OLYMPIA—After a contentious debate on the House Floor earlier today, a measure to allow 16- and 17-year olds to pre-register to vote was finally sent to the Senate on a…
Category: Steve Bergquist
Millions in construction budget for projects in the 11th Legislative District
OLYMPIA—Thursday evening, the House of Representatives passed a $4.18 billion-investment capital budget on a 95-1 vote. SB 6090 includes a record $1 billion to build new public schools, a key…
Rep. Bergquist’s Legislative Update: New Paid Sick Leave Law / Teacher Certification / Paraeducator Training / Survey: Gov’s Budget
Happy New Year for Working Families As you may know, in 2016 voters approved Initiative 1433, which increased the minimum wage and required employers to provide paid sick leave…
Statement from Rep. Steve Bergquist on the Gina Grant Bull Memorial Legislative Page Scholarship Program
For over a century, the Page Program has been offering students across the state the opportunity and honor of experiencing democracy firsthand. Every year, hundreds of Washington teens get to…
Aug 21, 2017 Seattle Times’ story on Rep. Bergquist’s paraeducators bill
With principals in ‘crisis mode,’ new Washington state law taps into thousands of potential teacher recruits The Washington Legislature this year agreed to help principals struggling with a teacher shortage…
Rep. Bergquist’s Legislative Update: Teacher Certification / Paraeducator Training / Capital Budget / I-405 Tolls / Sound Transit
On June 30, we passed the operating budget and thus avoided a government shutdown, but we didn’t adjourn because the construction budget was still pending. It’s disappointing that we did…
Governor enacts Bergquist’s residency certificate renewal bill
This afternoon, Gov. Jay Inslee signed Rep. Steve Bergquist’s House Bill 1341 into law. The measure allows new teachers the option of renewing their residency certificate in five-year intervals based…
Rep. Bergquist’s Legislative Update: Operating Budget passed; no government shutdown
As you may have heard, we managed to avert a government shutdown by passing the 2017-2019 operating budget late last night, so I figured I would send you a quick…
State Republicans’ education funding plan shortchanges South King County students
Democratic plan a clear win-win for students, middle class families, and small businesses OLYMPIA – Most areas of the state could see a sharp property tax increase under the Senate…
Rep. Bergquist’s Legislative Update: Special Session / New Survey: Sound Transit / Past Survey Results
Special Session This is the last week of the 2017 regular session and, as you may have heard, we have not agreed on a state budget yet. Both the House…