Last Thursday, on March 12, legislators marked the close of Washington State’s 2026 legislative session. And as with most short sessions (lasting only 60 days), it seemed to end almost as quickly as it began.

However, this session was anything but ordinary.

The obstacles stacked against advocates like us were many: a multi-billion dollar budget deficit, (as in, do not ask for anything that costs money, you will not succeed!), changes in federal policy resulting in greater caseloads and even more strain on the state budget, as well as many controversial issues taking legislators’ time, like the regulation of AI, the “millionaire’s tax”, and automatic license plate readers. All of these issues further reduced the already limited capacity to take on other priorities.

When you lay out this challenging picture, it’s easy to ask, “Why even try?”

But all of these issues come at a time when antisemitism is more prolific than it has been in my lifetime, and our community is more in need of systemic support to build Jewish safety and belonging than we have seen in decades. And, as a Jewish community, we are no strangers to hardship or insurmountable odds. In fact, our resilience in the face of seemingly impossible endeavors is just as much a part of who we are as a people as is our joy. In Pirkei Avot (Ethics of our Sages), we are told, “It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it” (2:16).

So, this session, our team pushed forward to advance Jewish safety and belonging and uphold civil liberties and human rights. Here are some of our wins and woes:

Wins

• Advancing Jewish Safety: We secured funding for the state nonprofit security grant program and the statewide hate crimes and bias incident hotline.

• Showing up: We ran our biggest Jewish Community Lobby Day ever! Over 100 of you joined, including 20 middle school students, meeting with nearly 60 legislative offices across 22 legislative districts across the state.

• Growing Solidarity: Through partnership on SB 5950, our bill to honor minority faith traditions, we established relationships with Baháʼí, Buddhist, Hindu, and Zoroastrian leaders, and deepened relationships with Sikh leaders – learning from and supporting one another, including a powerful panel discussion on Lobby Day.

• Deepening Grassroots Engagement: 800 of you took action by signing in “pro” for our top priority bills when they had their public hearing, and emailing legislators to voice support and urge them to pass the safe worship zone bill, SB 5436.

• Protecting Civil Rights: We supported HB 2105, legislation that passed, which will help ensure workers have protection against unlawful attempts to target them based on their immigration status, and that when lawful inquiries are made into immigration status, workers are notified in a timely manner, and have recourse if the law is broken.

• Cultivating More Relationships: Because of a training we ran for legislative staff in December on anti-Jewish harm, we were invited to speak with both the House and Senate Republican caucuses about who we are, what we do, and what matters most to us. As a result, we have been able to advocate more effectively on behalf of our local Jewish community this session.
• Re-Energizing the Jewish Caucus: A strong Jewish Caucus has been foundational to our success. But the group has undergone significant changes in the last several years, including changes in membership. In advance of this session, we helped the Jewish caucus create and adopt core goals and principles to foster more shared action and engagement during the session.

Woes

• Bills Falling Short: Unfortunately, despite many meetings, coalition-building, negotiation, lobbying, testifying, and more, both the bills we worked hard to pass, SB 5436, creating safe worship zones, and SB 5950, honoring minority holy days, did not make it across the finish line this year.

I want to make sure to share my deep gratitude to each of you. Whether through your time, advocacy, or financial support, thank you for making our work possible. We could not have done this without you. I also want to give a special shout-out to the members of our JCRC’s public advocacy committee for their dedication and commitment each week leading our work: Lila Mowatt (Chair), Allyson Brooks, Linda Clifton, Marla Dunn, Zach Farley, Josh Friedmann, Dave Kaplan, Ron Leibsohn, and Hannah Lidman.

In Ta’anit 21a, Rabbi Akiva’s teacher, Nachum Gamzu, demonstrates unwavering faith. When faced with significant setbacks, he remains steadfast, saying, “Gam zu l’tova”—this too is for the good. These words resonate with my own experience: the most transformative moments in my life occurred when things didn’t go according to plan. By embracing honest reflection and a deeper understanding of our challenges, I eventually gained the clarity needed to make smarter choices and forge a more resilient path forward.

While this session brought its share of disappointments, passing a bill takes an average of five years, and the insights we gained along the way will sharpen our advocacy in the future. We are already laying the groundwork for these proposals to succeed in the future by strengthening partnerships, building broader support, and refining our strategy. May we continue to evolve, expand our impact, and fortify our community together in the months and years to come.