Five Epic Wins from the 2021 State Legislative Session

The 2021 Washington Legislative Session ended on time this past Sunday. Facing the incredible challenges of passing policies and a two-year budget to meet unprecedented economic hardship in an entirely online format, this is a session for the history books! Here are our five key takeaways—just a few of the epic wins in legislation and budget investments from a long list of great results for hungry individuals and families.

1. All low-income students in Washington will eat school lunches for free!
   This year, we passed HB 1342 which eliminates the school lunch co-pay for all students, preK through grade 12, that qualify for reduced-price meals. This means that kids can count on nutritious meals at school and focus on learning, not their empty stomachs, and their families can put the savings into paying the rent, the utilities, food for the whole family, and other essential needs.
2. Families going back to work won’t face a food gap!
   Families returning to work can face a huge upset when even the smallest change in income makes them ineligible for SNAP benefits. All at once, they face a food gap when they lose SNAP but have bills and debts to pay. Thanks to passing HB 1151, families on SNAP will get five months of transitional food assistance plus a small, one-time cash benefit, increasing their chances of establishing stability.
3. Working families will receive Recovery Rebates, thanks to our state finally funding the Working Families Tax Credit!
   Washington first passed the Working Families Tax Credit—our state’s version of the federal Earned Income Tax Credit—over a decade ago, but it has never been funded… until now. The Recovery Rebates that will be provided by funding this tax credit will impact 1 in 4 Washington children, giving families cash benefits that scale up with household size. We also love that immigrants who pay taxes and who have been largely left out of COVID relief benefits so far will be included in our state’s Recovery Rebates payment plan.
4. Washington is moving forward with racial justice!
   The Legislature passed bills that address racial disparities in several key areas, including requiring a stated reason for evictions (HB 1236); policing reform including the banning of no-knock warrants, prohibiting chokeholds, and state auditor reviews of deadly force cases; and SB 5476 which disrupts the prison pipeline that has contributed to the mass incarceration of Black and other people of color for possession of controlled substances.
5. Our four-year budget outlook is balanced, thanks to efforts to balance our tax code!
   Above all, historic investments in food, housing assistance, and cash assistance programs, including a 15% increase in cash assistance for families on TANF, have been made possible with the inclusion of new, progressive revenue that will be provided by the new capital gains tax—a 7% tax on the most extraordinary profits from sales of stocks.

We thank all of you for joining your voices with ours, calling on lawmakers to make substantive investments in human services and include new revenue to ensure that Washington’s economic recovery will be stronger because it’s built on equity. Please join us now in thanking our lawmakers and in celebrating these epic wins!

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