Dear Friends and Neighbors,

The 2017 legislative session has begun and we’re already hard at work! After spending the summer and fall meeting with constituents, fellow legislators, and community groups, the message has been clear: This is a crucial time for our district and Washington state. As your representative in Olympia, I am focused on fully funding education, finding better ways for workers and businesses to thrive in our state, and addressing your needs back home.

Keeping our promise to schools

On our path to fully funding education, we’re working on solutions that provide schools with the resources they need. And we’ve done a lot, between K-3 class size reductions, all-day kindergarten, and more. But, we’re not done. And while lawmakers are working to solve the education funding problem, we still need to address funding for the coming year. So, I wrote and prime sponsored this bill, which is a temporary measure, that allows local districts to make up for funding shortfalls with what is commonly called the “Levy Cliff” down here in Olympia.

Here’s the bottom line: School districts start planning the 2017-2018 school year budgets soon and if we don’t pass the “Levy Cliff” bill to guarantee them temporary funding, schools will start making cuts. Teachers will get layoff notices, classrooms will get even more crowded, and the education funding problem gets worse. It’s the state’s job to fully fund basic education and passing the “Levy Cliff” bill (HB 1059) is a critical step in keeping that promise to families. And this isn’t even a partisan issue; we passed this bill in the House last year 91-7. So we must pass it this year to let local school districts plan accordingly.

Welcome aboard!

Please welcome Robin Howe to the Legislative team. She will be working as my Legislative Assistant (LA). Some of you might remember Meagan, my previous LA. She was offered a position working on policy issues for the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife. Robin is from Yelm and has a Bachelors from Pacific Lutheran University where she majored in Political Science and Sociology with a minor in Religion. If you have any concerns or would like to schedule a meeting feel free to get ahold of her: Robin.howe@leg.wa.gov or 360-786-7800

Opportunities at the Capitol

Every year I look for eager students, ages 14-16, who are interested in our work at the Legislature to come join our page program. Pages have an amazing opportunity to see the behind the scenes action that takes place in order to make bills become laws. If you would like further information or are interested in applying, please review the House Page Application by clicking here.

As always, please keep in contact with my office either by sending me an email or by calling us at 360-786-7800.

It’s my honor to serve you,