Town Hall
I will be hosting a town hall this Saturday, March 14, along with Senator McCoy and Representative Sells. It will take place from 10-11am in the Port Gardner Rooms A & B at the Everett Community Resource Center (3900 Broadway Ave, Everett). We will give an update on what we have accomplished during the legislative session so far and we will answer any questions you have about the work we are doing down in Olympia. Please come out and join us!
House Passes Minimum Wage and Paid Sick Leave
Among the many bills passed last week on the House Floor are two middle-class prosperity measures that would help build an economy that works for everyone, not just the wealthy few. If the Senate supports them and they make it to the governor’s desk, these reforms will make a real difference for many Washington families.
HB 1355 would increase the minimum wage to $12 over a period of four years, and HB 1356 would require employers with more than four employees to offer paid sick and safe leave. Get the full scoop on these two important measures here.
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Is that an oil train in your backyard?
The recent oil train derailments in West Virginia, Illinois, and Canada have left many of us wondering whether trains carrying oil are passing through our backyards. The Center for Biological Diversity has an interactive map of oil train routes in the United States. As you can see from the map, oil trains are running right through Everett and Marysville. Each of these routes could potentially be the site of a tragic oil train derailment.
The number of oil trains passing through Washington has dramatically increased in the last few years and the regulations of the oil and train companies are lagging behind. In Everett alone, 16 oil trains run under the city each week and they tie up traffic in Marysville at the numerous at-grade crossings. My colleague, Representative Farrell, introduced House Bill 1449 to protect first responders and our communities by providing resources to both prevent and in a worst case scenario, mitigate the damage from an oil train disaster. I signed on to the bill as a co-sponsor and we passed it off the House floor last week. The bill is now in the Senate Energy, Environment & Telecommunications committee.
Contact Me
Please don’t hesitate to contact me as session moves along. There are a wide variety of bills introduced every year and I appreciate hearing from constituents about what is important to them. My Legislative Aide, Jordan Smith, can be reached at jordan.smith@leg.wa.gov or 360-786-7864. You can also email me at june.robinson@leg.wa.gov