Greetings!

The past few weeks have flown by. I’ve been moving a mile a minute to keep up with the rapid pace of the legislature–meeting with constituents, serving on budget and policy committees, and working with my colleagues to craft and promote legislation that represents our community’s values.

I have been working constructively across the aisle, and this week I was pleased to introduce a truly bi-partisan bill that will increase transparency in public infrastructure investments.

Spotlight on Public Investment

Each year, legislators work with community advocates to identify and invest in transportation and capital projects in every single county. These projects create jobs while improving the long-term infrastructure that supports our quality of life. But these public investments aren’t always easily visible to the public, and I want to change that.

The bill I introduced, HB 1733, would increase transparency for taxpayers and ensure government accountability in how state dollars are spent. It would increase the public’s access to state budget data online by requiring a one-stop location for the information and simple, user-friendly navigation.

I believe government needs to do a better job of showing people where their tax dollars are going. Our state is a leader in technology, but our online transparency lags behind what other states are already doing. We can fix that with this bill.

Click here to view the press release on this legislation.

 

A Promising Future for Health Care in Spokane

During the last few weeks, I was fortunate enough to meet with local business leaders, elected officials, teachers, students and health care providers that braved the pass to share their concerns about issues affecting our community.

I was particularly struck by how many diverse stakeholders from the health sector made the journey to share their concerns.

Spokane is rapidly becoming a regional medical and life sciences hub, and this trend is increasing jobs in our community while improving access to care. Over the past week, I met with nurses, long-term care providers, physical therapy students, and occupational therapists that want to provide the best possible care for the people they serve.

It is clear that the health practitioners training and working in Spokane care a great deal about our community. I serve on the Health Care & Wellness committee in Olympia, and I’m inspired to know that we have such a passionate, diverse group of professionals shaping the future of this industry at home.

Connecting with the Community

Last week, I released my first legislative video update as a State Representative. This is another way for me to communicate what I am doing to represent you in the state capital. It’s a short video, so if you’d like to watch it, you can access it by clicking here.

I was also happy to have an opportunity to pause from the rapid pace of the legislature, to sit down with my seatmates and check in with the community through a Telephone Town Hall.

It’s not easy to make the trek to Olympia, and the distance makes it hard for us to get back to Spokane to meet with folks during the session. The Telephone Town Hall is an informal community-wide conference call that lets constituents voice concerns on the issues they care about, and get meaningful responses from their legislators.

Thank you to everyone who took part in the conversation. Missed the call? Stay tuned for more information about an upcoming Town Hall in Spokane next month.

 

If you have thoughts or concerns on the issues affecting our community, I hope you will take a moment to share your thoughts with me.

Best regards,

Rep. Marcus Riccelli