ANNOUNCING OUR 2024 CHAMPIONS FOR CHILDREN
We are excited to announce the 2024 recipients of our Champions for Children award. These lawmakers are being recognized for their outstanding service on behalf of children and families situated furthest from opportunity. Each year, Children’s Alliance identifies legislators who demonstrated leadership and commitment in advancing policies that will promote racial equity, health equity, economic justice, and improved early learning and child care. We are grateful to have many allies in the State Legislature who are aligned with our organizational values, and we thank these lawmakers in particular for their leadership during the most recent legislative session.
Representatives
Representative Jessica Bateman championed multiple bills this year aimed at improving our behavioral health workforce, including House Bill (HB) 2247. This bill will streamline the licensure and supervision processes, provide financial support for new providers and supervisors, and expand our behavioral health workforce, enabling us to continue addressing the urgent behavioral health crisis our youth are facing.
Representative Monica Stonier sponsored HB 1455 during the 2024 session, which eliminated many loopholes that allowed child marriage in our state. This new law will ensure that no minors end up in forced marriages and situations they are unable to equitably navigate due to a lack of access to essential legal resources available to adults. In addition to leading the effort to eliminate child marriage, Representative Stonier also sponsored HB 2331, which prohibits potentially discriminatory bans on educational materials in school, citing the explicit need to ensure students of color feel their identities are represented in the stories they consume. Representative Stonier also serves as House Majority Floor Leader and exercised her power in this position to ensure that many key items on our legislative agenda made it to the House floor for a vote.
Representative Lisa Callan is a longtime advocate for child and youth well-being, and she continued to make this a priority during the 2024 session by sponsoring HB 2195. This bill provided much needed grants for early learning facilities. Early learning plays a critical role in ensuring an equitable start for kids, but that promise can only be realized if providers have access to enough facilities to offer safe learning environments for every child. Representative Callan also serves as co-chair of the Children & Youth Behavioral Health Work Group, leading the group to put forward many critical legislative and budgetary recommendations aimed at providing resources and relief to young people across the state in need of behavioral health support.
Representative My-Linh Thai sponsored HB 1895, which was one of the only successful economic justice items in 2024. This bill improved and streamlined the Working Families Tax Credit (WFTC). The WFTC has been a major reason why Washington has improved its standing nationally with regard to supporting the financial security of working people, and continued advocacy by Representative Thai will help to ensure that this trend continues.
Representative Emily Alvarado sponsored several important bills this year, including HB 2094 and HB 2095. While these bills unfortunately did not pass this year, they would enhance consumer protections and access to unclaimed property, an especially salient issue relevant to gift cards and certificates. She also championed HB 1945, a bill that will streamline access to child care for families who qualify for food benefits, like Basic Food/ SNAP. These three bills demonstrated Representative Alvarado’s commitment to economic prosperity for families furthest from opportunity.
Representative Tana Senn is a longtime advocate for early learning, and she continued to make this a priority in 2024 by sponsoring HB 1916. This bill helps to ensure appropriate funding for early intervention services through the Early Support for Infants and Toddlers (ESIT) program by making sure that early intervention services are accurately counted for the first month of care. The first month is especially important for ESIT services because it includes the development of a plan tailored to each child’s unique strengths and support needs. Representative Senn also serves as chair of the Human Services, Youth & Early Learning Committee.
Senators
Senator Manka Dhingra showed strong leadership in addressing the youth behavioral health crisis in our state by sponsoring the bills both creating and expanding the 23-hour crisis centers in this biennium. In 2024, Senator Dhingra sponsored SB 5853, ensuring that the 23-hour crisis centers created the year before could also serve minors. We also recognize that as Deputy Majority Leader in the Senate, Senator Dhingra was instrumental in ensuring that our other youth-oriented policy priorities were successful in their journey through the Legislature.
Senator Claire Wilson showed a continued commitment to our legislative priorities in her position as chair of the Senate Human Services Committee and vice chair of the Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee, where many of our prioritized bills received a favorable vote and a “do pass” recommendation despite the added pressure of a short session. Senator Wilson also sponsored SB 5559, aimed at addressing the problematic use of isolation and restraint of children in schools, and SB 5870, aimed at expanding access to early learning programs.