AG Brown details offices’ role defending working families

From wage theft to education funding, Washington Attorney General Nick Brown led a conversation about the challenges facing working families across the state

LAKEWOOD, WA (September 3, 2025) — Federal lawsuits make flashy headlines. But only a few dozen of the more than 800 lawyers at the Washington Attorney General’s office work on those cases. That work is important — it has preserved nearly $14 billion in federal funding for essentials like education, for example — but the bulk of the offices’ work is focused on enforcing Washington’s laws, including protections for working people. In a standing-room-only town hall last night, WA Attorney General Nick Brown shared some of the actions his office is taking in support of Washingtonians and answered questions from attendees about how his office defends working families.

After introductory remarks from Pierce Central Labor Council President Nathe Lawver, Washington State Labor Council President April Sims, and Pierce County Executive Ryan Mello, AG Brown took the stage to contextualize his offices’ priorities throughout his first eight months in office and beyond.

“Working people and working families across this state and across this country are living in an intense time, where safety, their health, and affordability issues are at a crisis point,” said Brown. “We are dealing with a moment in this country where workers are fighting for basic dignity.”

AG Nick Brown and WSLC President April Sims listen to questions from the audience.

“Wealth is far too concentrated at the top, and people living on the margins, people working hard for a living are struggling and struggling to get by,” Brown continued. “We have a federal administration that is actively working to undermine so many of the protections that people in this room and the unions you represent have fought — not only for yourselves, but for the entire country — have fought for.”

Brown highlighted that half a million federal workers have been stripped of their union rights, to resounding boo’s from the crowd.

“You boo, I sue,” quipped Brown.

Worker protections were a central topic as Brown took questions from the audience. Mitch Forhan, a member of International Union of Painters and Allied Trades Local 300, asked about the AG offices’ role in combatting wage theft.

“Whether it’s been my own experience of being paid a lower wage than I was promised, or some of the more well-known companies that are not following through on paying their fleet drivers the wage that was locally negotiated through a union, bypassing those CBAs…these families are usually one paycheck away or a couple hours of missed work away from losing their homes or their meals, how can you as the Attorney General of us as individuals help make sure that workers are paid what they are owed and their rights are respected and easily accessible to be understandable?”

Wage theft took $18 billion dollars out of working people’s pockets in 2024, noted Brown, more than any other form of theft combined.

“Just in Washington, there are millions of dollars that are being stolen from employees,” said Brown. “We currently go after wage theft cases, in partnership with our client agency L&I, we do that through our civil rights division, and we’ve been successful at bringing a lot of those cases. But I also know that we’re just scratching the surface. My hope is to create a new unit to help supplement and add to that enforcement power. For better or worse, people have realized that our agency has some real enforcement teeth, and we’re going to be talking to the legislature in this coming session about ways to give us more impactful resources and authority.”

WEA and WSLC Vice President Janie White asks AG Nick Brown a question.

Washington Education Association and WSLC Vice President Janie White asked Brown about how his office can defend essential education funding, noting needs in special education funding and health and nutrition for students.

Asked White: “What steps can we all take together to protect and ensure funding and resources in schools for our students and our educators?”

Brown, who states his primary directive as AG is to defend Washington’s constitution, notes that providing education to children is the state’s paramount, constitutional duty — education for all children, citizens or not.

“We litigate, if necessary, against cuts that are coming from the federal Department of Education, and we did that successfully this year,” noted Brown. “The federal government simply stopped providing money that they had promised to Washington State…that’s essentially what education funding was, a promise from the administration that you were going to receive a certain amount of money, and a breach of that contract by the Trump administration, and that is why we sued. We sued, and we won.”

“Every state and every school district in America was going to be impacted,” continued Brown. “You are guaranteed an education whether you are a citizen or undocumented. That is simply what the law requires.”

In closing remarks, Brown noted the importance of ongoing communication with his office; it’s working people who can help identify where his offices’ work is needed. And how his office responds to the crises facing working people in Washington carves a path other states can follow.

“The challenges we face are real and pressing,” said WSLC President Sims. “But tonight reminds us that when we fight together in Washington, we can set the standard for the rest of the country. What we do here is bigger than us. It’s a beacon of hope, proving that workers’ rights, dignity, and justice are worth defending and can be won.”

Watch the full town hall on TVW.