ParentMap’s 2023 Superheroes for Washington Kids and Families

Washington made history in 2021 when the state Legislature passed and funded the Working Families Tax Credit, a first-of-its-kind policy for the state, designed to return millions of dollars to the pockets of tax-paying families.

Grassroots advocacy organization MomsRising was a key coalition partner in supporting this legislation. Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, executive director, CEO and cofounder of MomsRising, was honored as a ParentMap Superhero in 2008, and she has nominated Washington Rep. My-Linh Thai for her work and persistence in getting this important piece of legislation across the finish line.

“MomsRising thanks Rep. My-Linh Thai for her extraordinary work lifting moms, dads, kids, families in Washington state with the Working Families Tax Credit, which is nothing short of spectacular in terms of helping families do things like pay for child care, make ends meet and put food on the table. It also helps spark our businesses, because those funds are immediately invested back into our economy,” says Rowe-Finkbeiner.

Rep. Thai immigrated to Washington state with her family as a Vietnamese refugee when she was 15, and she has the distinction of being the first refugee to be elected to the Washington House of Representatives. She is a passionate education advocate who is committed to ensuring equity and access for all.

What will the Working Families Tax Credit do for families, and how many people have already qualified for it?

Rep. Thai: This piece of legislation has been sitting in Washington state for close to 15 years, and it couldn’t be moved. Our state is the first in the nation with no income tax to be able to push out this tax credit. It was implemented Feb. 1 of this year. More than 400,000 households will be eligible to receive up to $1,200 per year starting in February 2023, and we already have had more than 60,000 individuals apply for it.

How do you apply? Should everyone apply?

Rep. Thai: We make the process so easy for people. Visit the Washington State Department of Revenue website, where they have step-by-step directions for applying. Free assistance is available to help. If you speak Spanish and Mandarin, they have staff who will speak Spanish and Mandarin to help answer all of your questions.

Rowe-Finkbeiner: One thing we know from studies is that when we give families things like the Working Families Tax Credit, that money is immediately spent in the economy. And when the money is spent, it stimulates the economy: It helps local businesses; it helps families pay for things like child care; it keeps people in the labor force.

Kristin, what other initiatives and issues are priorities right now for MomsRising?

Rowe-Finkbeiner: I’m so excited in this moment to share that despite what is on the front pages of papers, we’re still gaining momentum for women, children, moms, dads and caregivers. We just came out of December, when we won, after fighting for decades, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act; we also won the Pump for Working Mothers Act. We won a 30 percent increase in Child Care [and] Development Block Grant funding — that’s $8 billion, with a ”b.” We won one year of postpartum coverage for all birthing people in the country. We also won one year of continuous health-care coverage for all people 19 and younger. There are so many wins!

What happens when we have democracy? What happens when we’re engaged? Well, when we are all engaged, we all win. And so, looking forward, we’re still looking for that access to universal child care in pre-K. We can make that happen. We need paid family medical leave for every single person, no matter where they work or live in the country. Washington state has paid family medical leave, and that’s spectacular. But still, the majority of people in America don’t. So, we’re fighting for that. We’re fighting also for youth and family justice. We’re fighting for immigration policy reform. We’re fighting for maternal justice. Yes, we still need more maternal health care. We’re fighting for so many things.

We can fix these things, we can do better. And when we do better, we all do better. So, it’s an amazing time in history where we’ve seen a movement growing, expanding — not just with MomsRising, but multiple organizations across the country rising together. And we’re pushing, pushing, pushing these policies forward, gaining momentum. And we expect to see transformational policy change in the next three to four years. I’m going to bet on it.

Rep. Thai: When we come together and work together, nothing is impossible. I think it really speaks to the fundamental character of being a mom. We look not only at the short-term vision for how we build capacity and possibility for our children, for our family, for our community, but definitely at the long-term vision for our children, family and community. When we join hands and we work together …

Rowe-Finkbeiner: … the impossible becomes possible.

Rep. Thai: Exactly.

Rowe-Finkbeiner: I’ve seen it so many times. Plenty of people have a lot of cynicism about being engaged in politics. But let me tell you: It might not happen the next day. You know, it’s not like you make one call and you change the world, but it does over time change. Just like the Working Families Tax Credit. That took a long time to get through. And it is making such a big difference.

What is your most strongly held belief?

Rep. Thai: Kindness rules the day.

Rowe-Finkbeiner: We all do better when we all do better.

What is one small action readers can take to make a positive impact?

Rowe-Finkbeiner: Make sure you vote, make sure you research who you are voting for. Don’t just vote for the president, don’t just vote for Congress. Vote at the state legislative, the county and the city level. This is really important. If you don’t know who you are voting for, Google. You can find out all kinds of fabulous things about amazing leaders, and then vote! And if you’re feeling like that’s not enough to do, you can get five friends to vote. That’s not enough? Get 10, 20, 100? That’s good: You can bring 100 friends to vote with you.

Rep. Thai: Talk to your next-door neighbors. We are so busy with our daily lives, and we are inundated with our daily worries, but take that time and visit your neighbors. Because, without that relationship, when we need to talk about difficult topics, we don’t have any basis or foundation to truly engage and learn from each other.

If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

Rep. Thai: If I have to pick one, it’s probably the power to deeply listen to others. Politicians are expected and trained to talk, but I really want to be able to deeply listen.

Rowe-Finkbeiner: Here’s a superpower that I bet we both want, which is equity and equality for everyone. Everyone. “Hi, let’s get rid of discrimination.” Yes, please, I would like that superpower.

What is your best advice for today’s parents who want to raise and support their kids to achieve big ambitions?

Rep. Thai: Listen to them. They know.

Rowe-Finkbeiner: The other one is to think about what big ambition means. People’s definition of big ambition is changing right now, and so we need to listen to what is healthy, not just ambitious. We don’t need to be pushing people incredibly hard all the time, in an “ambitious” way. So, it’s the importance of listening and defining ambition with kids as opposed to for kids. That’s huge.

— Patty Lindley