Interpreters have a long history of advocating for our rights, our profession and the communities we serve in the Legislature. In fact, our union was born out of legislative action when, in 2010, we passed a historic bill that gave freelance interpreters the right to form a union, a first in the U.S.

Since then, we have continued the fight: winning the right to negotiate health insurance, winning union rights for L&I interpreters, and last year passing a bill to increase language equity in schools with competent interpreters.

This year presents new challenges and opportunities.