.

NAMED “CHILDREN’S ALLIANCE CHAMPION” FOR STATE SENATE WORK

Pramila was named a Children’s Alliance Champion in the State Senate for her efforts to pass the Early Start Act. SB 5452, later signed into law by the Governor, provided $158 million for early childhood education in Washington State and helps parents find high-quality care and prepare their children for kindergarten

ELIMINATING UNNECESSARY STUDENT TESTING

As part of her work on the Equity and Opportunity Gap Oversight and Accountability Committee, Pramila worked to introduce reforms in education that approaches students as individual learners rather than aggregate data points. In the State Senate, Pramila co-sponsored and voted for legislation to eliminate unnecessary and excessive testing to undermine educational approaches that limit teachers to teach to the test.

FOUGHT FOR CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM

In the State Senate, Pramila was a lead sponsor of the Washington DISCLOSE Act, which sought to increase transparency in campaign finance by requiring non-profit organizations participating in state and local political campaigns to fully disclose their contributions and expenditures–ending secret money in political campaigns.

SECURED HEALTH CARE COVERAGE FOR VETERANS

As a member of the Healthcare Committee in the State Senate, Pramila worked to ensure disabled veterans received the medical assistance they needed by helping make it easier to access supplemental benefits for disabled care.

FINDING SOLUTIONS TO KEEP SOCIAL SECURITY SOLVENT

Pramila supported funding for a study to examine long-term care solutions for Washington’s growing senior population. Pramila worked with her colleagues in the State Senate to identify long-term solutions for care for seniors in Washington State.