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Rebecca Saldaña for King County Council

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Affordability for all. Safe and healthy communities. Progressive revenue. Rebecca's running to fight for all of King County.

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As a lifetime community organizer, Rebecca Saldana believes transformative change takes a movement—not just one leader.

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<h2>Rebecca Saldaña: A relentless advocate for working people</h2><img src="https://run.imgix.net/54f4a069-f10e-4e75-8b1c-e9ca8c152ba0/75321ad9-d62e-43b6-90c8-507c64509270/75321ad9-d62e-43b6-90c8-507c64509270.jpg?ixlib=js-3.8.0&amp;bri=0&amp;con=0&amp;sat=0&amp;high=0&amp;shad=0&amp;usm=0&amp;rect=0%2C169%2C1430%2C1631&amp;w=1500" alt="" caption="In 2023, Rebecca beat cancer while serving us in the State Senate." align="right" alignwidth="40" tiltdirection="left" variant="framed">In 2023, Rebecca beat cancer while serving us in the State Senate.<h3>Daughter of immigrants. Cancer survivor. Union organizer.&nbsp;</h3>Rebecca is the daughter of a Mexican immigrant who worked as a farmworker before becoming a machinist at Boeing, and a mother who was a social worker. She grew up understanding both the challenges working families face and the power of community and unions to improve people’s lives. That foundation led her to become a union organizer, working alongside janitors and farmworkers to win better wages, safer workplaces, and dignity on the job.In the State Senate, Rebecca has delivered real results. As Chair of the Senate Labor Committee, she has passed landmark legislation to raise standards for workers and expand opportunity, including the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, stronger wage theft enforcement, unemployment insurance for striking workers, and one of the most progressive Paid Family &amp; Medical Leave programs in the country. She has also led efforts to rebalance our upside-down tax code—helping pass the Capital Gains Tax and advancing the Millionaires Tax so the wealthiest pay their fair share.Rebecca has been a leader on affordability, housing, and economic justice—championing major investments in affordable housing, advancing policies to allow more housing to be built in every community, and supporting community-led solutions like land trusts and equitable development. She has also fought for working families by expanding access to childcare, investing in behavioral health, and supporting pathways into union apprenticeships and family-wage careers.On environmental justice, Rebecca helped pass landmark laws like the Climate Commitment Act and the HEAL Act, ensuring that communities most impacted by pollution—often low-income communities and communities of color—receive the investments they deserve.Now, Rebecca is running for King County Council because the same challenges she has taken on in Olympia—rising costs, housing instability, inequity, and a system that too often puts corporations ahead of people—are being felt acutely at the local level.On the County Council, Rebecca will continue her fight to lower costs, build more housing, strengthen public safety through prevention and care, and ensure public investments create good union jobs. She will work to make King County a place where working families can afford to live, where communities are safe and healthy, and where every person—no matter their background—has the opportunity to thrive.Rebecca Saldaña has spent her life organizing, legislating, and delivering results. She knows how to take on a system that is rigged against working people—and win.<img src="https://run.imgix.net/54f4a069-f10e-4e75-8b1c-e9ca8c152ba0/51be05af-884e-4817-82a4-b70e747f4993/51be05af-884e-4817-82a4-b70e747f4993.jpg?ixlib=js-3.8.0&amp;bri=0&amp;con=0&amp;sat=0&amp;high=0&amp;shad=0&amp;usm=0&amp;rect=0%2C0%2C1535%2C1536&amp;w=1500" alt="" caption="" align="center" alignwidth="40" tiltdirection="left" variant="framed">

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Daughter of immigrants. Cancer survivor. Union organizer.&nbsp;As State Senator, Rebecca has been a relentless advocate for us. She sponsored legislation to tax wealthy corporations and better fund public services, ensure all communities are safe from harmful environmental impacts, build a stronger and more equitable transportation system, raise wages, increase benefits, and protect every worker's rights.Now more&nbsp;than ever we need leaders at the local level who not only share our values, but who know how to take on the system that is rigged against us and win.&nbsp;Rebecca is running for King County Council to continue her fight to&nbsp;tax the ultra-wealthy so that those most disadvantaged don’t continue to bankroll billionaires and corporations. She'll build on the laws she passed in the State Senate to make safer, healthier communities, where every child can thrive free from toxic pollution and fear of gun violence. And she'll support affordability for all, fighting for a vibrant future where housing is abundant, public transit is reliable, fast and free, small businesses can survive, and every community gets the investments they deserve.

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<h3>Why it matters &amp; Rebecca’s leadership</h3>Raising a family is economically out of reach for far too many families. Rebecca understands that child care and high-quality early learning are foundational to creating a strong economy, gender equity, and children’s lifelong success. For over a decade as a community organizer and Senator, she has led the fight to make child care more affordable for families and raise wages for providers.&nbsp;<h3>Key accomplishments</h3><ul><li>Passed the Fair Start for Kids Act and the tax on Capital Gains, making the ultra-rich pay their fair share to dramatically expand access to affordable child care and early learning statewide. </li><li>Cut barriers to access childcare assistance programs including removing restrictions preventing care for the children of undocumented immigrants. </li><li>Helped build dozens of early learning and childcare facilities serving thousands of families, through significant investments from the capital budget. </li><li>Raised wages, strengthened benefits, and increased financial support to stabilize the child care workforce. </li></ul><h3>Looking ahead on King County Council</h3>On the King County Council, Rebecca is fighting for universal, free childcare from birth to school age. She will treat child care as essential public infrastructure — building on the framework she built with Best Starts for Kids, expanding facilities, supporting childcare providers, and expanding access for all families.<a href="/27746f07-8e83-4dcf-b5e6-e293befda79b">Read her ambitious Childcare Plan.</a>

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Child Care & Early Learning

<h3>Why it matters &amp; Rebecca’s leadership</h3>Environmental justice has been central to Rebecca’s work long before it was widely recognized in law. From organizing alongside farmworkers and frontline communities to passing nation-leading climate legislation, she has fought to ensure those most impacted by pollution are leading the solutions.<h3>Key accomplishments</h3><ul><li>Prime sponsor of the Healthy Environment for All (HEAL) Act, embedding environmental justice into state decision-making. </li><li>Helped pass the Climate Commitment Act, requiring major polluters to pay and directing investments to overburdened communities.</li><li>Advanced the Clean Fuel Standard to reduce transportation emissions.</li><li>Secured major investments in climate resilience, salmon recovery, and environmental restoration.</li></ul><h3>Looking ahead on King County Council</h3>As a County Councilmember, Rebecca will align county investments with the Climate Commitment Act, reduce pollution in overburdened communities, and ensure climate action creates good jobs, lowers costs, and is guided by community leadership.

Environmental Justice & Climate

<h3>Why it matters &amp; Rebecca’s leadership</h3>Washington’s upside-down tax code has long forced working families to subsidize public services while the wealthiest pay the least. Rebecca has been a leading voice for progressive revenue reforms that fund education, child care, housing, and health.<h3>Key accomplishments</h3><ul><li>Helped pass the capital gains tax, shifting responsibility to the wealthiest Washingtonians. </li><li>Championed the Working Families Tax Credit, expanding eligibility and access. </li><li>Supported closing corporate loopholes and advancing equitable budget priorities. </li><li>Advocated for progressive payroll and employer-based revenue options. </li></ul><h3>Looking ahead on King County Council</h3>On the County Council, Rebecca will champion voter-approved levies, progressive revenue tools, and fair tax policies that fully fund public programs and prevent austerity — without balancing budgets on the backs of working people.

Progressive Revenue

Saldaña condemns racist targeting of child care workers while releasing a countywide plan to lower costs, stabilize care, and support working familiesRainier Valley, Seattle — State Senator Rebecca Saldaña today released a bold, comprehensive child care platform designed to dramatically improve affordability for working families, expand access to care from birth through school age, and stabilize the child care workforce across King County.The announcement comes at a moment of deep concern and anger as Somali-owned child care child care workers and the working families they serve are being unfairly doxed and harassed, following reckless and unjustified federal actions that have put child care workers, children, and communities at risk.“We cannot talk about fixing child care without naming what’s happening right now,” said Sen. Rebecca Saldaña, a candidate for King County Council District 2. “Somali child care workers are trusted caregivers, small business owners, and community leaders. What they’re experiencing right now is racist, dangerous, and wrong. I stand with our Somali community — just as so many in the Somali community have long stood up for justice and fairness for all of us.”Saldaña’s campaign is joining its voice with advocates across the state, including SEIU 925 and Child Care Aware of Washington, who have spoken out against the targeting of child care workers and the chilling effect these attacks are having on families’ access to care.“At a time when child care is already unaffordable and unstable for too many families, these attacks threaten to make a broken system even worse,” Saldaña said. “Fear and scapegoating don’t solve the child care crisis. Serious leadership does.”Saldaña’s platform treats child care as essential public infrastructure — on par with transit and public education — and lays out a county-level plan that would materially improve affordability and access for working families. The plan includes lowering costs by expanding subsidies and improving reimbursement rates, investing in child care facilities and publicly owned spaces, cutting red tape so child care workers can open and expand more easily, supporting small child care businesses, and ensuring families can rely on care from infancy through school age — including before- and after-school and summer programs that align with real work schedules.“Right now, child care costs as much as rent for many families,” Saldaña said. “This plan is about changing that reality — so parents can work, kids can thrive, and child care workers can stay open.”Child care workers say that kind of leadership matters.“Rebecca Saldaña is a gem from our community! She remembers where she came from and makes sure the constituents in her District are heard, seen and taken care of. Saldana is a truth teller and exactly what we need at a time when other representatives are too busy representing big business, to actually represent you. From her grassroots work with Puget Sound Sage, to her outstanding record in the State Senate, she has pushed through real change for families. Saldaña is the proven leader that King County needs to end the child care crisis!” - Kim Early, Early Learning Mentor and Educator“Rebecca understands the value of inclusivity and respect for the child care workforce. She understands the challenges that are involved in keeping a child care center operable. She also appreciates, values, and recognizes the tremendous sacrifices the people in the field of education encounter. When she stands up, shows up for us, and advocates for the child care industry, she is showing she cares about all of us in our community.” - Sheila L*, Child Care Worker“Rebecca has always understood that child care workers are essential–not just to families, but to our entire community. She’s fought for fair pay, stronger protections, and real respect for the work we do. Because of leaders like Rebecca, child care workers can keep showing up for kids and families.” -Miriam Zemiewski-Angelova, parent of 2 children, and child care co-founder of Native Family Learning LodgeSaldaña brings decades of experience to the issue. Before serving in the State Senate, she helped lead community-driven work at Puget Sound Sage that laid the foundation for Best Starts for Kids, now one of the most significant investments in children and families in King County history. In Olympia, she helped shape and pass Paid Family &amp; Medical Leave, championed Fair Starts for Kids, expanded protections for child care and domestic workers, and secured progressive revenue so the wealthiest contribute to early learning and essential services.A central focus of the platform is protecting and stabilizing community-based child care workers, particularly immigrant- and refugee-run programs that are critical to child care access across District 2 and King County.“Attacks on Somali-owned child care centers are not just attacks on child care workers — they’re attacks on working families and children,” Saldaña said. “On the County Council, I will work with child care workers, labor partners, and community leaders to make sure these centers have the protections, stability, and support they need to stay open and keep kids safe.”Childcare-related absenteeism and turnover already cost Washington employers billions each year, while families lose income and opportunity when care falls through. Saldaña says this moment demands more than incremental fixes.“Best Starts for Kids was once considered too ambitious,” she said. “Today, it’s changing lives across King County. This child care platform is the next chapter of that same leadership — focused on affordability, stability, and dignity for families and child care workers alike.”The full child care platform will be available at <a href="http://www.rebeccaforkingcounty.com">www.rebeccaforkingcounty.com</a>.###* Name has been changed due to the rise in death threats to our essential child care workers.

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Press Release: Rebecca Saldaña Unveils Bold Plan for Universal Child Care to Dramatically Improve Affordability

<h3>Why it matters &amp; Rebecca’s leadership</h3>Rent has doubled over the last 10 years in King County– pushing people to the brink, displacing our neighbors, increasing homelessness, and destabilizing families. Rebecca has championed building hundreds of thousands of units of affordable housing, protecting renters, and creating long-term solutions rooted in equity and community stability.<h3>Key accomplishments</h3><ul><li>Championed historic investments in the Housing Trust Fund, which provides 60,000 units of affordable housing for families and supports homelessness prevention programs. </li><li>Led the fight to end exclusionary zoning and allow more types of housing to be built in every neighborhood. </li><li>Passed a strong cap on rent increases, protections for tenants, and eviction and foreclosure prevention measures that are keeping thousands of families housed. </li><li>Helped build thousands of units of community led housing focused on stopping displacement and gentrification through the use of community land trusts and equitable development initiatives.&nbsp;</li><li>Advocated for the Black Home Ownership Initiative and <a href="https://heretohome.org/covenant/">Covenant Housing program</a> that creates pathways to home ownership for folks historically excluded due to racist policies.</li></ul><h3>Looking ahead on King County Council</h3>As a County Councilmember, Rebecca will tax the ultra-rich to build hundreds of thousands of units of housing across King County. She will use every available tool– public land trusts, equitable transit-oriented development, bonding, and more– to build more housing, prevent displacement, and ensure development creates good paying union jobs and community benefits.

Housing & Homelessness

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<h3>Why it matters &amp; Rebecca’s leadership</h3>Access to health care — including reproductive, mental, and gender-affirming care — is fundamental to dignity and freedom. Rebecca has been a steadfast leader in protecting and expanding health care access, especially when federal actions have threatened people’s autonomy and safety.<h3>Key accomplishments</h3><ul><li>Helped pass Washington’s strong shield laws protecting abortion and gender-affirming care providers and patients from being sued or prosecuted for delivering care. </li><li>Championed protections for health data privacy to prevent harassment or prosecution.</li><li>Supported codifying Affordable Care Act protections into state law.</li><li>Advanced policies ending discrimination in reproductive and sexual health services.</li><li>Supporting culturally impactful health care by expanding access to dental</li></ul><h3>Looking ahead on King County Council</h3>On the County Council, Rebecca will strengthen public health systems, protect providers and patients, and ensure King County remains a place where everyone can access care regardless of income, gender identity, or immigration status.

Health & Reproductive Justice

The Stranger: Sen. Rebecca Saldaña Is Running for King County Council District 2

<h3>Why it matters &amp; Rebecca’s leadership</h3>A healthy democracy requires that every community has a real voice. Rebecca has been a national leader in expanding voting rights and dismantling systems that dilute political power.<h3>Key accomplishments</h3><ul><li>Prime sponsor of the Washington Voting Rights Act.</li><li>Expanded voter access through registration and ballot reforms.</li><li>Supported restoration of voting rights for formerly incarcerated people. </li></ul><h3>Looking ahead on King County Council</h3>As a County Councilmember, Rebecca will continue to defend voting access, strengthen civic participation, and ensure local government is accountable to the people it serves.

Voting Rights & Democracy

<h3>Why it matters &amp; Rebecca’s leadership</h3>Rebecca’s commitment to workers is rooted in decades as a labor organizer and union leader. In office, she has consistently partnered with labor to expand rights and protections.<h3>Key accomplishments</h3><ul><li>Organized with PCUN and SEIU Local 6 before holding office.</li><li>Helped pass Paid Family &amp; Medical Leave.</li><li>Ended the farmworker overtime exemption.</li><li>Sponsored and passed protections for striking workers.</li><li>Prime sponsor of the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights.</li><li>Expanded apprenticeship access and labor standards.</li></ul><h3>Looking ahead on King County Council</h3>On the County Council, Rebecca will use procurement, contracting, and budget authority to set strong labor standards, support organizing, expand apprenticeships, and ensure public investments create good union jobs.

Labor & Workers’ Rights

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The Sequim Gazette: Cancer diagnosis redirects Sen. Rebecca Saldaña's energy this legislative session

For working families in King County, child care isn’t optional — it’s the difference between staying afloat and falling behind. Parents are juggling impossible costs. Child care workers are stretched thin and underpaid. And too often, the system drops families right when they need help most — after parental leave ends, when kids are too young for school, or when the school day doesn’t match a work schedule.Child care costs are breaking family budgets, and yet child care child care workers themselves earn poverty wages. How can both be true? Because our child care system is built almost entirely on hundreds of small, private businesses — many owned by immigrants and women — that are expected to deliver high-quality care without public support comparable to K–12 education.We have chosen high standards for early learning, with low child-to-teacher ratios and strong curriculum — and that’s the right choice. But high quality is expensive. In kindergarten, one teacher serves roughly 25 students, and the cost is shared across the community. In child care, a family home may serve nine children leaving a handful of families to cover wages, benefits, rent, insurance, materials, and utilities. This is a broken market — and we need to name it.Nearly 90 percent of child care in King County is delivered by small, privately owned businesses — family homes and centers built through years of personal investment, deep trust, and pride in serving their communities. Many child care workers are entrepreneurs who have created something of their own, often while navigating licensing, staffing, and compliance without meaningful public support. Any serious child care strategy must respect child care workers not only as workers, but as small business owners and community leaders.Infant care in a center in Washington averages $16,380 per year, more than the $11,125 cost for in-state public college tuition. This high cost makes child care unaffordable for many families, particularly those with low incomes. This cost represents 13 percent of the median annual income of a married-couple family in Washington, while seven percent is considered affordable. Although Washington provides subsidies to help make child care more affordable through its Working Connections Child Care program, it is estimated that just nine percent of infants, 22 percent of toddlers, and 28 percent of preschoolers in eligible households receive subsidies.Rebecca’s plan approaches this crisis head-on by focusing on affordable child care at every stage (infant, toddler, preschool, and school-age), and providing the wraparound services (like extended day and summer programs) that working parents need. She knows there is not currently enough money invested, but will lean on how the county can better partner with state, cities, employers and providers to leverage resources to limit unnecessary duplication, and build on each others’ strengths and expertises.Rebecca has spent her career fighting for working families because she’s lived alongside them — organizing, listening, and building solutions rooted in community. Her child care platform reflects that experience. It’s practical, ambitious, and grounded in what families and child care workers actually need.<h3>A record of delivering for kids and families</h3>Rebecca deeply understands this campaign issue. Her son and daughter-in-law are both child care workers navigating how to meet their own financial and child care needs for her granddaughter. It’s an issue where she has followed and uplifted the leadership of the frontline child care workers and centered the children and families who depend on child care so they can work, go to school and provide for their families. Before serving in the State Senate, Rebecca helped advance affordable child care at the regional level. As Executive Director of Puget Sound Sage, she played a key role in Communities of Opportunity, a community-driven philanthropy initiative that helped lay the foundation for Best Starts for Kids, which has dramatically expanded child care access and improved child care workers wages across King County. She partnered with Speaker Chopp, Rep. Farrell and advocates to secure dedicated funding for critical child care facilities that would be part of Sound Transit 2. As a State Senator, she protected the Puget Sound Taxpayer Accountability fund to make sure it was dispersed to our local counties for its intended use.Rebecca’s leadership showed what’s possible when King County partners with communities and invests at scale in children and families.In Olympia, Rebecca built on that foundation. She helped shape and pass our nation-leading Paid Family &amp; Medical Leave program and worked with child care and domestic workers to strengthen workplace protections. She also championed Fair Starts for Kids–an integrated approach to make child care and early learning more affordable for Washington families by expanding access, capping copays, and providing resources to support child care and early learning child care workers– by taxing capital gains.She is a sponsor of the child care workforce standards board legislation and the prime sponsor for the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights. Rebecca has championed progressive revenue so the wealthiest contribute to early learning and the essential services we all rely on. Her approach has always been the same: listen first, build coalitions, and deliver results.Now, she’s running for King County Council to bring that leadership home — and to tackle the child care crisis head-on.<h3>What families need — and what the County can do</h3>Families experience it as a daily reality — from infant care to preschool, from before- and after-school programs to summer care. When one piece fails, the whole system fails.As a County Councilmember, Rebecca will work to ensure families can count on affordable, high-quality child care across the full continuum, including:<ul><li>Infant and toddler care when parental leave ends</li><li>Preschool that prepares kids and supports working parents</li><li>Before- and after-school care, learning support, and summer and other engaging programs that align with real work schedules</li></ul>This means treating child care as essential public infrastructure — just like transit or public education — and coordinating county investments so families aren’t forced to scramble every few years.<h3>Building a truly countywide child care system</h3>King County already knows how to lead when it chooses to. Best Starts for Kids proved that a coordinated, well-funded approach can change lives. In the Senate, Rebecca supported legislation that reduced barriers for child care at local levels, understanding that so much more can and must be done to support the development of the sector.Rebecca will apply that same model and direction to child care at all age levels by:<ul><li>Strengthening county coordination and accountability. That includes better alignment between county programs, cities, school districts, and community partners — and smarter use of county land, facilities, bond capacity and capital dollars to expand child care spaces in every district in the county, including in king county owned facilities.</li><li>Reforming and decreasing the significant regulatory and infrastructure requirements over facilities which are one of the biggest barriers to expanding, remodeling, or starting a child care business. With actions like these King County can act immediately by focusing on where child care happens— and one of the clearest levers the County controls.</li><li>Partnering in streamlining permitting, regulations, and requirements to build new facilities. The cost to start and operate a child care center is simply too high – our County must support a system for building new facilities so they actually pencil out and are profitable.For example, model solutions on community lead early learning programs like El Centro de la Raza and REWA who have found ways to scale their quality care all along our transit centers.</li><li>Prioritizing using public resources to create more licensable child care spaces, including leveraging PASTAA funds Rebecca fought for, expanding access to child care in publicly-owned buildings, and working with cities to allow additional height or density for developments that include apartments that are designed to allow licensed in-home child care on-site.When child care providers are able to operate in publicly-owned or subsidized space, reduced rent and overhead should translate into lower tuition for families and higher wages for workers. Streamlining the permitting process, and aligning county agencies around this goal can unlock child care capacity quickly — without sacrificing quality or safety.</li><li>Cutting red tape to access existing subsidy programs for child care workers and families, as well as adding county resources alongside state and local incentives to meet the need. In Washington, eligible residents can get access to child care assistance through subsidy programs. However, child care facilities must opt in to participating programs and often do not due to low reimbursement rates and administrative burdens.</li></ul>Together, we must build a child care infrastructure that simultaneously guarantees widespread access via universal acceptance of subsidized care and delivers a simplified, revenue-positive process of accepting subsidized care for our child care workforce.Creating more child care spaces must go hand-in-hand with supporting the small businesses that operate them. Rebecca will prioritize expanding proven shared-services and peer-mentorship models like Imagine U, which has a strong track record of helping child care workers enter the field, stay open, and deliver high-quality care — while strengthening small businesses and stabilizing the child care supply.Rebecca will also work to expand shared-services hubs that help child care workers with administrative tasks like billing, licensing paperwork, and compliance, freeing them up to focus on what matters most: caring for children.First, we must increase the amount of subsidies that child care facilities receive so that they are properly compensated for their services and time.Next, the County must assist our child care facilities by hiring a robust pool of shared administrative staff who will be dedicated to efficiently processing applications and paperwork so that families and child care workers get care faster and facilities are freed up to focus on what matters.The goal isn’t another pilot. It’s a system families can rely on.<h3>Centering and protecting child care workers</h3>None of this works without child care professionals — the workers, often women of color and immigrants, who care for our kids every day. Covid 19 brought to the forefront that child care work enables all other work to be possible. Child care workers are essential to our economy and our communities, yet too often they are underpaid, unsupported, and even targeted.Rebecca is a lifelong organizer, and she knows that lasting child care reform requires power — not just policy. Child care workers see that K–12 teachers earn higher wages and stronger protections in part because they are organized. The scale of investment needed to make child care truly affordable and to pay child care workers living wages will not happen without a larger, more powerful movement of child care workers, families, and workers.Rebecca will make sure county policy reflects the value of their work by:<ul><li>Stabilizing community-based child care workers, especially small and culturally rooted programs. We can do this by building upon proven models in King County, the City of Seattle, and other jurisdictions that provide both direct support for care centers, and direct benefits to low-income and working families. At the state level Rebecca has worked to both expand access and dedicated funding for community-based care.For example, the <a href="https://kingcounty.gov/en/dept/dph/health-safety/health-centers-programs-services/childrens-health/child-care-health-resources">Childcare Health Program</a> connects child care workers with public health nurses who meet with preschool teachers to assess and identify how to best support children’s developmental needs or address any health concerns. Rebecca would look to expand existing programs for families to provide mental and emotional health support.</li><li>Supporting fair pay, safe working conditions, and access to benefits for child care workers. The current Best Starts for Kids levy funds worker wages and stability, and the City of Seattle recently adopted similar provisions in their family support and education levy. Rebecca will build on these types of programs to expand worker support, training, and standards.</li><li>Standing up for child care workers facing harassment or scapegoating, including Somali-owned child care businesses and other immigrant-run programs. Attacks on child care workers– especially those owned by, and that serve, immigrant and vulnerable communities– are hateful, cruel, and must be stopped.Rebecca stands with our Somali community as so many in the Somali community have stood up for justice and fairness. Our campaign joins our voices with <a href="https://www.seiu925.org/solidarity-with-somali-community/">SEIU 925 President</a> and <a href="https://childcareawarewa.org/cca-of-wa-stands-in-solidarity-with-somali-early-learning-providers/">Child Care Aware of WA</a>. In Council, Rebecca will continue working with child care workers and community leaders in targeted areas of District 2 and King County to ensure we provide legal protections and financial assistance to keep these centers open, and kids safe in their care.</li><li>Expanding training, technical assistance, and shared services so child care workers can spend less time navigating bureaucracy and more time caring for kids. Supporting small business owners and nonprofits that want to provide care, or expand care offerings, deserve our help. We want to maintain high standards, from background checks to safety inspections, while at the same time creating incentives for providing more care to more families. We can do this with increased outreach, assistance, and streamlined permitting and inspection timelines.</li><li>Improving access to wraparound care, making sure kids have safe and welcoming spaces before and after school. In-school or near-school care and activities for kids K-6 are essential for working parents. We can and must do more to partner with school districts to maximize opportunities in our elementary and middle schools for fun, safe, and supportive before and after school care. Many cities locate community centers, libraries, and other spaces near schools, which can provide additional options for kids and families to get homework help, explore the arts, exercise, and make social connections. Rebecca will use her expertise community networks to help develop programs and policies that expand access and resources where they are needed.</li></ul><h3>Organizing for lasting change</h3>Rebecca is a lifelong organizer, and she knows that lasting child care reform requires power — not just policy. Child care workers see that teachers earn more and have stronger protections in part because they are organized. That means supporting child care worker leadership development, collective voice, and organizing capacity — so those closest to the work are shaping the decisions that affect their livelihoods and the families they serve.The scale of investment needed to make child care truly affordable and to pay child care workers living wages will not happen without a larger, more powerful movement of child care workers, families, and workers. As a County Councilmember, Rebecca will ensure child care workers have a seat at the table — and will support efforts to grow child care worker leadership, collective voice, and organizing capacity so those closest to the work can shape the decisions that affect their lives.<h3>Paying for child care the right way</h3>Lasting solutions require lasting investment. Rebecca will pursue sustainable county funding — including a voter-protected and approved approach that builds on the success of Best Starts for Kids and leverages additional philanthropic funding — to ensure child care is reliable, affordable, and here to stay.She will use her years of experience in this area, plus deep connections to state government, to make sure programs are additive– that we get a fair share of state resources as a foundation of local investments to pursue universal access and intergovernmental coordination.Rebecca will also push for progressive funding options that reflect a simple principle: those who have benefited most from our economy should help invest in the care systems working families depend on.She will also work to improve how and when payments are made, so our child care workers are not forced to bear all the risk and liability. Protecting paying subsidies based on enrollment not on perfect attendance and paying at the first of the month not the end of the month improves child care business stability.<h3>Why this moment matters</h3>This isn’t just about expanding child care slots. It’s about changing how King County shows up for families.By treating child care as public infrastructure — and by centering community, workers, and equity— this approach moves beyond patchwork fixes and builds something durable. It reflects what Rebecca Saldaña has done throughout her career: turn community vision into lasting public systems.Establishing free, universal, publicly-funded education for the first 12 years of children's lives will require a significant investment. But the long-term costs of failing millions of our children and their families year after year are much, much higher. In fact, children who attend Head Start or other pre-kindergarten programs are less likely to be arrested or abuse substances later in life, and are more likely to attend and complete college.For every dollar the government spends on high-quality preschool programs it saves at least $7 in future spending on social services, remedial education, public safety and juvenile justice.Best Starts for Kids was once considered too ambitious. Today, it’s transforming lives across King County. This is the next chapter of that same leadership.---Sources:<a href="https://www.strongnation.org/articles/2503-the-economic-impacts-of-insufficient-child-care-cost">https://www.strongnation.org/articles/2503-the-economic-impacts-of-insufficient-child-care-cost</a><a href="https://www.strongnation.org/articles/2503-the-economic-impacts-of-insufficient-child-care-cost-washington-state-5-billion-annually">-washington-state-5-billion-annually</a><a href="https://childcareforwa.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Breaking-Down_The-Economic-Cost-of-Child-Care-Disruptions-in-Washington.pdf">https://childcareforwa.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Breaking-Down_The-Economic-Cost-of-Child-Care-Disruptions-in-Washington.pdf</a>

For working families in King County, child care isn’t optional — it’s the difference between staying afloat and falling behind. Parents are juggling impossible costs. Child care workers are stretched thin and underpaid. And too often, the system drops families right when they need help most — after parental leave ends, when kids are too young for school, or when the school day doesn’t match a work schedule. We need to treat Child Care as Public Infrastructure that is universal, affordable, and available from birth to age 12.

Child Care as Public Infrastructure: Universal, Affordable Child Care from Birth to Age 12

<h3>Why it matters &amp; Rebecca’s leadership</h3>True public safety means accountability, prevention, and dignity — not criminalization or fear. Rebecca has led reforms that strengthen accountability, expand rehabilitation, and center community trust.<h3>Key accomplishments</h3><ul><li>Helped pass sweeping police accountability reforms, banning dangerous tactics and strengthening oversight. </li><li>Supported sentencing reforms that consider immigration consequences. </li><li>Advanced reentry supports and record-clearing efforts. </li><li>Championed community-based violence prevention investments.</li><li>Passed legislation to ensure we have trained and supported public safety workforce—from community peer prevention teams, peace officers,&nbsp; and correction officers that reflects the diversity and strengths of our communities. </li></ul><h3>Looking ahead on King County Council</h3>As a County Councilmember, Rebecca will invest in behavioral health, violence prevention, and community-based safety strategies, while protecting civil liberties and the right to protest and organize.

Public Safety & Criminal Justice Reform

<h3>Why it matters &amp; Rebecca’s leadership</h3>Transportation and infrastructure decisions shape access to jobs, education, and opportunity. Rebecca has been a leader in building an equitable, climate-forward transportation system.<h3>Key accomplishments</h3><ul><li>Co-led the Move Ahead WA transportation package, the most climate- and equity-focused in state history. </li><li>Expanded fare-free transit for youth and reduced fares for low-income riders. </li><li>Secured investments in transit, pedestrian safety, and bike infrastructure. </li><li>Championed infrastructure investments tied to labor standards and climate goals. </li></ul><h3>Looking ahead on King County Council</h3>On the County Council, Rebecca will fight to protect and expand reliable, safe and affordable transit; invest in safe infrastructure; and ensure transportation dollars support climate goals, equity, and union jobs.

Transportation & Infrastructure

Rebecca Saldaña has championed investments that make transportation safer, as well as more affordable, equitable, andreliable for both riders and workers. As Vice Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, Rebecca has helped shape atransportation vision that prioritizes transit, pedestrian safety, climate responsibility, and strong labor standards—ensuring ourtransportation system works for the communities who rely on it every day.<h3>PROTECTING PUBLIC TRANSIT AS A PUBLIC SERVICE</h3>Rebecca believes public transit works best when it is treated as a public good and supported by strong labor standards. She hasconsistently opposed efforts to privatize transit systems, which often prioritize short-term cost cutting over service quality,worker safety, and long-term system reliability. King County Metro’s success is built on:<ul><li>A skilled, safe, and experienced union workforce</li><li>Strong labor standards</li><li>Public accountability</li><li>Reliable service for riders</li></ul><h3>PROTECTING TRANSIT WORKERS &amp; STRENGTHENING LABOR STANDARDS</h3>Rebecca understands that a strong transit system depends on the people who operate and maintain it every day. Transitworkers are essential public servants who keep our region moving, yet many bus drivers increasingly face threats, harassment,and violence on the job. Rebecca has made clear that transit safety must protect both riders and workers.<h4>Improving Safety for Transit Operators </h4>Rebecca supports a comprehensive approach to improving safety on transit, including:<ul><li>Expanding transit safety teams and crisis response personnel on high-incident routes </li><li>Continuing installation of operator safety barriers</li><li>Improving lighting and safety design at stops and transit centers</li><li>Strengthening coordination between transit security and behavioral health responders</li><li>Ensuring operators have access to post-incident counseling and trauma support</li><li>Transit operators should not be expected to manage complex safety or behavioral health situations on their own. Deploying trained personnel helps ensure incidents are addressed safely and appropriately.</li></ul><h4>Recognizing PTSD as an Occupational Hazard</h4>Rebecca also supports policies recognizing the real trauma transit workers can experience on the job. She has committed to working with ATU 587, King County, and the State Legislature to ensure PTSD is recognized as an occupational disease for workers’ compensation for bus drivers, so workers who experience traumatic incidents receive the support they deserve.Supporting transit workers is essential not only for worker safety, but also for maintaining reliable transit service and publicconfidence in the system.<h3>INVESTING IN TRANSIT INFRASTRUCTURE &amp; REGIONAL MOBILITY</h3>Rebecca has played a key role in advancing major investments that strengthen Washington’s transportation system whilecreating family-wage jobs and expanding transit access.<h4>Co-architect of the Move Ahead Washington Transportation Package</h4>Rebecca helped lead passage of Move Ahead Washington, the state’s 16-year transportation investment package, which madehistoric investments in transit, rail, ferries, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, and preservation of existing roads and bridges.The package prioritized multimodal transportation options that reduce congestion, improve safety, and create thousands offamily-wage jobs across Washington. Key investments included:<ul><li>Major funding for public transit systems statewide</li><li>Investments in ferry modernization and reliability</li><li>Expanded bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure</li><li>Bridge preservation and infrastructure repair</li><li>Investments that connect communities harmed by past transportation decisions</li></ul><h3>EXPANDING TRANSIT ACCESS &amp; AFFORDABILITY</h3>Rebecca has worked to ensure transit remains affordable and accessible to the communities who depend on it most.<h4>Fare-Free Transit for Youth</h4>Rebecca helped pass legislation allowing all youth under 18 to ride public transit for free statewide, including buses, ferries, andtrains. This policy:<ul><li>Reduces transportation costs for families</li><li>Helps students access school and after-school programs</li><li>Expands mobility and independence for young people</li><li>Supports long-term transit ridership</li></ul><h4>Reduced Fares for Low-Income Riders</h4>Rebecca has supported programs that reduce transit fares for low-income riders, ensuring that transit remains an affordableoption for working families.<h3>ADVANCING EQUITABLE TRANSPORTATION INVESTMENTS</h3>Rebecca has prioritized transportation investments that address historic inequities and expand mobility for communities thathave often been left out of transportation planning. Key initiatives she supported include:<h4>Tribal Mobility Grants</h4>Rebecca helped create funding streams to support tribal transit systems, recognizing that tribal communities often facebarriers accessing traditional transportation funding programs.<h4>Reconnecting Communities Program</h4>This program invests in neighborhoods harmed by historic highway construction and transportation decisions by fundingprojects that improve safety, connectivity, and access to opportunity.<h3>LOOKING AHEAD: BUILDING A SAFER, STRONGER TRANSIT SYSTEM</h3>Rebecca believes transportation policy should do more than move people—it should expand opportunity, improve safety, andbuild a more equitable future for our region. As a member of the King County Council, Rebecca Saldaña will continue fightingfor a transportation system that works for everyone. Her priorities include:<ul><li>Expanding reliable bus service across King County</li><li>Improving safety for transit workers and riders</li><li>Investing in pedestrian and bicycle safety</li><li>Supporting transit-oriented housing development</li><li>Ensuring public infrastructure investments create good union jobs</li><li>Strengthening partnerships with transit workers, riders, and communities</li></ul>

Rebecca Saldaña has championed investments that make transportation safer, as well as more affordable, equitable, and reliable for both riders and workers. As Vice Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, Rebecca has helped shape a transportation vision that prioritizes transit, pedestrian safety, climate responsibility, and strong labor standards—ensuring our transportation system works for the communities who rely on it every day.

REBECCA SALDANA IS A TRANSPORTATION CHAMPION FOR RIDERS, WORKERS, &amp; COMMUNITIES

Washington State Standard: WA state Sen. Rebecca Saldaña won’t seek reelection.&nbsp;Saldaña plans to vie for an open spot on the King County Council.

The Seattle Times: Hundreds rally for expanding help for undocumented immigrants in WA

A seasoned policymaker and community leader, Saldaña enters the race with early endorsements from over 20 Legislators, former Co. CM Larry Gossett, and community members across the districtRainier Valley, Seattle&nbsp;– More than 200 supporters gathered to rally behind State Senator Rebecca Saldaña as she announced her candidacy for King County Council District 2. For nearly a decade, Saldaña has represented many of the same neighborhoods in this district while serving in the state Senate. She is the first candidate to announce and is running to bring her deep community-rooted leadership even closer to the people she has spent her career fighting for.“Standing in this room surrounded by my community—neighbors, organizers, elders, and young people who have shaped my life and my work—I feel honored and energized to begin this next chapter,” said&nbsp;Sen. Rebecca Saldaña. “I’m running for King County Council because our neighbors are struggling with skyrocketing rent and unaffordable childcare– it’s too much for everyday people to keep up. At this moment of national uncertainty, our local governments must serve as a shield to protect our immigrant neighbors, our workers, our families, and our shared values from federal attacks. ”Emphasizing just a few of the many historic legislative victories from her nearly decade of service in the state Senate, Rebecca thanked her supporters saying “the hard fights we won together, whether it was the Voting Rights Act, Capital Gains Tax, Climate Commitment Act, Healthy Environment for All Act, Paid Family and Medical Leave, or so much more, was only possible because of everyone in this room and many others in our community. Together, this movement we have created has proven it can fight and deliver, and we are needed now more than ever.”<ul><li>Saldaña enters the race with early endorsements including: .&nbsp;</li><li>King County Councilmember Larry Gossett, District 2 (fmr.)</li><li>State Senator Marcus Riccelli, 3rd LD</li><li>State Senator Adrian Cortes, 18th LD</li><li>State Senator Marko Liias, 21st LD</li><li>State Representative Lillian Ortiz Self, 21st LD</li><li>State Representative Sharlett Mena, 29th LD</li><li>State Senator Claire Wilson, 30th LD</li><li>State Representative Jamila Taylor, 30th LD</li><li>State Representative Mia Gregerson, 33rd LD</li><li>State Representative Edwin Obras, 33rd LD</li><li>State Senator Emily Alvarado, 34th LD</li><li>State Representative Brianna Thomas, 34th LD</li><li>State Representative Julia Reed, 36th LD</li><li>State Representative Liz Berry, 36th LD</li><li>State Representative Chipalo Street, 37th LD</li><li>State Senator Jamie Pedersen, 43rd LD</li><li>State Representative Nicole Macri, 43rd LD</li><li>State Representative Shaun Scott, 43rd LD</li><li>State Senator Manka Dhingra, 45th LD</li><li>State Senator Javier Valdez, 46th LD</li><li>State Senator Claudia Kauffman, 47th LD</li><li>State Senator Vandana Slatter, 48th LD</li><li>Cindy Domingo, Community Leader</li><li>Rhonda Gossett, Community Leader</li><li>Sharon Maeda, Community Leader&nbsp;Davida Ingram, Director, Seattle King Co. African-Americans Reparations Committee*&nbsp;</li><li>Miguel Maestas, Deputy Director, El Centro de la Raza*</li><li>Estela Ortega, Executive Director, El Centro de la Raza*</li></ul>*Organization listed for identification only.&nbsp;What people are saying: “Rebecca is grounded in community, driven by justice, and relentless when it comes to delivering for families and communities,” said&nbsp;Sen. Emily Alvarado, a partner in the Legislature on housing affordability and community investment, praised Saldaña’s leadership. “She brings people together around our most challenging issues—affordability, opportunity, and equity—and she does it with integrity and heart. King County District 2 deserves a leader who listens deeply, acts boldly, and never forgets who she is fighting for. That’s Rebecca.”“I have respected Rebecca's work for decades. She has been a thoughtful and steady advocate for our communities by listening, strategizing, and leading coalitions of people and organizations to fight for justice in housing, the environment, and community safety. She has been steadfast in her advocacy for immigrants and refugees. Current federal policies challenge the diverse people of District 2 and we need her strong voice, expertise and leadership now!” said&nbsp;Sharon Maeda,&nbsp;Retired media manager and community activist.“Trump’s reckless attacks on social services and public institutions have left Washington families struggling to get by, all while the wealthiest corporations and people are seeing historic federal tax cuts and windfall profits. That’s why I’m so proud that Senator Saldana and I are pushing to balance our upside down tax code by asking the ultra-rich to pay just a little bit more, and fund the services all of us count on.” said&nbsp;Representative Shaun Scott, sponsor of the Well Washington Act which Senator Saldana is championing in the Senate. “ I support Rebecca Saldana for King County Council District 2 because I know she will continue being a relentless ally for all communities, just like she’s done in the Senate for nearly a decade.”About Senator Saldaña: In the state Senate, Saldaña has been a driving force behind taxing wealthy corporations to better fund education and public services, ensuring all communities are safe from harmful environmental impacts, building a clean fueled equitable transportation system,&nbsp; strengthening worker safety net programs, and increasing benefits and protecting every worker's rights. She has sponsored and championed landmark legislation including the Healthy Environment for All Act, Washington Voting Rights Act, Climate Commitment Act, Washington’s Clean Fuel Standard, Domestic Worker’s Bill of Rights, Paid Family and Medical Leave, and Move Ahead WA– the most ambitious transportation package in state history.Before joining the state Senate, Saldaña organized with Oregon’s farmworkers union PCUN, served as a union organizer with SEIU Local 6, and led Puget Sound Sage, where she advanced community-led policies on economic, environmental, and racial justice. Her decades of work have earned recognition from labor, climate, immigration, youth, and civil rights organizations across Washington.About the district: King County Council District 2, which was previously held by now King County Executive Girmay Zahilay, includes the Central District, Capitol Hill, Beacon Hill, the Rainier Valley, Rainier Beach, Skyway, Allentown, and surrounding neighborhoods. A special election will be held November 3, 2026 to fill the seat. The King County Council has announced that they will appoint a temporary caretaker until voters choose a permanent replacement next year.Learn more at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.rebeccaforkingcounty.com">www.rebeccaforkingcounty.com</a>

Press Release: Senator Rebecca Saldaña Announces Run for King County Council District 2 At A Packed South Seattle Campaign Launch

Everyone deserves to feel safe in their home, neighborhood, workplace, and on transit. Safety means more than responding to crime after it occurs—it means preventing harm, supporting people in crisis, strengthening communities, and ensuring that our public safety systems are fair, effective, and accountable.King County sits at the center of our region’s legal system. The County funds courts, public defense, prosecution, behavioral health services, regional violence prevention programs, and the sheriff’s office. That means the County Council plays a critical role in shaping a public safety system that is preventative, humane, and accountable.Rebecca Saldaña brings years of leadership on these issues. Her approach recognizes that safe communities are built through strong public institutions, effective prevention, and investments in opportunity. In the State Senate, she has worked to strengthen community safety through criminal justice reform, behavioral health investments, and policies that address the root causes of harm while ensuring accountability and fairness in our legal system.&nbsp;Rebecca knows we can build safer communities by combining strong accountability with investments in prevention, treatment, and opportunity.Her approach focuses on key priorities.<h3>Reducing Gun Violence and Community Harm</h3>Gun violence is one of the most urgent public safety threats facing our region.&nbsp;Rebecca has consistently supported responsible gun safety legislation aimed at preventing violence while protecting communities. This includes voting to support modernizing and improving use of Extreme Risk Protection Orders. Her approach combines strong prevention strategies, community-based violence interruption programs, and public health approaches to reducing harm.King County has taken important steps by standing up the Regional Domestic Violence Firearms Enforcement Unit and creating the Regional Office of Gun Violence Prevention, but the scale of the crisis demands stronger action. Rebecca will work to strengthen this office and ensure it has the resources and authority needed to lead a regional response.Her priorities include:<ul><li>Expanding sustainable funding for community violence intervention organizations, which have proven effective at preventing shootings before they occur</li><li>Publishing transparent, real-time public health data on gun violence, allowing communities and policymakers to track trends and target solutions</li><li>Supporting programs that help families reduce gun violence, including safe firearm storage initiatives, extreme risk protection orders, and community education</li><li>Convening regional leaders, community organizations, and public health experts to coordinate prevention strategies across jurisdictions</li><li>Protecting and expanding funding for the Regional Domestic Violence Firearms Enforcement Unit which ensures courts, law enforcement, communities, and families are collaborating to remove thousands of firearms off our streets and out of the hands of dangerous abusers every single year</li></ul>The goal is simple: reduce shootings and save lives through prevention, intervention, and accountability.<h3>Investing in Prevention, Youth Opportunity, and Behavioral Health </h3>True community safety requires addressing the root causes of violence and crime– economic inequality, over policing in communities of color, systemic underinvestment in public institutions, racial disparities in public health, environmental injustice, lack of housing and basic needs, and a broken healthcare system. While these are long-term problems with solutions that will take time to implement,&nbsp; it is essential that we recognize the way that racialized over policing impacts our communities and focus our interventions in communities on prevention, creating economic opportunities, and addressing our public health and behavioral health crisis.&nbsp;Rebecca was the Senate sponsor of the Community Reinvestment Program, which directs resources into communities most impacted by past drug enforcement policies and mass incarceration. The program funds community-led initiatives, including violence prevention, youth development, economic opportunity, and reentry services.This work reflects her belief that communities closest to the challenges should lead the solutions. Rebecca will prioritize investments that support families, expand opportunity, and prevent harm before it happens.Key strategies include:<ul><li>Expanding youth mentorship, employment, and after-school programs</li><li>Increasing access to mental health and addiction treatment services</li><li>Strengthening community-based violence prevention organizations</li><li>Investing in affordable housing and homelessness prevention programs</li><li>Supporting childcare access and economic stability for working families</li></ul>Research consistently shows that stable housing, access to care, and economic opportunity reduce crime and strengthen communities.<h3>Disrupting the School-to-Prison Pipeline</h3>Too many young people enter the criminal legal system after experiencing trauma, poverty, untreated disabilities, or lack of access to supportive services. Many people who later enter the legal system were first victims themselves.Rebecca believes that building safer communities means interrupting this pipeline early by investing in youth opportunity, culturally competent intervention, and alternatives to incarceration.As a State Senator, Rebecca helped advance policies and funding that support community-based prevention and youth intervention programs. She sponsored the Community Reinvestment Program, which directs resources into communities most impacted by the overpolicing and mass incarceration, supporting youth development, violence prevention, reentry support, and community-led healing initiatives.On the County Council, Rebecca will work to:<ul><li>Expand diversion and restorative justice programs for young people</li><li>Invest in culturally competent prevention and intervention programs led by community organizations</li><li>Ensure youth have access to mentorship, education pathways, and employment opportunities</li><li>Support early identification and treatment of behavioral health needs and learning disabilities</li><li>Breaking the cycle of incarceration starts with investing in opportunity before harm occurs.</li><li>Delivering Faster and More Effective Crisis Response</li></ul><h3>Delivering Faster and More Effective Crisis Response</h3>Too often, emergency systems send law enforcement to situations that require behavioral health professionals, social workers, or crisis responders.In the State Senate, Rebecca supported legislation and funding to expand crisis care centers and access to behavioral health treatment , including the 988 infrastructure, helping Washington build a greater spectrum of mental health and substance use disorder&nbsp; services. She has also supported investments in the behavioral health workforce to ensure communities have the professionals needed to deliver care.Rebecca supports expanding non-police emergency response systems across King County so that people experiencing mental health crises, addiction, or homelessness receive the appropriate response.She will work to:<ul><li>Expand regional crisis response systems that cities can access collectively</li><li>Ensure crisis responders are available in every city and in unincorporated King County, including areas like Skyway</li><li>Build shared infrastructure that allows cities to launch crisis programs more quickly and affordably</li><li>Invest in mobile crisis teams and behavioral health responders</li><li>Support pilot programs and research that demonstrate effectiveness and guide scaling successful models</li></ul>These systems allow&nbsp; law enforcement to do their jobs while ensuring people in crisis receive the medical care they need.<h3>Building the Behavioral Health Workforce</h3>Expanding access to mental health and substance use disorder treatment will only succeed if we also expand the workforce needed to provide that care. Across King County, behavioral health providers report severe staffing shortages that limit access to treatment and delay crisis response.As a State Senator, Rebecca has supported investments in behavioral health infrastructure and treatment capacity. On the County Council, she will focus on building the workforce that makes these services possible by:<ul><li>Expanding training and workforce pathways for behavioral health professionals</li><li>Partnering with community colleges and apprenticeship-style programs to grow the behavioral health workforce</li><li>Supporting culturally competent providers who reflect the communities they serve</li><li>Improving recruitment and retention through better wages and working conditions for behavioral health workers</li><li>A stronger behavioral health workforce is essential to reducing emergency room visits, shortening crisis response times, and ensuring people receive the care they need before problems escalate.</li></ul><h3>Bending the Legal System toward Justice and Reducing Case Backlogs</h3>Public confidence in the legal system depends on fairness, accountability, and a timely resolution of cases.&nbsp;Many people involved in the criminal legal system are navigating untreated mental health conditions, disabilities, substance abuse, or past trauma. Research shows that a significant portion of individuals in the criminal legal system were victims of violence themselves before becoming involved in the system.Across King County, staffing shortages and growing caseloads have slowed the legal system and delayed outcomes for victims and defendants. Rebecca supports expanding LEAD modeled programs, therapeutic courts, and culturally competent interventions that address the underlying causes of harm while maintaining accountability. These approaches reduce recidivism, improve public safety outcomes, and help individuals stabilize their lives.Washington State’s Supreme Court, recognizing that defendants without the means to hire legal representation have their rights violated without effective counsel, has established new standards for the number of cases that public defenders can take on. These standards ensure that people’s rights are protected and cases are handled quickly. King County has a limited timeframe to meet these constitutional requirements, and failing to do so will not only perpetuate systemic harms in our legal system, particularly for low-income defendants, but it could also lead to the dismissal of hundreds or even thousands of cases with potential violent criminal behavior. Imagine a circumstance in which a judge believes someone is dangerous enough to be held in jail pretrial, only for them to be released due to a shortage of public defenders. This is the exact situation playing out in Oregon, more than a thousand times over because their elected officials ignored the same warnings coming from public defenders across our state. We must address public defender caseload standards to avoid a crisis on our streets.&nbsp;Rebecca will work with the Council to:<ul><li>Fully fund courts, prosecutors, and public defenders to reduce case backlogs</li><li>Supporting public defender case loads that ensure effective legal representation that protects defendants’ rights and limits professional burnout for counselors</li><li>Strengthen diversion and restorative justice programs for appropriate cases</li><li>Improve coordination across courts, behavioral health providers, and community programs</li><li>Ensure victims receive timely services and support</li><li>Ensure individuals facing evictions have legal representation</li></ul>These reforms help deliver justice more quickly, reduce recidivism, and improve outcomes.<h3>Protecting Immigrant Communities and Civil Rights</h3>When Rebecca’s father was just a few months old, he crossed the US-Mexico border fleeing violence. They worked as undocumented farmhands picking cotton in the segregated South.&nbsp;Working to ensure King County is a place where all residents, regardless of immigration status, can live without fear has been Rebecca’s life’s work.&nbsp;As a student at the University of Washington, Rebecca became active in farm and immigrant worker advocacy with the Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste. As the Executive Director of Puget Sound Sage, Rebecca built grassroots movements to address racial inequities in housing, environmental justice, and public health.Now, as our State Senator Rebecca prime sponsored legislation that added immigration status as a protected class under the Washington State Law Against Discrimination, worked to ban ICE from wearing masks, to prevent law enforcement from hiring former ICE officers and to protect immigrant workers by notifying them when ICE attempts to access their information.&nbsp;Rebecca is committed to ensuring that County policies protect civil rights and uphold Washington’s sanctuary laws.Her priorities include:<ul><li>Ending any county cooperation with federal immigration enforcement beyond what is legally required</li><li>Supporting community organizations that provide legal assistance and rapid response support to immigrant families</li><li>Ensuring county agencies protect personal data and prevent misuse of surveillance tools</li><li>Providing resources to community-based organizations that help families understand their rights</li><li>Continuing the moratorium on any ICE facilities in King County.</li></ul>King County must stand firmly on the side of civil rights, dignity, and due process.<h3>Accountability and Transparency in Public Safety</h3>Public trust depends on transparent government and measurable results.Rebecca has supported statewide efforts to strengthen police accountability and ensure peace officers receive training in de-escalation and community engagement. She believes effective public safety requires both strong professional standards and strong relationships between law enforcement and the communities they serve.Her priorities include:<ul><li>Ensuring officers receive de-escalation and crisis intervention training</li><li>Supporting policies that strengthen transparency and accountability</li><li>Ensuring law enforcement agencies reflect the diversity of the communities they serve</li></ul>Rebecca also worked with community organizations, including OneAmerica, to sponsor legislation allowing non-citizens to serve as peace officers, helping diversify the public safety workforce and strengthen trust between law enforcement and immigrant communities.On the County Council, Rebecca will push for stronger oversight and clearer accountability across King County’s public safety system.She supports:<ul><li>Public dashboards tracking progress on gun violence reduction, crisis response, and public safety outcomes</li><li>Independent audits and performance reviews of public safety programs</li><li>Clear benchmarks created with communities most impacted to evaluate which programs are working and which need improvement</li><li>Create stronger partnership frameworks with community service providers that define roles, expectations, and shared accountability to deliver transparent, effective results.</li></ul>A safer King County requires a government that is accountable and focused on real results.<h3>Keeping Transit Workers and Riders Safe</h3>Transit workers are essential public servants who keep our region moving, but many bus drivers are increasingly facing threats, harassment, and violence on the job. Recent data from King County Metro shows dozens of reported threats or assaults against transit operators each year, reinforcing the need for stronger safety measures across the system.Rebecca believes transit safety must protect both riders and workers. She also understands the importance of supporting transit staff experiencing trauma during their jobs.&nbsp;On the County Council, she will work with Metro, ATU 587, and community partners to:<ul><li>Expand transit safety teams and crisis response personnel on high-incident routes</li><li>Continue installing safety infrastructure, such as operator barriers and improved lighting at stops and transit centers</li><li>Improve coordination between transit security, behavioral health responders, and community safety teams</li><li>Ensure operators have access to support services after traumatic incidents</li><li>Invest in prevention strategies that address the behavioral health and social service needs often underlying safety incidents</li><li>Work with ATU, King County, and the State Legislature to pass legislation so that PTSD is an occupational disease for workers’ compensation for bus drivers.</li></ul>Supporting transit workers is essential not only for worker safety but also for maintaining reliable service and public confidence in our transit system.<h3>Humane Detention and Successful Reentry</h3>King County operates key parts of the legal system, including detention facilities that house people awaiting trial or serving short sentences. Safety and accountability must go hand in hand with humane treatment and meaningful pathways to rehabilitation.Rebecca believes that when people are in government custody, we have a responsibility to ensure safety, dignity, and access to programming that supports successful reentry.As a County Councilmember, she will work to:<ul><li>Ensure detention facilities provide access to behavioral health care, education, and job training</li><li>Expand reentry programs that help people transition successfully back into the community</li><li>Partner with community-based organizations to provide culturally competent programming</li><li>Advocate for the restoration of strong statewide jail standards to ensure consistent humane conditions across Washington</li></ul>These investments reduce recidivism, improve safety, and help people rebuild their lives.Rebecca’s approach to safety recognizes that prevention, accountability, and opportunity must work together. Investments in youth programs, behavioral health services, diversion programs, and community-based safety strategies strengthen communities and reduce crime before it occurs.

Everyone deserves to feel safe in their home, neighborhood, workplace, and on transit. Safety means more than responding to crime after it occurs—it means preventing harm, supporting people in crisis, strengthening communities, and ensuring that our public safety systems are fair, effective, and accountable.

Addressing Public Safety and Ending Gun Violence through Investments in Safe and Health Communities

My Northwest: WA legislature will consider a new law [sponsored by Sen. Saldana] that aims to protect immigrants

Washington State Standard: WA bill [sponsored by Sen. Saldana] would offer unemployment benefits to immigrants not authorized to work in U.S.

<h3>Why it matters &amp; Rebecca’s leadership</h3>Immigrants are essential to Washington’s economy and communities, yet too often face exploitation and fear. Rebecca has been a long-standing advocate for immigrant justice.<h3>Key accomplishments</h3><ul><li>Helped pass Keep Washington Working, limiting local cooperation with ICE. </li><li>Expanded access to legal defense and civil legal aid. </li><li>Created relief funds for undocumented workers excluded from federal aid. </li><li>Opened access to financial aid and child care assistance regardless of status. </li></ul><h3>Looking ahead on King County Council</h3>As a County Councilmember, Rebecca will strengthen sanctuary protections, expand legal defense and worker protections, and ensure immigrants can live, work, and learn without fear in King County.

Immigrant Rights

The Urbanist: Rebecca Saldaña Announces Run for Girmay Zahilay’s Former County Council Seat

Platform

Daughter of immigrants. Cancer survivor. Union organizer. Now more than ever we need leaders at the local level who not only share our values, but who know how to take on the system that is rigged against us and win.

 Rebecca Saldaña for King County

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