As your State Senator for the 5th Legislative District, Victoria brings a unique combination of scientific expertise, legislative success, and local government experience. With a PhD in Ecology and experience as a data scientist, she has translated her expertise into concrete policy wins that benefit all Washingtonians.

As State Representative, Victoria Hunt has established herself as a highly effective, collaborative legislator. Her success in the legislature builds on years of service on the Issaquah City Council where she served three terms.

2025 Major Legislative Victories:

• Clean Energy Leadership: Authored and passed EHB 1329, modernizing Washington’s Clean Energy Transformation Act
• Family-Friendly Communities: Prime sponsor of  ESHB 1562, ensuring baby changing stations in public buildings
• Environmental Protection: Fought for and succeeded in passing SHB 1670, creating public notification systems for sewage spills (Featured in The Seattle Times: “Find a sewage spill near you; WA to develop new tool“)

As Vice Chair of the House Environment & Energy Committee in her first term, Victoria shaped critical environmental and energy policies beyond just her own bills, co-sponsoring bills on reducing pollution, creating more renewable energy, and protecting Puget Sound and public lands.

Her unanimous appointment by the King County Council to the State Senate in June 2025 reflects the confidence her colleagues have in her leadership and effectiveness.

Fiscal Responsibility

In the face of a projected $10–12 billion deficit over four years and cuts from the Federal government, Victoria adopted a balanced strategy of substantial spending cuts alongside targeted revenue increases to protect key services. Those actions prevented $7 billion in devastating cuts to the programs our neighbors count on most, while generating essential revenue to invest in our values. 

Throughout the difficult budget process, Victoria was a consistent voice for protecting critical services, including public safety, and ensuring revenue measures prioritized community needs. She supported closing tax loopholes and modest capital gains adjustments to ensure that housing, education, public safety, and transportation projects continued despite federal cuts and revenue declines. Her pragmatic, evidence-based approach focused on avoiding false choices and keeping Washington moving forward, even in challenging economic times.

Bipartisan Solutions

Victoria has built a reputation for working across party lines to deliver real results for Washington families. Every bill she passed in the Legislature had a Republican co-sponsor, reflecting her commitment to collaboration and common ground. From protecting childcare and family health, to expanding access to baby changing stations, her priorities earned broad, bipartisan support. That same spirit of partnership is why Victoria is endorsed by local mayors, city councilmembers, and neighbors from across the political spectrum who trust her to put people over politics and get things done.

Safe Communities

Victoria believes that public safety means everyone feels – and is – safe in their community. As an Issaquah Councilmember, she supported local police and first responders while also funding human services for mental health and prevention. In the Legislature, she has continued that balanced approach, pairing smart investments with pragmatic policy.

Safe Communities: On the City Council, Victoria helped add officers to Issaquah’s police force and supported Eastside Fire & Rescue services. As Council President, she secured budget resources for the Police and Human Services departments simultaneously – recognizing that true public safety includes law enforcement, emergency response, and social services. This approach has carried into her state work. Victoria supported HB 2015 to increase public safety grants for local police, and she supported tougher penalties for sexual assault and other serious crimes. She’s been endorsed by first responder organizations (like Eastside Firefighters IAFF Local 1762) for her commitment to emergency preparedness. Victoria is proudly endorsed by Eastside Firefighters IAFF 1762 and the Retired Firefighters Council in recognition of her public safety record. 

Wildfire and Disaster Response: With wildfire seasons worsening, Victoria backed SHB 1271 to improve Washington’s statewide firefighting readiness. This law allows the state fire marshal to deploy firefighting teams and equipment earlier during emerging wildfires – before local resources are overwhelmed. By authorizing pre-positioning of crews, it helps stop small wildfires from exploding into major disasters. Victoria’s support for this bill stems from understanding her district’s wildland-urban interface; faster state mobilization will better protect communities like Issaquah in a fire emergency. She has also supported funding for forest health and emergency communications to bolster disaster resilience.

After the November 2024 bomb cyclone that devastated our communities—knocking out power, toppling trees onto homes, and causing significant destruction—FEMA denied Washington’s request for roughly $34 million in federal disaster relief despite meeting eligibility requirements. Victoria advocated for state disaster recovery funding to provide cleanup support, infrastructure repair, and homeowner aid. Victoria’s swift action ensured that when FEMA failed, state leadership, including her efforts, stepped in to deliver critical support so her district could recover.

Preventing Gun Violence: Washington’s firearm injury rate has climbed in recent years, reaching 12.4 deaths per 100,000 people in 2022. Confronted with this reality, Victoria has pursued common sense gun safety measures. In 2025, she voted to enact a permit-to-purchase requirement for firearms, which now mandates that would-be gun buyers obtain a safety training certificate and pass an enhanced background check before purchasing a weapon. Victoria joined the House majority in approving this policy, which was part of a comprehensive package addressing gun safety. Her leadership earned her the sole endorsement of the Alliance for Gun Responsibility in her Senate race.

Housing Affordability and Homelessness

On the Issaquah City Council and as our legislator in Olympia, Victoria has championed policies to make housing more affordable at every level and to tackle homelessness across our region. That work includes:

Incentivizing Affordable Development: To accelerate the construction of more affordable units, Victoria supported updating the Multifamily Housing Tax Exemption (MFTE) program, expanding it to more cities and counties and offering property tax breaks to developers who include affordable housing in new multi-unit projects. Over 50 jurisdictions already use MFTE; Victoria’s vote to broaden it through HB 1494 gives local governments new tools to meet housing demand while ensuring the benefits of development are shared equitably through affordable units.

Protecting Renters from Drastic Hikes: A strong advocate for housing affordability for seniors on fixed incomes and families struggling with housing instability, Victoria voted for HB 1217, a landmark rent stabilization measure capping most annual rent increases at 7% plus inflation (up to 10% max). This new law – the first of its kind in Washington – guards renters against sudden, unaffordable rent jumps and provides 90-day notice requirements, giving tenants more security.

Investing in Homelessness Solutions: Victoria helped secure significant funding to combat homelessness – dedicating $1.2 billion for homelessness and affordable housing, including $117 million in grants to local governments to sustain shelter and housing programs (making up for lost local revenues). This funding will maintain and expand emergency shelter beds, outreach services, and permanent supportive housing across Washington. 

Expanding Homeownership Access: Victoria helped pass the Covenant Homeownership Program (HB 1696), which provides zero-interest down payment loans and closing costs assistance to first-time homebuyers, particularly those historically affected by racial discrimination. Importantly, this program is funded via fees – not taxes – and has enabled over 200 families to buy homes in its first year. Victoria’s support of HB 1696 expands the program’s income eligibility, supports working families, and helps build equitable opportunity for all.

Education and Families

As a mom of two, Victoria has worked to strengthen public schools, improve childcare affordability, and expand family services so all children can thrive. In the Legislature, she has acted on those values, not just advocating but achieving concrete wins:

Fully Funding K–12 Education: Victoria helped advance a bipartisan effort to increase special education funding and meet the state’s constitutional duty for basic education. In 2025, she voted to eliminate the arbitrary cap on special education enrollment (via SB 5263) so that districts will be reimbursed for all students with disabilities, not just up to 13.5% or 15% of enrollment. This policy, paired with formula changes, is sending roughly $870 million in additional special ed support to school districts over the next few years – a “historic achievement” toward fully funding every child’s needs. Victoria also supported major investments in teacher salaries, school operations, and student nutrition. In higher education, Victoria voted for budgets that include tuition freezes for public colleges and universities to keep college affordable.

Affordable Child Care for Working Parents: Knowing that childcare is important both from an economic and early-learning standpoint, Victoria has supported measures to stabilize and expand child care. She advocated funding increases for child care providers through the Fair Start for Kids Act implementation, helping raise subsidy reimbursement rates (so more providers can afford to serve low-income kids). She supported policy to ease the process for opening child care centers across Washington, helping to address local “child-care deserts” by removing zoning obstacles. And she supported a tax credit for employers who provide child care assistance to employees), to incentivize businesses to invest in child care slots or subsidies. These efforts aim to boost child care capacity and ease costs for working parents – something Victoria knows is critical for economic recovery.

Early Learning Access: Victoria co-sponsored SHB 1351 to expand Washington’s early childhood education program (ECEAP) to more three-year-olds. Previously, many children who turned 3 after the school year started had to wait almost a year to enroll. SHB 1351 changed the age cut-off to allow eligible kids to enroll in ECEAP as soon as they turn three, any time during the school year (as long as slots and funding are available). This means more low-income toddlers can start high-quality preschool as soon as they’re ready, rather than missing critical months of learning. By widening the window for 3-year-olds, Victoria’s efforts will help more families access affordable early education and get their kids on track for kindergarten success.

Supporting Children in Crisis: Victoria helped pass HB 1272, which extends and funds an innovative “Children in Crisis” program through 2027. This program was created to address cases of youth with complex behavioral health needs who end up stuck in hospitals or without stable foster placements. It establishes a multi-agency rapid response team in the Governor’s office – a care coordinator who can marshal resources from multiple departments (child welfare, health, schools, etc.) to find appropriate services or placements for high-needs kids. 

Baby Changing Stations for All Parents: One of Victoria’s signature bills, which she prime-sponsored, was ESHB 1562, a simple but important change for families. Starting in 2024, all newly built or renovated public buildings in Washington must include diaper-changing stations in restrooms accessible to all parents, not just women’s restrooms. Victoria wrote this bill after experiencing firsthand the lack of changing tables when out with her own young children. It passed the Senate with bipartisan support (48-8). Under the new law, public venues – from libraries to restaurants – will ensure dads and all caregivers have a clean, safe place to change a baby. This promotes father involvement and recognizes the reality of all parents. 

Mobility & Infrastructure Investments

Infrastructure Investments: In Olympia, Victoria voted to continue the Move Ahead WA transportation package, which invests in new transit lines, bus rapid transit, and safe routes to schools. She also supported highway improvements in our district (such as widening Highway 18) paired with environmental mitigations. By connecting trail networks, expanding transit options, and electrifying vehicles, she aims to give neighbors cleaner and more efficient ways to get around.

Transportation & Transit: Sitting on the House Transportation Committee, Victoria has leveraged her planning background to push for sustainable and equitable transportation solutions. She has been a vocal advocate for expanding electric vehicle charging infrastructure statewide and for electrifying school bus fleets, with a focus on rural and suburban areas that have lacked charging stations. In budget negotiations, Victoria supported dedicated funding to install more EV chargers along highways and in communities, so that all Washingtonians have convenient access to charging as EV adoption grows. She also championed investments to help school districts replace diesel buses with clean electric buses – reducing emissions and improving air quality for kids, especially in areas with high pollution.

Sustainability and Environmental Leadership

With a PhD in Ecology, Victoria has been a leading voice on climate and environmental sustainability at both the city and state level. On Issaquah’s City Council, she led the development of Issaquah’s first comprehensive Climate Action Plan, setting targets to cut emissions and build community resilience. She also served as Vice Chair of the House Environment & Energy Committee, where she shaped major legislation to protect Washington’s environment. Key accomplishments include:

Clean Energy Reliability and Affordability: As prime sponsor of HB 1329, Victoria modernized the Clean Energy Transformation Act to ensure a smoother transition to renewable power. This new law allows utilities to make short-term or seasonal wholesale power purchases – even if the energy mix is unspecified – without violating clean energy mandates. By giving utilities flexibility to buy emergency power on the market, it helps prevent outages and keep electricity affordable during peak demand, all while keeping Washington on track toward 100% clean energy. Victoria’s HB 1329, which passed with bipartisan support, addresses grid reliability concerns so that the clean energy rollout doesn’t come at the expense of ratepayers or public safety.

Preventing Pollution and Protecting Water: Victoria authored the Sewage Spill “Right-to-Know” Act (HB 1670) after seeing communities blindsided by toxic sewage overflows. Her bill – passed unanimously by the House and Senate – requires the Department of Ecology to create a public website alerting people to any sewage spills in their area, with details on location, volume, and clean-up efforts. By mandating timely, transparent notification, this law empowers families to avoid contaminated waters and advocate for quicker cleanups. “Hundreds of sewage spills occur every year, and people should be able to find out before they go swimming or harvest shellfish,” Victoria testified. Thanks to her leadership, Washingtonians will have an accessible tool to stay safe and hold polluters accountable.

Phasing Out Super-Pollutant HFCs: Victoria helped pass 2SHB 1462, a major climate bill to phase down hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants – potent greenhouse gases hundreds of times worse than CO₂. The law sets binding limits on HFCs’ global warming potential, banning high-GWP refrigerants (over 1500 GWP) by 2030 and ultra-high (over 750 GWP) by 2033. It also establishes a task force to guide the transition to climate-friendlier cooling technologies. By pushing industries to adopt cleaner refrigerants and use more recycled coolants, this policy will cut pollution from air conditioners and refrigerators and help Washington meet its climate goals. Victoria, as Vice Chair of the environment committee, was instrumental in advancing this bill, which was touted by experts as a nation-leading step on “climate super-pollutants.”

Clean Buildings and Thermal Energy Networks: Victoria supported 2SHB 1514, a law to encourage an increasingly popular form of clean energy. Low-carbon thermal energy networks (often called district heating/cooling) can be an important source of energy for our growing communities. This law updates utility regulations to make it easier to build neighborhood-scale heating systems that use clean energy instead of individual fossil-fuel furnaces. It allows electric and gas utilities to own and operate thermal energy networks and authorizes pilot projects for heating/cooling entire communities efficiently. By prioritizing such innovative systems – for instance, shared geothermal loops or waste-heat recovery in dense neighborhoods – Washington will reduce building emissions and cut reliance on natural gas. Victoria championed this effort to decarbonize buildings, noting that it also includes consumer protections (like budget billing for low-income customers and utility oversight of rates) to ensure the clean energy transition benefits everyone.

Holding Polluters Accountable: Victoria co-sponsored 2SHB 1154 to crack down on pollution from landfills and waste facilities. In response to several dangerous landfill fires and contamination incidents, this law gives regulators new teeth – allowing daily fines up to $5,000 (rising to $10,000) for facilities that violate environmental standards. It also requires tougher state oversight of landfill permits issued after 2027. By enabling swift penalties, the law compels waste operators to fix problems promptly or face escalating fines. Victoria’s support for HB 1154 helps protect public health and neighborhoods  from the impacts of poorly managed landfills. It promotes cleaner, more responsible waste management statewide, aligning with Victoria’s environmental justice priorities.

Protecting Marine Ecosystems: Victoria cosponsored legislation to designate bull kelp forests as Washington’s official state marine forest (HB 1631), in recognition of their ecological and cultural importance. Bull kelp beds provide critical habitat for salmon, orcas, rockfish, and other marine life, offering food and shelter that underpin Puget Sound’s food web. They also hold significance for Coast Salish Tribes, who have relied on kelp for food and resources for generations. By elevating bull kelp’s status, the state will bring attention and resources to kelp conservation – a timely move as kelp forests have declined sharply in parts of Puget Sound. Victoria’s support for this measure highlights her commitment to oceans and salmon recovery as part of a holistic sustainability agenda.