The Washington State Legisative Building in Olympia on Jan. 20 2020. Thomas Meade // AS Communications Office
By Stella Harvey
During winter quarter, Western students met with about half of the Washington State Legislature in Olympia to advocate for issues impacting students as a part of Western Lobby Day and Western Intersectional Lobby Day [WILD]. On March 13, Washington state’s 2020 legislative session ended, and the bills that students advocated for were either sent to Governor Jay Inslee to be signed into law, or scrapped so that next year’s legislative session will start with a clean slate.
During both events, Western students advocated for issues set by this year’s legislative agenda. The Executive Board and Student Senate approved both agendas, which were developed by the Legislative Affairs Council, according to Associated Students VP for Governmental Affairs Grace Drechsel. Kayl Gillihan, Student Advocacy and Identity Resource Center representation and advocacy coordinator, worked with the Ethnic Student Center and the Environmental and Sustainability Programs to develop specialized agendas tailored to each office’s mission for WILD.
On Western Lobby Day 2020 agenda was funding for ethnic studies, college affordability, support for undocumented students, mental health and wellness, environmental protection and support for survivors of sexual assault. These issues, as well as rights for incarcerated people, support for Native American students, public accessibility, reproductive justice, a plastic bag ban and a lower carbon fuel standard were also covered in the WILD agenda.
College Affordability & Support for Undocumented Students
Students at Western Lobby Day and WILD advocated for several bills related to college affordability, including fully funding the Workforce Education Investment Act. While this program is supported by the Washington Education Investment Act, which was passed last year, about $164 million dollars were missing from the fund due to a shortfall in the state’s budget, according to Bennett Massey-Helber, Representation and Engagement Program legislative liaison. A bill was passed by the Washington State legislature during this year’s session to fully fund the program and ensure that current and future students have access to the funds they were promised last year.
Students also advocated for the Undocumented Student Loan Program, which will create a state loan program specifically for undocumented students. Massey-Helber said the bill, which Governor Inslee passed and signed into law, is important because undocumented students cannot receive Pell Grants, Federal Loans or private loans in many cases. The new program will give undocumented students in Washington state more access to funding for higher education through the new Undocumented Student Loan Program, according to Massey-Helber.
A bill banning the withholding of transcripts also passed. Currently, universities can withhold transcripts if a student has outstanding charges on their account, such as overdue library book fines. Massey-Helber said students often need official transcripts to apply for graduate school and some jobs. The bill prohibits all colleges and universities from withholding transcripts because of any overdue fines or debts, according to Massey-Helber.
Health and Wellness
Students also advocated for issues related to student access to health care and support for survivors of sexual assault. A bill that requires all K-12 schools in the state to teach sexual health to all grade levels passed. Another bill which requires colleges and universities to disclose findings of an employee’s sexual misconduct when they move to another institution also passed. When an employee who has been found to have committed sexual misconduct moves to another institution, the institution is now required to turn over written reports from the investigation to the new employer.
Another bill created a healthcare task force and allocated $100,000 to study campus health insurance and find solutions to expanding healthcare access for uninsured and underinsured students, according to Massey-Helber. Drechsel said that these bills connect to the goal of addressing the systemic issue of sexual assault, and making sure students have access to healthcare resources.
Environmental Issues
Several bills that students advocated for regarding environmental justice also passed, including banning plastic bags state-wide and lowering the greenhouse gas emissions limits in Washington state.
Massey-Helber said that students in Washington state saw huge victories even though this year was a supplemental session with a significantly smaller budget. However, not every issue students advocated for saw victories.
Funding for Ethnic Studies and Student Support
Western students advocated for two provisos, or revisions to the state’s budget to allocate funding to a specific project. The first was funding for ethnic studies, which participants at Western Lobby Day, WILD and the Students for Ethnic Studies Coalition advocated for. The funding would have gone towards the creation of a College of Ethnic Studies at Western.
According to a statement from the Students for Ethnic Studies Coalition, students from the coalition worked with faculty advisors, including Bill Lyne, to create the language for the budget proviso which would have allocated funds directly to creating a College of Ethnic Studies at Western.
While the proviso ultimately was not included in the budget, Massey-Helber said students succeeded in bringing the topic to the attention of the legislature and earned the support from multiple senators, including Senator Emily Randall of the 26th District. Drechsel said getting funding for a College of Ethnic Studies will remain a top priority in the future.
“The next steps will be to continue to press UPRC [University Planning and Resource Council] and the administration to make an Ethnic Studies proposal part of Western’s upcoming budget request. Next year is a long legislative session and there will be more possibility of spending than this past session. In the time leading up to next January, we hope that interest and attention to Ethnic Studies will continue to grow,” the statement from the Students for Ethnic Studies Coalition said.
The second proviso students advocated for was a student support package, which requested funds that would go towards expanding the infrastructure of spaces like Western’s Counseling Center. Massey-Helber said while Western needs more staff to support staff to serve its students, there currently is not enough space to hire more counselors or support staff. While the request was not passed, this issue will also remain a top priority in the future, according to Massey-Helber.
During the 2020 legislative session, students from across Washington State participated in their state government by advocating for issues directly connected to students. While not every bill or request was met, Western Lobby Day and WILD are both yearly events. Next year, another group of students will return to Olympia to remind senators what students in Washington State and at Western need to be successful in college and beyond.