SHORELINE—Washington State Representative Cindy Ryu (D) has entered the Senate race to replace fellow Democrat, and incumbent, Sen. Jesse Salomon to represent the 32nd district.
Ryu’s approach to the Senate will be, more-or-less, a continuation of the work that she’s been conducting in the House for the last 15 years in that she welcomes conversation from both aisles.
“I invite a broad continuum of opinion as possible because I think any policy that has a robust conversation, from different angles and different perspective, ends up being much better,” Ryu told the Lynnwood Times. “My reputation is that I’m good at what I do, which is stake holdering. Also tenacity. Especially once I get into a problem, I don’t give up easily. Even if it takes more than a session or two, I keep up with it.”
In Ryu’s time in the house she supported legislation that dealt with consumer protection and technology-focused legislation, emerging tech like quantum computing and A.I. but out of all these she told the Lynnwood Times she’s especially proud of the work she’s done cracking down on catalytic converter thefts.
“If we don’t get on top of and in front of and basically bend the curve on those thefts and vandalisms that cost the taxpayers and retailers money we will never get ahead of affordability crises that we are facing right now,” said Ryu.
Ryu continued that she especially embraces technology like A.I. and quantum computing for how they have the potential to improve lives and expand jobs.
“I’m looking at the whole ecosystem when it comes to A.I. and quantum computing, however at the same time we have to make sure we have the right balance,” said Ryu pointing to social media’s lack of regulations now resulting in several lawsuits.
Ryu chaired the Technology Economic Development and Veterans Committee during her time in the House. Based on this role, she was asked where she believes the line should be drawn between public safety and personal freedom – regarding digital privacy and online regulation.
“Washington State has not passed a comprehensive privacy law even though we were the first state to propose it and half the states have passed their own versions. It’s a lot of work trying to balance it. We obviously haven’t had enough negotiations or enough willingness to ‘give a little’, ‘take a little.’ Hopefully there will be a nationwide standard when Congress can take the time to do that eventually,” said Ryu. “It takes a lot of negotiations to make sure it works. It has to be implementable, and you have to have all parties at the table to come to an agreement to make it as best as we can.”
Another one of Ryu’s priorities that’s near, and dear, to her heart is housing affordability – having served on the Housing Committee as Chair for five years, where she looked at both the supply side of things as well as the consumption side.
Though it is a complicated issue, Ryu ultimately believes the permitting process needs to be streamlined. While working for the City of Seattle in its Department of Construction and Land Use (DCLU), she shared it was a “one stop shop” for permits which she would like to see implemented statewide, which takes resources.
Modular construction, Ryu continued, is also an option to streamline housing construction though, she says, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has been slow to adapt.
Subsidized housing could be another route, Ryu added, which is something the House has been considering though she says the “State is too far behind.”
Ryu’s third priority is disaster preparedness where she pointed to Washington’s recent flooding and wildfires. Much of this, she said, can also be roped back to construction standards such as building wooden fences, which attract wildfires to a home or property.
In Ryu’s time at the House, she supported several climate initiatives. When asked how she would work, in the Senate, to ensure the state reaches its climate goals without placing disproportionate burdens on working families
Ryu said she wants to work on legislation that would address clean air concerns in areas that are predominately working-class families or people of color, which would expand quality of living in addition to long-term health.
Ryu also supports tax reforms that target high earners and corporations, which she said the first step was passing the Millionaire’s Tax.
“As long as I am in office I will absolutely honor that million dollar exemption and I haven’t yet run into anyone who would qualify to pay the tax but if I do – first of all congratulations, and second please understand you get a first $1 million exempted and on the rest of it,” said Ryu. “Obviously there will be initiative on the ballot so we have our work cut out to explain how it works.”
Ryu continued that she’s received pushback on the Millionaire’s Tax mostly from people who believe that people would move out of Washington State, but she pointed to the Capital Gains Tax being similar and not driving people out.
With ongoing debates regarding worker protections, Ryu was then asked what gaps she believed exist in labor laws and how she would address them if elected State Senator.
Minimum wage increases is a start, she said, but with rising costs of living (housing, gas, fertilizers, food, and so on) she said the state has a long way to go. One thing she would like to look at is paying state employees more.
“I’m also pro union because it balances the power between the administration over the workers. In my opinion that unionized bargaining that they work together for what’s more important – let’s honor that and it’s great for morale and morale is actually the cheapest way of retaining workers,” said Ryu.
Lastly Ryu was asked how she would define an effective public safety policy and how should the state balance enforcement with prevention.
Ryu joked that prevention is “a lot less costly.” She applauded Sen. John Lovick’s work doing opening the law enforcement training facilities, and especially the diversity their onboarding with hiring several women and people of color.
A priority of hers continues to be hiring diverse (bilingual) police officers, with better training centered on responsible policing.
“Before any bill enters the floor, we literally do an equity screening. We ask have you looked at the impact of this bill? Who’s going to benefit/impacted the most? Who’s going to be paying for this bill? We do that analysis on most bills and we don’t we have longer conversations which often means the bill dies,” said Ryu. “A similar mindset is going into public safety and I really like the direction we’re going.”
About Cindy Ryu
Rep. Ryu chairs the House Technology, Economic Development & Veterans Committee, with jurisdictions over economic development; rural economic development; small business assistance; underserved communities; minority and women’s business enterprises; community development; international trade; tourism; and emergency preparedness, response, and resiliency. The committee also considers issues relating to broadband and digital equity; telecommunications; emerging technologies; artificial intelligence; data privacy; cybersecurity; and state information technology; and veterans’ and military affairs.
Rep. Ryu has lived in Washington state since 6th grade and is a beneficiary of Washington State’s public schools. She lived previously in Seoul, Brunei, and Manila. Rep. Ryu received a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology with Honors and an MBA in Operations Management from the University of Washington – Seattle. In Shoreline, she served as Mayor and Councilmember, as president of the Shoreline Chamber of Commerce and Dollars For Scholars, on its Parks Bond Advisory Board, Shoreline Schools Career and Technical Education Advisory Board, and Richmond Beach Community Association Board. She helped improve numerous public parks in Shoreline, build its first City Hall and create Shoreline’s Green Business Program.
In the broader community, Rep. Ryu has represented the 32nd Legislative District since 2011 through her 8th term in the State House of Representatives, served on the UW Consulting and Business Development Center Board, Lynnwood Economic Development Advisory Board, as the Chair of Women in Government Foundation, President of the Pacific Northwest Economic Region, on the FCC Intergovernmental Advisory Committee, and Co-Chair of National Council of State Legislators’ Technology and Communications Standing Committee.
Author: Kienan Briscoe
One Response
I have known Cindy for over 22 years as a supporter of those who live with Developmental Disabilities and has fought for the people living at Fircrest RHC as well as the people of Shoreline. As a fellow member of 341 she has my full support and has earned my respect and trust. She is thorough and a critical thinker she will make a great Senator sincerely Kevin Hamel local 341 president