Robert Alan Hasegawa (born September 22, 1952) is an American labor leader and politician serving as a member of the

Washington State Senate The Washington State Senate is the upper house of the Washington State Legislature. The body consists of 49 members, each representing a district with a population of nearly 160,000. The State Senate meets at the Legislative Building in Olympi ...

, representing the 11th Legislative District since January 2013. Hasegawa is a lifelong resident of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

's Beacon Hill. He previously served in the

Washington State House of Representatives The Washington House of Representatives is the lower house of the Washington State Legislature, and along with the Washington State Senate makes up the legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is composed of 98 Representatives from 49 dis ...

, and is retired from the

Teamsters Union The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), also known as the Teamsters Union, is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of The Team Drivers International Union and The Teamsters National Union, the un ...

where he was a member and union leader for over 32 years.

Early life and education

Bob Hasegawa grew up in Seattle, and lives in the Beacon Hill residence he grew up in. The son of Japanese immigrants, his parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents were

interned Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

by the

Federal government of the United States The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...

during the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Graduating from Cleveland High School in 1970, Hasegawa studied

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

. He went on to graduate from

Antioch University Seattle Antioch University Seattle (AUS) is a private, nonprofit liberal arts university founded in 1975 and located in Seattle, Washington. It is part of the Antioch University system that includes campuses in Keene, New Hampshire; Santa Barbara, Calif ...

with dual concentrations in Labor Relations and Organizational and Social Change. Hasegawa also received a Master of Public Administration from the

Daniel J. Evans School of Public Policy and Governance The Daniel J. Evans School of Public Policy and Governance is the school of public policy of the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. The school is named after former Washington State Governor and U.S. Senator Daniel J. Evans. The Ev ...

at the

. He holds an

Associate degree An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The fi ...

in Labor Studies from

Shoreline Community College Shoreline Community College is a public community college in Shoreline, Washington. It is located in a residential area east of Shoreview Park. The college contains over 80 acres and continuously serves 12,000 full- and part-time students. It o ...

and studied information technology at

Seattle Central Community College Seattle Central College is a public college in Seattle, Washington. With North Seattle College and South Seattle College, it is one of the three colleges that comprise the Seattle Colleges District. The college has a substantial internationa ...

Career

Hasegawa worked as a commercial truck driver, is a certified transport operator, and is a journey-level heavy construction equipment operator. He holds a Class A-Commercial Drivers License, with endorsements for hazardous material, doubles and triple trailer, tank cargo, non-air brake, and pilot car driving. He is also

DHS The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-ter ...

and

FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

certified for

Seattle–Tacoma International Airport Seattle–Tacoma International Airport , branded as SEA Airport and also referred to as Sea–Tac (), is the primary commercial airport serving the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington. It is in the city of SeaTac, which ...

and

Boeing Field Boeing Field, officially King County International Airport , is a public airport owned and operated by King County, five miles south of downtown Seattle, Washington. The airport is sometimes referred to as KCIA (King County International Airpo ...

Activism

Hasegawa is a longtime labor and

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...

activist from Seattle. He was elected head of the largest Teamsters trucking local workers union in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

(Teamsters Local 174) for three terms (nine years), and was also a leader in the national Teamsters pro-union democracy reform movement, TDU (

Teamsters for a Democratic Union Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) is a grassroots rank and file organization whose goal is to reform the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), or Teamsters Union. The organization has chapters nationwide in the United States and Canada ...

). He was an executive board member of the

King County Labor Council The Martin Luther King. Jr. County Labor Council, AFL–CIO, (MLKCLC) is the central body of labor organizations in King County, Washington. The MLKCLC is affiliated with the national AFL–CIO, the central labor organization in the United States, ...

, AFL-CIO representing the transportation trades. He was the first

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...

to run for International Vice President of the Teamsters Union, in 2001. On June 30, 2001, "Bob Hasegawa Day" was proclaimed in honor of his labor activism by Seattle Mayor

Paul Schell Paul E. S. Schell (born Paul Ervin Schlachtenhaufen; October 8, 1937 – July 27, 2014) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 50th mayor of Seattle, Washington from 1998 to 2002. Early life and education The oldest of six chi ...

and King County Executive

Ron Sims Ronald Cordell Sims (born July 5, 1948) is the former Deputy Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, having served in the position from May 8, 2009 to July 2011. He is also the former King County Executive. Sims ...

. He received an award that was created in honor of the memory of Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes, labor activists who were killed opposing the regime of

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...

. Hasegawa serves on the national executive board of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO (APALA) as well as on the APALA Seattle Chapter Executive Board, and has served on numerous other boards of community-based organizations.

Politics

Hasegawa ran to succeed Representative Velma Veloria in the Washington State House of Representatives in 2004. He defeated a crowded field of Democrats in the primary election, and went on to win the general election with almost two-thirds of the vote. In early 2012, Hasegawa announced that he was running to succeed Margarita Prentice in the

. Hasegawa eventually won the November 6 election, and took office in January 2013. Hasegawa announced in 2017 that he would run for mayor of Seattle. He received 8.4% of the vote in the primary election.

Political positions

Housing

Homelessness and housing affordability are big issues in Seattle. Hasegawa has publicly stated his focus on increasing housing, investing in more public housing, and protecting renters. In the Senate, he has supported legislation designed to increase the amount of affordable rental housing. He co-sponsored legislation to increase funding for local homeless housing and assistance programs.

Taxes

Hasegawa has long criticized Washington's tax structure. As a mayoral candidate, he has publicized his opposition to the sweet-beverage tax voted on by the Seattle City Council, calling the tax "regressive." While he voted for the Sound Transit 3 package, Hasegawa has criticized Sound Transit. He has publicly expressed concerns about the effect the increased taxation of ST3 has on low-income residents.

State bank

Hasegawa has long been an advocate for

public bank A public bank is a bank, a financial institution, in which a state, municipality, or public actors are the owners. It is an enterprise under government control.

ing. He has repeatedly introduced legislation to create a state bank in Washington (the "Washington Investment Trust") that would be modeled after the

Bank of North Dakota The Bank of North Dakota (BND) is a state-owned, state-run financial institution based in Bismarck, North Dakota. It is the only government-owned general-service bank in the United States. It is the legal depository for all state funds in North ...

, which is the only current public bank in the United States. Proponents of public banking argue that such banks help stabilize economies, aid long-term growth, and help balance government budgets. He has publicly stated that it would reduce debt servicing costs, generate revenue, and increase the options the state and local jurisdictions have to finance infrastructure projects. A proposal for a municipal bank in Seattle is a component of Hasegawa's mayoral platform.

Affirmative action

Hasegawa supported Initiative-1000, a measure to re-legalize affirmative action in Washington, in the

State Senate A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...

Electoral history

References

External links

*
Washington State Legislature - Rep. Bob Hasegawa
official WA House website
BobHasegawa.com
Mayoral Campaign Website
Project Vote Smart - Representative Bob Hasegawa (WA)
profile * ''Follow the Money'' �
Campaign Contributions and Contributors
Bob Hasegawa {{DEFAULTSORT:Hasegawa, Bob 1952 births Living people American politicians of Japanese descent Trade unionists from Washington (state) Democratic Party members of the Washington House of Representatives Politicians from Seattle 21st-century American politicians Asian-American people in Washington (state) politics Evans School of Public Policy and Governance alumni Democratic Party Washington (state) state senators