Dear Neighbor,
The 2013 Legislative Session is underway and scheduled to last until April 28th. This year, I serve as Chairman of the House Environment Committee, and also serve on the Transportation Committee and the Local Government Committee.
My focus is on delivering results for our community—and making sure that South King County has an effective advocate. Often this means going to bat for our fair share of funding—such as money in the construction budget for a new Health Sciences Building at the Puget Sound Skills Center in Burien or money in the operating budget for more students to access four-year engineering degrees through Central WA University on the Highline Community College campus. Generally speaking, my focus will be on measures that create jobs and improve our economy. The first step is to quit dismantling the public systems and structures upon which our economy and quality of life rely. In order to have good jobs and a strong economy, we need to fully fund our education system—from early learning through higher education.
Like most other states, Washington is still digging out of the recession following the Wall Street meltdown and global economic collapse. The state is continuing to collect less tax revenue than forecasted. We are currently $1.4 billionshort of being able to maintain current state services. On top of that, the State Supreme Court has ordered the Legislature to spend an additional $1+ billion on public schools. This makes the budget gap more than $2.4 billion. We have already cut more than $10 billion in services in recent years. My commitment is to work constructively, with Democrats and Republicans alike, to find reasonable and balanced solutions to our budget challenge.
You don’t have to come to the capital tokeep up on what’s happening this session. I’ll do my best to keep you informed with these newsletters, and you can also sign up for email notifications about House and Senate committees, schedules, and other information. Here is a list of all House committees. Mostcommittee hearings as well as debate in the House and Senate can also be viewed online through TVW’s website (click on “Schedule” or “Archives” at the top of the page for current or past audio and video clips).
I want to know what you think. Call, write, or email me with any questions, concerns, or suggestions on how I can better serve our community.
Sincerely,
Dave Upthegrove