Hello! I’m excited to send you my first message on the work I’m doing for you in Olympia. As a new state representative, I’ve had a lot to take in my first few weeks. The learning curve is high, and the pace is frantic since we’re in a short session, but I’m loving the opportunity to serve.

To see a list of all the bills I’ve sponsored and co-sponsored, click here.

Below is a link to a short video I made on what I’ve been working on my first few weeks in office. Please watch my video and then scroll down to read more about my work on mental health and affordable housing.

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Increasing affordable housing access

There are far too many in our community struggling to keep up with rising housing costs. The answer is to increase the amount of affordable housing options available to our families and one part of that solution is using older buildings.

Rehabilitating older buildings is often a more affordable alternative to new housing.

My proposal is simple:  Give cities the option to adopt a property tax exemption to incentivize landlords to upgrade and maintain their properties at prices middle-class families, seniors, and low income workers can afford. The bill would also give cities and counties the flexibility to target specific neighborhoods susceptible to displacement of long-time tenants and adapt energy efficiency standards.

I believe this bill would be a great tool for cities, like Seattle, to address rising housing costs.

Improving mental health outpatient treatment

Last year my colleagues passed legislation to allow individuals who need mental health care, but don’t quite meet the need to be committed to a hospital, to get the additional help they need while still in their community, surrounded by their loved ones and existing support network. Unfortunately, the law had the unintended consequence of requiring hospitals to design treatment plans for these individuals, when it should be the community mental health provider. My bill fixes that problem, allowing community providers to make plans for the patients for which they are responsible and takes away an unnecessary burden. It’s a simple, but important, fix to a law that helps patients avoid involuntary treatment or other disruptive options when it’s clearly better to manage their mental health crisis near their friends and family.

My first day on the job

My first full day on the job I had the privilege of visiting 2015 Washington Teacher of the Year award winner Lyon Terry’s classroom at Lawton Elementary in Magnolia. These very persuasive fourth graders pitched me on banning homework, and we had a riveting and thought-provoking discussion on how government works. I was impressed with their knowledge and I look forward to their visit to my office in Olympia later this session.

Thanks for taking the time to read through this message. I hope it’s given you insight into my work down in Olympia. There’s a lot going on and I’ll certainly have more to do and share with you before session is over. If you have specific questions or concerns, please contact my office. You can reach me at (360) 786-7814 or via email at noel.frame@leg.wa.gov.

Thanks,

Noel