Dear friends and neighbors,
Thank you for responding to the survey in the last e-newsletter. Your input and advocacy are very helpful to me each legislative session. I heard that the three issues our community is most concerned about are public safety, government spending cuts and efficiencies, and affordable housing and homelessness.
To try and address two of these issues, the following pieces of legislation have been introduced and I have signed on as a co-sponsor:
- House Bill 1217: Addresses skyrocketing residential leases and price gouging to improve housing stability.
- House Bill 1428: Increases funding for recruitment and retention of law enforcement officers.
This session, we will also be exploring various strategies to ensure fiscal responsibility, including identifying opportunities for budget reductions and expenditure delays. You shared that the cost of groceries, fuel, health care, and housing is too high. Additionally, it is challenging to age in place on a fixed income, and highway congestion complicates travel. Many of you suggested great ways to help our community, including updating K-12 funding models, addressing the behavioral health crisis, improving public transit safety, cutting government spending, and lowering taxes. As my colleagues and I work on the 2025-26 state budget, I will prioritize legislation addressing your top concerns and household challenges.
To better serve you, I’d like your opinions on the state’s most important and controversial bills. Please take a few minutes to fill out this survey on current legislation. Read on to learn more about the legislative session.
An Update to Committee Assignments
It is an honor to share that my colleagues have elected me as Chair of the House Early Learning & Human Services Committee. Affordable, quality child care and other human services are essential to provide stability and opportunities for individuals and families to achieve positive outcomes and contribute to society meaningfully. I am looking forward to supporting children, youth, and families across our state. Additionally, I will continue to serve as a member of the House Appropriations and Education Committees.
Supporting Education
Supporting our pre-K, K-12, and higher education systems remains one of my legislative priorities. This year, I introduced House Bill 1134 to help school programs become more sustainable and encourage student leadership in resource conservation. The program emphasizes waste reduction, energy and water conservation, forestry, and environmental preservation. I am always amazed by the innovative solutions children come up with and am excited to see how they utilize this program.
I’ve also introduced House Bill 1356 to adjust K-12 funding in Washington. It increases the maximum per-pupil limit for enrichment levies and provides state assistance to supplement these levies, especially for districts with lower property values. With the expiration of COVID-era federal funding for schools, this is critical in helping the state meet its paramount obligation to education.
Serve as a Legislative Page!
Many years ago, I was a legislative page. It was one of my earliest and most formative experiences with the Washington State Legislature and led me to a life of service as a public educator and legislator.
Pages, sponsored by legislators, serve for one week during the legislative session, learning about the legislative process while distributing materials throughout the Capitol, assisting offices, delivering messages, and presenting colors at the day’s opening session.
I hope you’ll apply or send this to someone you think would make a great page! Find out more about the page program by clicking here!
It’s an honor to continue representing the 11th Legislative District. I look forward to your continued advocacy and feedback throughout the 2025 Legislative Session. Please don’t hesitate to email or call me at (360) 786-7862.
Thank you for reading!
Sincerely,
Rep. Steve Bergquist