Unemployment Insurance for undocumented workers

The Unemployment Insurance for Undocumented Workers bill seeks to provide unemployment insurance & benefits to undocumented workers in the state of Washington. 

Over the past two years, our advocacy achieved $75M in the state budget to build and support Apple Health Expansion to enable the coverage of 12,000 community members who did not have health coverage when the program launched this past July. 

Achieving this investment in healthcare for our communities was a major win, however,  with the program only covering 12,000 people, or close to 12 percent of Washington’s immigrant and refugee population, there is still much work to be done. In order to obtain health care coverage for all who need it, we need to build on our momentum.

Washingtonians who have been asked to put their health needs on hold are being asked to continue waiting. Further expansion through increased funding is crucial to ensuring that every Washingtonian will have access to healthcare services. 

Our health equity focus groups identified numerous recurring barriers for diverse communities accessing equitable healthcare, including the cost of healthcare services, lack of cultural competency, racial biases and discrimination as well as poor language access.

WAISN is leading the UI bill in coalition with several partner organizations; OneAmerica, Asian Counseling and Referral Services (ACRS), WA State Labor Council, SEIU 775, Columbia Legal Services, Latino Community Fund, Working Washington & UFCW3000. Additionally, Representative Amy Walen of the 48th Legislative District and Senator Rebecca  Saldaña of the 37th Legislative District have been the Champions of this bill

Our health equity focus groups identified numerous recurring barriers for diverse communities accessing equitable healthcare, including the cost of healthcare services, lack of cultural competency, racial biases and discrimination as well as poor language access.