On the sunny morning of February 19th, community members and Front and Centered staff donned their matching green and white-striped scarves and stepped onto our State Capitol Campus in Olympia to advocate for the well-being of Washington’s frontline communities. We have rarely faced such a difficult legislative landscape—a $10 billion state budget deficit, short legislative session, turmoil at the federal level, you name it—but our advocates were steadfast and confident in their goal. What were those goals, you might wonder?
What We Came to Fight For
Our core priorities for the day were to
- Support House Bill 1903 to provide monthly energy bill assistance
- Protect Healthy Environment for All (HEAL) Act funding from being slashed
- Support wildfire resilience funds
- Support funding for the Washington Immigration Solidarity Network’s ICE activity hotline
- Ensure CCA funds are directed specifically to frontline communities
- Build relationships with legislators
These policy goals were not pulled from thin air—Front and Centered’s statewide coalition always represents local priorities, and synthesizes those needs to best serve all frontline Washingtonians. To that end, our 2026 legislative goals looked like making utilities more affordable, protecting people who are vulnerable to immigration-relevant discrimination and potential deportation, and ensuring funding for wildfire resilience.
The unique part of Front and Centered is that we go beyond just representing frontline community members. By providing educational resources and guided engagement support, we are able to supercharge the collective power of our diverse coalition members to help Washingtonians self-advocate for policies that directly benefit their everyday lives.
The result? Informed, prepared, and confident community members having face-to-face meetings with their state representatives and reminding them of the real-life impacts of their decision-making.
Training for Collective Power
For those who have never participated in an Advocacy Day event, you might not realize that we do things a little differently at Front and Centered, and for good reason. Unlike other organizations’ versions of Advocacy Day, Front and Centered’s team decided to invite only coalition members instead of opening the event to the public. This decision was another way we implement our mission of centering the voices of frontline community members.
Our policy team took special care to make the advocacy process accessible and impactful by hosting a training session for coalition members a few days before the event. Led by Political Manager, Guillermo Rojel Jr., this training session was key to helping community members understand how to speak with representatives, how the 2026 state budget would impact our policy goals, and the state of the existing policy landscape. Maiko, Front and Centered’s Environmental Justice Policy Analyst, developed valuable one-pagers to empower participants with easy-to-share knowledge about the Healthy Environment for All (HEAL) Act and the importance of defending its funding, along with information about the state budget. These resources allowed the Advocacy Day participants to have deep conversations with representatives about our shared goals and how the budget plays into their decision-making.
Introducing a New Generation of Advocates
Energized members—more than half of which were high school-aged youth—traveled from across the state to represent organizations including
- Outreach and Transform Lives
- Asian Pacific Islander Coalition Yakima
- Duwamish River Community Coalition
- Coalition for Migrants and Refugees
- Africans on the Eastside
- Mason County Climate Justice
- And more!
For some of our members, this was the first time they made a trip to the state legislature and met with their elected representatives. The high schoolers in attendance gained valuable first-hand experience in representative democracy, and were hugely influential figures at Advocacy Day. There is nothing quite like passionate teenagers with a can-do attitude.
Maiko recounts her perspective on the youth’s attendance: “[T]hey crushed it. They were so excited…some of them were really nervous. But they brought a lot of good, fresh energy—not saying I’m jaded but…[for me] this is kind of routine. Whereas for them it was completely new. And so that inspired me…this is a really cool thing that we’re doing, and it’s a really cool opportunity that more people should have.”
This opportunity for youth to actively participate in state policy and decision-making is huge. Part of building collective power is showing these youth that their voices matter. Missing school to participate in Advocacy Day helped demystify the confusing processes of state government, gave them the platform to share their own stories, and reminded their representatives of the impacts their decision-making can have on generations to come.
What We Accomplished
Advocacy Day is high-energy and a little chaotic, but we accomplished so much. Our advocates attended 28 meetings in one day! They met with both Republican and Democratic representatives from both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Our legislative session accomplishments cannot be credited solely to the impacts of Advocacy Day—we had hundreds of people comment on bills and calling representatives—but being face-to-face with state representatives does make a huge difference.
“One of the things that we heard from legislators is, ‘We need to hear from community members that they want this. And if we hear from community members, then we’ll save it,’” explained Maiko. “And so we came and told them ‘Hey, you need to save [HEAL Act] funding.’ And obviously we saved it, so it worked.”
One of the things that we heard from legislators is, ‘We need to hear from community members that they want this. And if we hear from community members, then we'll save it.’
There were huge budget cuts being proposed to the HEAL Act that would exempt multiple state agencies from implementing environmental justice considerations in their work. But by the end of the legislative session, the HEAL Act remains fully funded and intact!
Not only were we able to preserve existing environmental justice-related policies, but our State Monthly Energy Assistance Bill—House Bill 1903—was also passed! As a result, energy-burdened households will be able to access monthly utility bill discounts—funded by the Climate Commitment Act—to off-set the cost of their energy bills. This will ease the burden for many families who are currently choosing between paying energy bills or buying food, especially at a time when energy rates continue to rise.
Our Voices Matter
Beyond the policy wins, our meetings further cemented lasting, positive relationships with legislators. This momentum-building will also make future policy advocacy even more effective. By using face-to-face storytelling as a policy advocacy tool, we offer irrefutable proof that our priorities are shared by frontline communities, and will positively impact the daily lives of Washingtonians who have been historically disenfranchised and underrepresented.
When people face the threat of deportation and contend with the current affordability crisis, it can feel difficult to prioritize environmental justice amid the chaos. But our hard work this legislative session proved that our voices matter. Environmental justice is about more than just planting trees; it is the foundation for ensuring healthy and happy lives for everyone. This year proved that when frontline communities band together and fight for our future with well-founded policy and powerful storytelling, we become unstoppable.
Join Us to Shape Our Future
We are so grateful to those advocates who spent their free time meeting legislators and fighting for a more just and healthy future. The impacts of these wins will be felt across Washington as monthly bills are decreased and state agency projects center the needs of frontline communities. Front and Centered staff and members learned so much about what it takes to get our voices heard, and we promise to ride this momentum to impart even more positive change for Washingtonians.
Every voice matters—if you are feeling energized by these policy wins, join us at next year’s Advocacy Day! Front and Centered will be there to offer training, support, and encouragement at every step of the way.