WASHINGTON STATE

Washington State House Democrats

HOUSE DEMOCRATS

The 2016 Legislative Session is underway

On January 11, I left our district office in the 33rd Legislative District and headed back to Olympia for the beginning of the 2016 legislative session. Joining the team is Legislative Assistant, Noha Mahgoub. Noha graduated with her Master’s Degree in Social Work with a focus on Administration and Policy and is excited to get to work on behalf of the constituents of the 33rd.  We are very lucky to have her so please join me in welcoming her!

Mia and Noha
Mia and Noha

Each day of session here is amazingly busy!  It seems like a long time ago since the first day of session when House Speaker Frank Chopp began his opening remarks by reminding us of some of the many great accomplishments from last year including expanding high-quality early learning; investing in basic education; increased college financial aid; improving our mental health care system; and creating jobs through historic investments in transportation and capital projects. The Speaker also acknowledged that we still have work to do this session, including continuing on our path to fully fund education.

I am proud to say that last week the House passed many important bills to give kids greater opportunities to learn. These included, HB 2366, the bipartisan plan for a solution to the state’s education funding problem and HB 1295, to give kids time to eat breakfast after the bell ensuring they have food in their stomachs before embarking on a day of learning. I was proud to take these votes this week to support students. But it is no secret that this is not enough and sadly, the fate of these bills is unknown in the Republican-controlled Senate.

Visiting the legislature

On Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, many people from the 33rd District used their day off as a day of action and came to visit me in Olympia.

It’s not just on holidays, we get thousands of visitors on the campus each week. Some are here to rally or protest, some are here to testify in committee or visit their representatives, and some come just to see their Capitol.

Mia and LEAP Ambassadors
Mia and LEAP Ambassadors

I met with incredibly bright students from LEAP (the Latino/a Educational Achievement Project) as a part of the LEAP Ambassadors program. They advocated for issues in their community and expressed their support for increasing funding for the State Need Grant.

Here is some information about visiting the Legislature; if you make plans to be here, please let us know. We’d love to see you!  If you want to schedule an appointment with me, please email my Legislative Assistant Noha Mahgoub.

Thank you so much for your support and for being involved.  It’s an honor to serve and I hope we have the opportunity to meet with you during session.  It is a short session so while we cannot meet with everyone, I hope you will reach out when we are back in district.

Happy New Year!

Mia & Noha