Formerly Incarcerated Women Are Pushing Systemic Change in Elected Office

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https://truthout.org/articles/formerly-incarcerated-women-are-pushing-systemic-change-in-elected-office/

Formerly Incarcerated Women Are Pushing Systemic Change in Elected Office

From voting rights to wages to housing assistance, these officials advocate for systemic change to reduce incarceration.

By Victoria Law , TRUTHOUT
Published March 23, 2026

The first bill that Tarra Simmons passed restored voting rights to formerly incarcerated Washingtonians. That was in 2021, the year after she was elected Washington’s first formerly incarcerated state representative.

“That was my freshman bill,” she told Truthout.

The following year, the state passed her bill to expand housing assistance vouchers from three to six months for people released from prison. Days later, another of her bills passed, expanding free hospital care to people making up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level (or $40,770 for a single person in 2022/ $47,880.00 in 2026). The new law also allowed sliding-scale hospital care to those making up to 400 percent ($54,360 for a single person in 2022/ $63,840.00 in 2026).

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(Kentucky)

The following year, Bogard was elected to Hopkinsville City Council. Like Simmons in Washington, she is the first formerly incarcerated woman to hold that office.

Expungements continue to be her passion. In office, Bogard continues to host expungement clinics, estimating that she’s helped another 400-500 people beyond those she helped from her kitchen table.

I’m watching them get jobs, I’m watching them qualify for housing,” she said, adding that one woman told her, “I’ve never been able to go to any of my child’s functions at school because of my charges. Now I’m able to do that.”

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