Being a parent is nonstop hard work, which makes following all the news happening in the city, state, and U.S. decision-making circles challenging. Here are highlights of Washington state political news for families from last week (June 1-8) and a hint at what’s up this week. I hope you will consider taking action – reaching out to those representing you and your family in Congress and state offices— on the issues that impact families in our state.
Ask ALICE: 28% of WA households are ‘Asset-Limited, Income-Constrained Employed’
Each year, United Way utilizes data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s ALICE (Asset-Limited, Income-Constrained, Employed) reports to analyze financial hardship in Washington state. The analysis examines housing, childcare, food, transportation, healthcare, technology, and other data points to determine how much money families need to survive, depending on where they live, household size, and the composition of their households. Total costs are then compared to household income to determine how many households in each county do not earn enough to cover the basics.
The State of ALICE in Washington 2025 Update on Financial Hardship report, released in May, paints a bleak picture for low-income families. Here are the report’s key findings:
- Financial Hardship: Of Washington’s 3,094,073 households in 2023, 10% earned below the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), and 28% were asset-limited, income-constrained employed households that earned above the FPL but not enough to afford the ALICE Household Survival Budget for their household composition and location. Combining these two groups, 38% of households in Washington were below the ALICE Threshold. The Cost of Basics: In Washington, the average basic costs in the ALICE Household Survival Budget were $109,500 for a family of four with two adults and two children in child care, much higher than the Federal Poverty Level ($14,580 for an individual and $30,000 for a family of four). Basic costs varied substantially by county. According to an article in The Seattle Times last week, a family of four with two young children in King County would have needed to earn $138,612 to meet the ALICE survival budget.
- Demographics of homes at or below the ALICE threshold: There are households below the ALICE Threshold across all demographic groups in Washington. However, certain groups are disproportionately represented, with Black and American Indian/Alaska Native households having the highest below-ALICE rates. Review the report’s comparison of race/ethnicity, age of the householder, and household composition.
- ALICE in the workforce: Of the 20 most common occupations in Washington, four paid less than $20 per hour in 2023. And of all workers in the top 20 occupations, 30% lived in households below the ALICE threshold.
This data-heavy report may not make splashy headlines, but it’s essential Washington state political news for families who want to understand — and influence — the economic realities shaping life for nearly 4 in 10 households.
Give big to your neighborhood family support organizations, food banks, and other programs to help low-income families. Contact your state lawmakers and congressional delegation to express your hopes for what they can do to reduce costs and support families of modest means. Learn how to make contact.
Trump’s birthright citizenship ban in the Seattle court of appeals
Like many people across the country, I closely follow the legal actions addressing the constitutionality of President Donald Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship. Currently, three judges of the Seattle federal appeals court are considering the question. According to an article published in The Seattle Times, the judges appear “conflicted” and have numerous questions for attorneys on both sides. Birthright citizenship is the long-held principle that if you are born in the United States, you are an American citizen. Despite being recognized by courts over the last 160 years, Trump seeks to end it in his effort to staunch the tide of illegal immigrants coming to the U.S.
Washington is one of three states that joined a lawsuit challenging the order aimed at limiting birthright citizenship. The first judge who heard the case called the order “blatantly unconstitutional” when he granted a temporary restraining order in January. But, according to the Times, Washington Attorney General Nick Brown is not worried about the more questioning tenor in the appeals court. I’ll trust his lead on that.
Birthright citizenship embodies the hopes and dreams of every family that has immigrated to the United States for most of this country’s history. If you are a citizen in this country (and did not apply for citizenship as a child or adult), your citizenship is more likely than not connected to someone, somewhere in your history, who arrived here and gave birth to one of your ancestors, a baby immediately deemed “American.” Thankfully, an attorney general is willing to stand up for children and the Constitution. Review the arguments in this significant case affecting children in Washington.
A voice to be heard on what’s needed in Seattle Public Schools
“We need to elect school board directors who will uphold robust accountability from district bureaucrats to operationalize not only a more holistic vision for student success, but one that also empowers educators and all families to be at the center of the solution,” wrote Oliver Treanor Miska in a thought-provoking Op-Ed at South Seattle Emerald. Miska is a queer educator and a youth, family, and community organizer who lives in Seattle. They also lobby for educational justice in Washington. They offer sound solutions for the district’s administrative challenges and call Seattleites to vote on open board seats this August. I can agree more with Miska’s goal for a new board: “To build trust and rebuild faith in our public schools, we must start by avoiding the temptation to nostalgically fantasize about returning to some prior version of our school system that has never worked for all of our students — with disproportionate failures to Black and Brown students in the South End.” Read the full article at South Seattle Emerald.
No better year to show your PRIDE
In a year when funding for gender-affirming health care is being cut, and the Trump administration continues to try to shoehorn gender identity into only two choices — male or female — we must stand up as a community and support our LGBTQ+ kids and neighbors. Seattle has a long history of doing just that during Pride Month (June).
Throughout June, you can take action simply by being present at Pride events. Writer Julie Hansen’s article “Pride Month in Seattle: How your family can celebrate” has a list of them.
Want to have a greater impact? Contact your state lawmakers and congressional delegation and demand that they oppose Trump’s “only male and female” edict and support equal protections under the law, access to health care, and marriage and adoption rights for all.
An essential question to ask ChatGPT
The Republican controlled U.S. Senate has vowed to get President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” approved by July 4. The measure has already won the approval of the House of Representatives. If signed into law, it would rewrite how the federal government has operated almost since its inception and jeopardize benefits and protections for kids and families across the state and nation. It’s a nearly 1,000-page document, whose implications are far-reaching and complex for any non-bureaucrat to suss. In other words, the majority of voters.
However, one entity can read those pages in record time and tell you what this bill means for the country. That one is ChatGBT. Which is why this weekend, I fed ChatGPT the whole bill document and the following long question:
“Read this bill and tell me, in the most direct, unfiltered way possible, what it means for democracy, the rule of law, the federal budget, politics, and especially kids and families. Do not hold back, do not sanitize it, and do not use any external sources — just the bill text. Be brutally honest, even if it’s uncomfortable.”
If you have children, I urge you to do the same (worded to receive a non-politicized response). In a time when Washington state political news for families can feel overwhelming, tools like AI can help cut through the noise. Once you understand what’s at stake, contact your lawmakers and tell them how you want them to vote on H.R. 1.
Will your kids have free will?
“Do you even think there’s a self anymore? Like, are we just the sum of all the various ways we’ve been brainwashed over the years? Or is there a self and free will in there anymore?”
That question came from Radiolab podcast host Latif Nasser during his conversation with Harvard University history of science professor Rebecca Lemov on stage last week during the 2025 Cascade PBS Ideas Festival. Lemov, author of “The Instability of Truth: Brainwashing, Mind Control, and Hyper-Persuasion”, brought a lot to the table in the fascinating discussion about the science and history of brainwashing and, critically, what that history can teach us about free will in the era of social media and artificial intelligence.
It’s a conversation you may want to consider as you help your kids navigate these murky waters. It’s gotten me thinking quite a lot. Expect this taped conversation to hit the airwaves soon. Check out Josh Cohen’s report at Cascade PBS.
Staying informed about Washington state political news for families helps ensure your voice — and your child’s future — are part of the conversation. We’ll be back next week with another Roundup.
