What actions would you take as a state legislator to protect and strengthen Washington’s food security safety net, including both public nutrition programs and the food banks and food pantries serving communities across the state?

Food banks are already telling us they cannot replace SNAP, school meals, or senior nutrition. Federal cuts are shifting real costs onto Washington, our state’s share of SNAP administrative costs jumps from 50% to 75% this fall, and the state has already had to backfill hundreds of millions in new funding just to keep these programs whole. I want to be honest rather than make promises I can’t back up: much of the revenue we’re counting on for future investment, including the new Millionaires’ Tax, doesn’t arrive until 2029 even in the best case, and this November, voters will decide on Initiative 645, which would repeal it outright. We can’t build today’s safety net on money that isn’t in hand and may not survive the ballot.  That means the real work in the Legislature is prioritization, not just assuming new revenue. I’d start by protecting what’s already working, universal school meals, existing food bank capital investments, and defend them regardless of how the tax fight resolves. I’d also push the state to keep building rapid-response tools, like the emergency funding sent to food banks during the federal shutdown, so we’re not caught flat-footed the next time federal support pulls back.  Food security isn’t a line item we can treat as flexible. It has to be one of the first things fully funded, not something we hope gets covered once everything else is paid for.

What have you done to understand food insecurity in the communities you seek to represent—including engaging with people experiencing hunger or local hunger-relief organizations—and what policies would you prioritize to address the root causes of hunger and ensure Washington residents can afford and access the food they need?

Food isn’t just a want, it’s a necessity for life. Maslow put it at the very base of the hierarchy of needs, food is survival, not a luxury we get to when everything else is covered. When we talk about state priorities, this can’t be an afterthought, it has to be foundational.  Republicans in Congress made the choice to cut SNAP, and that choice is inexcusable. It’s doubled our work here in Washington to make sure people don’t go hungry. That work starts with engaging directly with the people and organizations doing this on the ground. I’ve attended informational sessions with the Clark County Food Bank, volunteered with Meals on Wheels, participated in community discussions with other food pantry partners, and attended informational sessions with the Council on the Homeless. Those conversations have shaped how I think about hunger, not as an isolated problem, but as one symptom of a much larger affordability crisis.  Food insecurity is rarely just about food, it’s what’s left over after rent, childcare, healthcare, and utilities. My priorities: expanding access to affordable housing so families aren’t choosing between rent and groceries, closing healthcare gaps, especially in rural areas like Skamania County where basic care requires an hour’s drive, and fixing our small business tax structure so local grocers and food-adjacent businesses in underserved communities can stay open. I also want the state to strengthen rapid-response funding tools for food banks, the kind of emergency support Washington provided when federal SNAP funding was disrupted. Root causes require root solutions and that is real investment in the cost-of-living pressures that put food out of reach in the first place.

What policies or investments would you support to strengthen Washington’s food system, increase access to locally produced food, support Washington farmers and producers, and reduce food waste?

Washington already has real tools for this, they just aren’t reaching everyone equally. Programs like Farm to Food Bank connect local farmers directly to hunger relief organizations, rescuing significant amounts of produce from waste each year and building strong relationships with agricultural producers across the state. The new Food Resiliency Grant Program does something similar, purchasing Washington-grown food at risk of going to waste and redirecting it to people who need it.  But these programs aren’t reaching rural communities the way they should, and that’s a real problem, since much of this food is grown in rural areas in the first place. Harvest Against Hunger, one of the organizations that runs these programs, has documented this gap directly: hunger relief systems in larger cities are robust, while smaller, rural organizations get overlooked, often lacking the capacity to navigate grant applications and build the same wholesale purchasing relationships larger urban food banks can manage.  I will work to fix this, not just fund more of the same. That means dedicated technical assistance and simplified application processes specifically for smaller, rural hunger relief organizations, so a lack of staff or grant-writing capacity doesn’t shut communities out of support they genuinely need. I’d also support expanding legislation like HB 2463, which would broaden the Commodities Donation Program and help hunger relief organizations, urban and rural alike, build direct purchasing relationships with local farms.  I want to see the state fully fund and implement the Food Donation Workgroup’s recommendations, and make sure rural communities, the ones actually growing this food, aren’t the last in line to benefit from keeping it out of the landfill and on people’s tables.