The Washington state Legislature welcomed a record amount of legislators of color in 2021. This included a record number Black legislators who were all Democrats. State Rep. Kirsten Harris Talley from south Seattle was one of them. She described it as an exciting period.
I was one of four Black women who came in to join two Black women already here. Harris-Talley said that I saw many people who looked just like me, which is always welcome.
But that wasn’t all. Washington Democrats saw an unusual opportunity to quickly make major changes in 2021 after George Floyd was shot and killed by a Minneapolis police officer. They seized this opportunity and passed about a dozen police accountability laws as well as a variety of other racial equality measures. It was described by Washington’s Black Lives Matter Alliance as a spectacular session. Harris-Talley added a superlative of her own: historic.
Harris-Talley stated that it felt like the door to reform that was opened in 2021 was now closed in 2022. She felt that Democrats were turning their backs and undoing some work they had done in the previous year on police accountability.
This is not progress. Harris-Talley stated that this is not my calling.
Harris-Talley wrote a resignation letter in the South Seattle Emerald following the 2022 legislative session. It was nearly 25-hundred words long. Harris-Talley stated that she would not seek reelection and called the Legislature a “toxic work environment”.
She wrote that I recognize the signs when leadership is trying to help you or finding a place for you to shut up. These kinds of things started very early.
Retirements in a rash
Harris-Talley is not the only Black member to resign after just one term. Jesse Johnson, Democratic state Rep. from Federal Way is also stepping down. Johnson was one the architects of the reform agenda for police officers. Johnson mentioned family reasons, including a baby at home and a spouse in medical school. Johnson said that, while his experience was different from Harris-Talleys’, it hasn’t been easy.
Johnson stated that if you want to work on bold, progressive issues, you need a support system around. Johnson spoke on TVW’s Inside Olympia program. I was threatened with death by the police reform. I received a lot if not all the nasty emails.
Mona Das of Kent, a Democratic State Senator and Indian American, is also retiring from the Legislature. Das expressed pride in her work on equity issues and the environment through a Facebook post. She said that she is unable to run for reelection because of financial and family considerations.
“I don’t spend enough time with my family. Das also stated that it was difficult for him to meet his financial obligations regarding his State Senator salary.
Washington legislators currently earn $56,881 per year, plus per diem when the Legislature meets. Although the job is part-time and the Legislature meets only for a few months each year, many lawmakers claim that the job is all-consuming.
According to McClatchy, Harris-Talley (Johnson and Das) are just a few of the nearly two dozen state lawmakers, both Democrats as well as Republicans, who have said they are not running for reelection in this year’s election or are seeking another office.
In 2022, all members of the House and approximately half of the state senators will be up for reelection.
Although not unprecedented, the number of departures has caught the attention legislative leaders like House Republican leader J.T. Wilcox stated that his caucus was “losing an uncommon number of members” this fiscal year.
One reason for the retirements could be the challenge of legislating mostly remotely during the COVID epidemic. Some younger lawmakers have never had to sit through a non-pandemic session.
Johnson, who was first elected to the Legislature in 2020, described legislating through Zoom from his condo as a lonely feeling.
Washington’s current state legislature is home to about 20% of its 147 members of color. This is a historic high. Johnson said it is important to be aware that the departure of three members of color from statehouse does not necessarily indicate a trend.
Johnson said that while I wouldn’t consider it alarming, I do believe that there is something going on. There are members who want to change the system and see it happen. What we have learned is that politics is slow and a grind-it out process.
Johnson stated that he believes that the Legislature needs to do more to support legislators of color, as well as members of minority communities who see urgent need in their communities. However Johnson also said that it must navigate a system which slows down change.
A tearful speech
Laurie Jinkins is the Speaker of the House. She’s been in the Legislature for twelve years and believes there’s a cyclical aspect to lawmaking. She stated that while some years are able to accomplish great things, then the incremental nature of legislating returns.
Jinkins said that police accountability is the key to where we are today: big things get done, then you spend years balancing and tweaking.
Harris-Talley describes herself as a Black, queer and activist. She said that some of this tweaking and balance felt like giving in and to the pressures of law enforcement and those opposed to elements of 2021’s police reforms. Harris-Talley indicated that she could support some of these changes, including clarifying the munitions police can use to kill people and making sure officers show up for community caretaking calls. Other proposals were rejected.
She gave the example of a bill governing police use of force, which she felt was equivalent to creating “a new stop-and-frisk standard” in Washington. Harris-Talley cried on the House floor when the bill was up for a vote in February. She predicted that the change would lead to more deadly encounters between police and civilians.
Harris-Talley stated during her speech that this law is too close to the point where excessive force by an officer can cause a loved one not to return home.
The bill was opposed by the families of those who were killed by police. Rep. Johnson opposed the bill after hearing that police had made changes in 2021 which removed their ability to use reasonable force before probable cause was established.
[Police]Johnson stated in the TVW interview that there were people with reasonable suspicion of a crime who were literally running away or walking away from their investigation and could not continue their investigation.A feeling of betrayal
Harris-Talley said that House Democratic leadership pressured Harris to withdraw two amendments from the use of force bill. In return, Harris-Talley promised that another police-related bill regarding high-speed pursuits would not come up for a ballot. Harris-Talley stated that she did withdraw her amendments but that the House Democratic leadership refused to honor the agreement and brought up the pursuit bill for a ballot anyway.
Harris-Talley wrote that this was the day I realized integrity was not part the culture of this caucus.
She described feeling abandoned, othered and dismissed.
I’ve been in many workplaces that my colleagues have sabotaged me. In an interview, she stated that I had also left those workplaces.
When Jinkins was asked to respond, he didn’t address Harris-Talley’s accusations of betrayal or sabotage. Jinkins stated that it was a lesson about “how people experience different things”.
Jinkins stated that I need to take the criticism and commentary in and then find a way to help us improve.
Jinkins, who is the first out lesbian Speaker in the House, stated that her caucus is committed working on equity and diversity issues. She stated that the majority Democrats have continued to pass equity and racial justice legislations this year and that they wrote a supplement budget that used an equity tool to direct state spending.
The Legislative Black Caucus, Harris-Talley vice chair, identified 15 priority bills. Eight of them failed, and seven passed.
Rep. Jamila TAYLOR, chair of LBC, released statements praising both lawmakers, as two of the LBC’s ten members have left the Legislature.
Taylor said that Taylor and I are honored to have the opportunity to lead the LBC along with Rep. Harris Talley. We work towards ensuring that the experience, needs, and solutions for Black people throughout the state are represented in our legislative process, prioritizing and making them real.
Taylor also praised Johnson, her 30th Legislative District seatmate, for having worked diligently not only to pass historic police accountability legislation but also to place victims of police violence in discussions in order to ensure that laws met the goal of rebuilding trust among communities.
Johnson is open to running for public office in the future, or returning to the state Legislature. He would love to see Washington adopt an all-time Legislature, similar to those in California and Michigan, given the state’s size. This could prove difficult to sell to voters and would require a constitutional change.
Johnson stated that if we don’t do this, Johnson thinks we should just allocate time, money, and resources to support more systems.
Boosting legislative pay
Democratic Lt. Gov. Denny Heck recently stated that the Democratic Lt. Gov. intends to push for a material rise in legislator salaries to make up for the time commitments of state lawmakers.
Heck said it was the right thing to do. These 147 people serve on the board for a $60 billion plus corporation that serves all of our interests, including roads, education, and social services for those who are in need.
Heck stated that a higher salary would likely lead to a wider range of candidates being able afford to serve in the Legislature.
A citizen salary commission sets Washington legislator salaries.
Wilcox, a House Republican leader, said that Washington already pays legislators more than most states, and that his caucus is cautious about salary increases.
Wilcox said that while it is possible to talk to House Republicans regarding pay generally, you will hear that it can be a sacrifice for this job. But it is insensitive to complain about the pay of others when so many are struggling.
A call to transformation
Harris-Talley praised many of her legislative colleagues of color, despite her criticisms of the legislative workplace.
She wrote that many members are pushing for cultural changes in the Legislature. Let me be clear, the people leading that work and are women and people of color who have one’s back are doing the right thing.
Harris-Talley urged House Democratic Caucus staff to support the LBC, and to replace Pat Sullivan (longtime House Majority Leader) with a leader from color to bring about the “long-overdue transformation.”
She wrote that “This is a moment when Democrats will see enormous changes that should be embraced and embraced as opportunities.” “And with that, leadership must make some decisions to meet this moment in order to move forward.” [Copyright 2022 Northwest News Network]
