Accomplishments

JUMPSTART SEATTLE

Led the passage of our city’s progressive revenue plan by bringing together a broad coalition of labor, business, housing, transportation, equity and environmental justice advocates. JumpStart Seattle allowed us to prevent devastating austerity cuts to services, invest in COVID recovery for neighbors and small businesses, and contribute back to our Rainy Day Fund. This is the most progressive revenue proposal to pass City Council, and will bring in over $214 million each year to address housing, equitable development and Green New Deal Priorities. In the face of so much uncertainty, the passage of the JumpStart Seattle progressive revenue bill allowed us to begin to build a stronger, more resilient Seattle economy by investing in our smallest businesses and vulnerable workers.

PROTECTIONS FOR WORKERS

Lifted up and expanded worker protections through the historic passage of the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights. Passed groundbreaking support for hotel workers to have healthcare, maximum workload requirements and freedom from retaliation. Led the passage of hazard pay for essential grocery workers on the frontlines during COVID. Championed app-based driver minimum wage and rest break requirements.

• Passing hazard pay for essential grocery workers on the front lines during COVID.
• Passing worker protections for app-based drivers (who drive for companies like Lyft/Uber) to have access to a guaranteed minimum wage, sick leave program, and rest breaks.
• Passing the first-in-the-nation Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights ensuring domestic workers are paid the minimum wage, receive rest breaks, and are protected by labor standards.
• Banning subminimum wages for workers with disAbilities – when I came into office subminimum wages were still wrongly allowed for those with disAbilities.
• Passing legislation guaranteeing access to healthcare for hotel workers, a manageable workload, and prevention from harassment and assault.
• Created the Office of Employee Ombud to create a more safe and inclusive workplace in Seattle, free from harassment and intended to serve as a model for other municipalities.
• Ensuring all policies that impact workers prioritize livable wages, safety, apprenticeship opportunities, and greater protections.
• Supporting legislation allowing City employees to take paid family care time after experiencing loss of a child; an issue brought to me by City employees
• Mandating City’s human service provider contracts keep up with metro-area inflation, with a goal to increase wages and benefits to underpaid human service providers
• Launching pilot program to allow City employees to safely bring their infants to work
• Creating minimum payment, pay transparency, cleaning time and rest breaks, and an efficacy study for Transportation Network Company drivers
• Creating pandemic emergency paid sick leave for gig workers which supports families and greater public health and safety
• Expanding, through the pandemic, sick and safe leave to employees caring for a family member whose school or place of care is closed

SMALL BUSINESS RESILIENCY AND RECOVERY

Secured over $40 million to fund economic resiliency, small business emergency relief funds and grants. Co-sponsored Seattle’s Restaurant Relief program to support small businesses and workers in the hospitality industry. Protected our city’s stretched childcare businesses through direct financial support to respond to COVID.

• Securing $33 million a year in JumpStart funding from 2022-2030 for Economic Resilience to fund economic recovery efforts for our small businesses, workforce development, and tourism efforts to help make Seattle a place where people want to live, work, and visit.
• Allocating $5.5 million over to direct cash relief to small businesses of $10,000/business
• Securing $2.4 million in JumpStart funding for Childcare Assistance as direct cash assistance for our City’s childcare businesses as childcare is core to our ability to allow working parents to stay in the workplace.
• Securing $20 million per year toward Green New Deal priorities in JumpStart funding from 2022-2030 for investments in building a greener economy.

INVESTING IN SAFER COMMUNITIES ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Safe communities are healthy communities. That’s why I have prioritized health, safety, and well-being over investments in systems that have proven to cause disproportionate harm, especially to our Black and Brown communities. I am so proud of our accomplishments towards stronger communities, but there is much more to be done to reverse harm caused, invest in community solutions, and move funding upstream to invest in public safety and infrastructure that saves lives.

• Funding additional outreach workers, case managers, and firefighter first-responder teams through Health One to shift social services away from armed law enforcement, creating now 3 units across the city.
• Redirecting $14 million in community investments to increase capacity for youth-focused diversion programs and community-led public safety programs.
• Funding for case management and supportive services through JumpStart housing investments to ensure housing stability by addressing barriers such as mental health, substance use or ongoing physical health.
• Prioritizing $60 million for black-led organizations and community of color representatives to allocate to upstream investments through Participatory Budgeting and community-driven directives to address violence, housing insecurity, mental health, education and income security.
• Adding more crisis counseling to support first responders’ mental health as they are often the first to show up to care for our elders and most vulnerable, and see trauma every day.
• Providing funding for organizations who provide harm reduction materials to street-based sex workers and drug users.
• Passing a 2020 budget that included all of the MASS Coalition investment priorities in sidewalks, greenways and bike lanes.
• Passing a 2020 budget that included critical investments in social services and a reallocation of traditional funding to more upstream investments.