Announcing Our 2023
Just Transition Legislative Agenda

Communities of color and low-income communities are on the frontlines of the climate and environmental crisis. Our coalition of frontline communities advocates for the right to a healthy environment for all by rooting out disparities. We are convening, generating, and analyzing data, building alignment, and mobilizing our communities. We aim to advance a Just Transition for Washington State by shifting power to frontline communities, stopping what harms us, and building the future we need.
There is a lot on the line as the Washington State Legislature heads into a long legislative session where they will be:
- creating a new two-year budget for Washington;
- responding to climate and environmental challenges; and
- tackling other issues related to housing, homelessness, and the ongoing mental health crisis.
Our work and advocacy will focus on climate and environmental solutions that center frontline communities; build upon the work of the Healthy Environmental for All (HEAL) Act, Move Ahead Washington, and the Clean Energy Transformation Act; and ensure the legislature meets its obligation to prioritize overburdened communities and invest in programs and projects that reduce health disparities in Washington State.
LATEST UPDATE:
Our first hearings on adding climate goals and actions to local planning take place this Tuesday, Jan. 17!
You can take action on this Front and Centered legislative priority by signing in PRO for the climate in the Growth Management Act:
What does it mean to sign in PRO? It means you provide your name, email, city, and ZIP code, and that you mark your position as being “Pro” for Senate Bill 5203 and House Bill 1181. By taking just three minutes to sign in PRO on these bills, you will help bring climate goals and actions into the planning that goes on in your city, town, or county.
Click the buttons to take action ASAP, before the hearings on Tuesday!
Thank you for joining our first legislative briefing of 2023!
In case you missed it, you can watch it here:

The 2023 Legislative Agenda
Build the Future We Need
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Ensure all state funds live up to the Healthy Environment for All (HEAL) Act goal of directing that 40 percent of environment-related funds create environmental benefits to vulnerable populations and overburdened communities, and prevent harm. This includes all state funds derived from carbon pricing, operating and transportation, capital funds, and all federal funds, also subject to the Justice40 White House environmental justice initiative.
Specific community priorities for climate investments include: - Community Climate and Environmental Planning: Participatory planning and budgeting that helps communities get their priorities funded (includes HEAL)
- Frequent, Accessible Public Transportation: Building on the Washington Transit Access Map and the WSDOT Following up on Frequent Transit Service Study to fund frequent, accessible transit statewide
- Climate Resiliency: Supporting workers and communities most impacted by the climate crisis
- Energy Justice: Preventing disconnections and supporting affordable, renewable energy and weatherization
- Green Infrastructure and Food Systems: Investing in the people and the ecosystems that feed and protect us
Build the Future We Need
- Set statewide standards and targets for frequent, accessible public transit. We are pushing for a transit system that runs at least every fifteen minutes and can take people to and from their destinations without needing a car. Building on the Washington Transportation Access Map and the WSDOT Frequent Transit Service Study, the Legislature should set targets for and allocate funding to frequent, accessible transit statewide.
Stop What Harms Us
- Place a moratorium on highway expansions in already overburdened communities. Highways have come at very high costs in terms of health harm, displacement, and the climate crisis. We must rethink the way we plan for transit instead of building new fossil fuel infrastructure.
There’s a historic amount of funds the legislature must allocate to benefit overburdened communities this year, but there is little or no information available about how the state will meet these obligations.
The Front and Centered coalition will be fighting to advance community self-determination, to ensure that benefits meet real community-identified needs, and to expose the false solutions that are presented as “environmental justice.”
— Deric Gruen, Co-executive Director of Policy and Programs
Right to a Healthy Environment
- Building on HEAL Act requirements on state agencies, require that both environmental justice and climate change are explicitly addressed in local comprehensive planning with specific goals, progress reports, and measures to reduce impacts and disparities.
Root Out Disparities
- Ensure a universal right to energy access and affordability, no matter our utility district, and supported by a statewide Energy Assistance Trust. This trust would be a permanent, independent organization that collects and analyzes critical energy consumer and provider data to gauge needs relative to services, offers technical assistance and capacity to support providers in meeting their obligations, and provides program participation assistance for eligible households.
Frontline Community Power
- Create a $10 million community-controlled fund for community-led assemblies where populations most marginalized by the extractive economy identify priorities and progress for an economy that works for people and the planet, and use that process to shape public policies, including a genuine progress indicator.
Download Our 2023 Just Transition Agenda
Download Additional Infosheets
VIDEOS




PAST WORK
- Our Collective Impact on the 2022 Legislative Session
- 2022 Legislative Priorities
- 2021 Legislative Session Recap
- 2021 Legislative Priorities
- 2020 Legislative Session Review: Addressing Environmental Inequities
- What We’re Fighting for in Olympia in 2020
- 2019 Legislative Review: Wins and Steps Toward Climate and Environmental Justice
- Our 2019 Legislative Priorities: A Healthy Environment for All and Clean Energy Justice
- Hitting the Ground Running: Our 2018 Legislative Session
- Statement on 2018 Climate Legislative Proposals
- 2017 Legislative Agenda