Washington state Rep. Amy Walen went to the state’s capitol planning to work on gun violence and affordable housing.
But when she arrived in Olympia, Walen discovered an additional important role that she needed to play: serving as a voice for business among her fellow Democrats.
Walen has worked for nearly 20 years at auto dealerships, first as chief financial officer of a Kirkland, Wash., business, and currently as manager of a Seattle dealership that she owns with her husband.
“I’m one of the only people who has a business in the Democratic caucus,” Walen said. She completely aligns with her party on social issues but when it comes to understanding business ownership, she said, “I think my team is just not aware of what it takes and the impacts of what we do [as legislators].”
A lawmaker since 2019, Walen calls herself a “pragmatic progressive” and has worked to strike a balance between support for businesses, entrepreneurship and tech advancement with issues like housing affordability and data privacy.
For her efforts, Walen is being recognized on May 18 at the GeekWire Awards as the Public Policy Champion for Innovation.
The Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA) is partnering with GeekWire in sponsoring the award, now in its second year. The inaugural honorees last year were Sen. Reuven Carlyle from Seattle and Sen. Sharon Brown from Kennewick, Wash.
Lawmaker from a tech hub
Walen is a representative for the 48th district, which covers parts of Bellevue, Redmond and Kirkland, and all of Clyde Hill, Medina, Yarrow Point and Hunts Point. She is chair of the House Consumer Protection and Business Committee and an appointee of the 12-member Legislative Committee on Economic Development and International Relations.
“We don’t exist as a small business unless we’re part of a thriving economy.”
– Rep. Amy Walen
Walen previously served on the Kirkland City Council from 2009 until 2014 when she was selected by colleagues to become mayor, a role she held for five years.
The cities Walen represents are home to prominent tech companies with headquarters or offices in the area, including Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Smartsheet, Nintendo and others. She is concerned about some local leaders’ vilification of tech enterprises and skeptical of policies that specifically target them for higher taxes. That approach, she said, is shortsighted and harmful to the broader business ecosystem.
“We don’t exist as a small business unless we’re part of a thriving economy,” Walen said. Policies need to create safe, welcoming cities for companies large and small and for their workers.
Walen’s concerns for business and social issues put her in the middle of a heated debate during the legislative session that ended last month.
‘Devastating presumptions’
A new law in Washington state known as the My Health, My Data Act provides consumers with privacy protections over their health data. That includes information regarding women’s health issues, such as pregnancies and abortions — areas of increasing concern given efforts around the U.S. to restrict women’s reproductive rights. The bill’s lead sponsor was Rep. Vandana Slatter, a fellow Democrat from Walen’s own district.
Walen, who said she strongly supports women’s rights, lobbied hard to narrow the legislation’s scope and make compliance easier for businesses. She was particularly troubled that the law presumes Washington companies are acting in bad faith and operating in a deceptive manner. The notion strikes Walen as so unfair that it’s emotionally upsetting to her.
“Those are devastating presumptions against our businesses,” Walen said.
So she pushed for an amendment addressing the matter. It was adopted in the House, but stripped from the final law.
Slatter, in a January interview with GeekWire, said the need to protect health data was “urgent” and that bill proponents had been “listening and working with stakeholders for months” on the legislation.
Despite Walen’s disappointment with the measure, she did find success this year in the passage of two housing bills that she sponsored. One measure aims to streamline the conversion of vacant buildings into residential housing, and another helps finance affordable housing and supports partnerships between public housing authorities and private developers.
The tech sector’s higher paying jobs have helped drive up housing prices in the region, and some leaders have turned to tech giants to solve the situation. Walen said the industry can help, but “the answer to the housing crisis is letting the market build more houses.” She’s also a proponent of urban density over rural sprawl and supports development near mass transit.
In tackling difficult issues such as affordable housing — as well as privacy, transportation, health, climate change and others — Walen wants to see policymakers partnering with tech and business leaders to tap their skills and craft solutions.
“We think we know it all in government,” she said. “But we have all of this talent right here, and we need to do more involvement and outreach.”
