In the News

The national trend in agriculture is an unsettling one, and hits close to home in Washington state. Despite growing demand for output, there are not enough workers to fill the jobs. The federal H-2A visa program for temporary or seasonal agricultural workers does not serve industries like dairy well, which require a year-round workforce. Nor does it help meet the shorter-term employment… Read more »

As a nation, we have all witnessed a historic tragedy in Orlando, the largest mass shooting in American history. In the midst of a month in which we celebrate the progress that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans have made, this was a horrific attack on the freedoms we all hold dear.   We can never forget that the LGBT community was targeted by this act of terror. We… Read more »

U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (D-WA) introduced a resolution to designate June 26, as “LGBT Equality Day,” honoring the anniversary of three significant victories won at the U.S. Supreme Court for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Americans. “America should celebrate the progress we have made to pass on to the next… Read more »

Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a split decision in United States v. Texas, a case challenging President Barack Obama’s extended deferred action programs, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA). The decision leaves in place a lower court injunction that blocks the President’s… Read more »

Kim Malcolm speaks with Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) about why she took part in a sit-in on the House floor with other Democrats to demand a vote on a measure that would restrict the purchase of a firearm by a person on the terrorist watch list. All of Washington's Democratic Congress members were part of the protest. Click here for the full story. Read more »

By 8 a.m. Thursday morning, most of the 168 House Democrats and 34 Senate Democrats who at one point occupied the U.S. House floor to push a gun vote had departed. But a few lawmakers remained in the chamber’s seats, listening to Rep. Ted Deutch of Florida urge Republican lawmakers to agree to a vote upon their return to the House on July 5. “We’ve been on the floor a… Read more »

All eight Democrats in Washington state's congressional delegation were among dozens of House and Senate Democrats who staged a sit-in on the House floor on Wednesday to demand a vote on gun control legislation. The lawmakers sat on the floor and refused to allow Republicans to take back control. They took turns talking about gun violence, said they wouldn't leave until House… Read more »

The Supreme Court announced a 4-4 tie Thursday on the challenge to President Barack Obama’s deferred action programs. The tie continues the hold on the programs that would have potentially shielded millions of undocumented immigrant parents and children from deportation. According to Vox, up to 4.5 million people would have benefited from the programs and the… Read more »

With days remaining before June 26, lawmakers are renewing a push to designate that date in honor of milestone U.S. Supreme Court decision affirming LGBT rights. Sunday will mark the one-year anniversary of the Obergefell v. Hodges decision overturning state bans on same-sex marriage and extending marriage equality nationwide. But it’s also the three-year anniversary of the 2013… Read more »

Western Washington Democrats on Wednesday joined an unprecedented sit-in protest to force the Republican majority to allow a vote on gun control legislation.  It comes in the wake of the Orlando massacre in which 49 people were killed at a nightclub.“I think it is past time that we enacted a law that says, as an example, if you're on a domestic terror list and we don't… Read more »