Rep. Phyllis Gutiérrez Kenney Biography

Born to migrant farm workers from Mexico, Rep. Phyllis Gutiérrez Kenney grew up in the Yakima Valley, Wapato and Toppenish, and was working in the fields with her family by the age of 5. After moving to the Tri-Cities in 1955, she began working on education and health care issues and on behalf of the underprivileged. She co-founded what’s now known as the Washington State Migrant Day Care Center and founded the Educational Institute for Rural Families, while also helping to establish the Farm Worker Health Clinics.

She moved to Seattle in 1976, where she became extremely active in the community, sitting on boards and committees from the Seattle Community College District to the Washington State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.  She served as a member to Governor Lowry’s citizen advisory cabinet and was a Presidential Delegate to the White House Conference on Small Business.  She was also a member of the transition teams of both Governors Mike Lowry and Gary Locke.

She was appointed to the Washington State House of Representatives in 1997.

During her legislative tenure, Gutiérrez Kenney served as chair of the Higher Education committee for 4 years and in 2007 she was appointed chair of the House Community & Economic Development & Housing Committee.  She currently also sits on the House Ways and Means Committee and the Labor & Workforce Development Committee, and she is a member of the Joint House and Senate Committee on Economic Development and International Relations.

Eight terms in the House of Representatives gave Gutiérrez Kenney the opportunity to prime-sponsor a total of 260 bills, proudly seeing at least 50 of them signed into laws. Her legislative endeavors have significantly improved the lives of many Washington residents.

Some highlights include her sponsorship of the Tech Transfer Bill (HB 1806) in 2005 to give researchers in Washington’s public research institutions more flexibility to bring new technology to the public. That same year she also sponsored House Bill 1794 allowing branch campuses to offer four-year degrees. In her quest to increase access to higher education for more Washingtonians, in 2003 she sponsored HB 1079, which granted in-state tuition to undocumented resident students in the U.S. if certain criteria are met. Last year she sponsored HB 1822, giving official recognition to the first nonprofit online university in our state, WGU-Washington, which offers more than 50 baccalaureate and master’s degrees in high-demand fields including nursing, teaching, business administration, information technology, and software development.

Two Rep. Gutiérrez Kenney measures have received national accolades, including recognition from President Obama.  In 2007, she successfully sponsored House Bill 1906, establishing Opportunity Grants that provide financial support to low-income adult students receiving credentials in high-demand career fields.  She was also instrumental in developing the Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (IBEST) to enable students with limited English proficiency or low basic skill levels to more quickly earn Community and Technical College certificates and degrees by pairing training with ESL classes.

But her accomplishments also include numerous measures aimed at increasing economic development throughout Washington, especially for small businesses. In 2008 Gutiérrez Kenney sponsored landmark legislation to create the Building Communities Fund. This account provides communities with state matching grants to help fund the construction of projects which provide multi-services that strengthen and revitalize the economy of those areas. In 2009 she sponsored House Bill 2242 to consolidate the Washington State Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development into the Department of Commerce to better serve Washington’s business community.

Because housing has always been a top priority for Gutiérrez Kenney, throughout her years in office, she has worked on several measures to reduce homelessness. In the 2012 session she continued the fight with House Bill 2048, which makes changes to the Homeless Housing and Assistance Act document recording surcharge.

Without the passage of this bill, state and local homeless programs would have lost $41 million, translating in approximately 23,100 fewer homeless people being served during the next two years. That bill was sent to the Governor’s desk the first week of March 2012.

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES:
University of Washington Dan Evans School of Public Policy, Advisory Board Member
National Center for Policy Alternatives, Board Member
National Council of La Raza, Board Member
Seattle Community College District, Former Board of Trustees Member and State Chair
Washington State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Former President and current member
White House Conference on Small Business, Presidential Delegate
Governor Gary Locke’s Transition Team, Member
Governor Mike Lowry’s Transition Team, Member
University of Washington President’s Minority Advisory Committee, Board Member
Eleanor Roosevelt Global Leadership, former National Co-Chair

YEARS IN HOUSE:
1997 – Present