WAMFT Legislative Committee Kicks Off the 2026 Session
- Ashley Haynes-Gibson, MA, LMFTA -- Legislative Committee Co-Chair
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Our first Legislative Committee meeting of the session is officially underway — and while this year’s legislative cycle has been slower due to budget constraints, important foundational work is happening behind the scenes.
What We Discussed
This month’s meeting focused on three primary areas: website updates, our upcoming legislative advocacy event, and fundraising initiatives.
Ashley Haynes-Gibson and Sally Lee (Co-Chairs) presented a newly designed Legislative Committee webpage featuring:
Committee member profiles
Updated legislative priorities
Revamped 2026 Advocacy Goals
A more approachable, engaging layout
The committee provided thoughtful feedback, and we are currently working on final refinements before publishing the updated site.
In addition, we began actively planning our next legislative advocacy event, which will focus on elevating the MFT voice in state policy conversations. We are also prioritizing advocacy fundraising efforts to ensure we can sustain and expand our impact throughout the year.
We also formally joined the Behavioral Health Coalition, strengthening our collaboration with allied provider organizations across Washington to ensure the MFT voice is represented in statewide policy conversations.
Amber continues to provide weekly legislative updates, though this session has been relatively light due to budget limitations. That said, we are closely monitoring developments and remaining engaged where it counts.
Advocacy in Action: HB 2429 & Coalition Collaboration
In partnership with the Washington Mental Health Counselors Association, the Washington State Society for Clinical Social Work, and the Washington State Psychological Association, we sent a joint letter regarding HB 2429 and the implementation of the Washington Thriving vision for children and youth behavioral health.
Collectively, we expressed strong support for the bill while offering an important implementation-focused recommendation: ensuring that frontline behavioral health clinicians and provider organizations have explicit representation within leadership structures guiding the system’s development.
We received a thoughtful response clarifying that the proposed Leadership Council is intended to be a smaller “build-focused” body, while the Children & Youth Behavioral Health Work Group (CYBHWG) will remain the broader advisory group. We have been encouraged to explore representation within the CYBHWG cycle beginning in May.
This is exactly the kind of coalition-based advocacy that strengthens implementation and keeps real-world provider experience at the center of policy design.
You can read the Memorandum of Understanding developed by Shannon Thompson outlining coalition collaboration here:
Where We’re Headed
Even in a slower session, we’re building momentum.
Current initiatives include:
Publishing our updated Advocacy Goals
Revamping the Legislative Committee website
Designing our next legislative advocacy event
Exploring a potential advocacy-focused podcast series (fingers crossed!) with our Technology Chair, Trevor White.
Developing an evidence-based advocacy CE event centered on creating real political change and addressing policy issues that are impacting MFTs and our clients right now.
Brainstorming creative fundraising strategies to sustain our advocacy work
If you are interested in helping shape any of these efforts — website design, podcast collaboration, event planning, or fundraising — we would love your support!
If you want to get a head start, you can support our Advocacy Fund here:💙 https://www.paypal.com/donate?campaign_id=GN4MZ9QRSEQDC
Additionally, if you’d like to participate in fundraising efforts or highlight your own advocacy story through a WAMFT podcast collaboration, please reach out!
We invite you to join the Legislative Committee!
We would also like to extend an invite to students, LMFTAs, and LMFTs to join us.
Things are slower this session, which makes it a great time to step in and get familiar with the process without feeling overwhelmed.
Our meetings are:
Once per month
One hour
Flexible in attendance
During the off-session months, we often meet every other month instead.
If you’re interested in joining the committee, we will:
Add your headshot and bio to the new Legislative Committee webpage
Link your Psychology Today profile
Link your WAMFT directory listing
Link your LinkedIn or personal website
Our goal is not only to build advocacy capacity but also to amplify and support your work as a provider and leader in our field. Whether you want to attend regularly, help with a specific project, or simply pop in to see what we’re working on, you are welcome.
The Legislative Committee is committed to protecting the MFT license, strengthening behavioral health systems, and ensuring that our profession has a meaningful voice in policy conversations.
We are grateful to our coalition partners and to each of you for the work you do every day.
If you’d like to join us, please reach out—we would love to have you!
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