WASHINGTON STATE

Washington State House Democrats

HOUSE DEMOCRATS

Legislative update: Health care, page program and Ocosta champs visit capitol

House Bill 2725 passed the House

It boils down to this: Nobody should fall into a coma, or die, because the numbers on a piece of paper are one day too late. I am happy to report my first bill was passed by the House of Representatives on a unanimous vote!

This legislation, which has the backing of the Washington State Pharmacy Association and the National Alliance on Mental Illness, could be the difference between life and death for a person with an expired prescription for life-sustaining medication.

Thank you all for sharing your stories and inspiring this bill. It is now in the Senate for further consideration.

Floor action

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If you were to stop by or call my office this week, you would likely have heard that I was “on the floor.”

After bills pass out of committee, they still need to be voted on by the full House in order to continue moving through the legislative process. As we approach the deadline for passing bills out of the House, Representatives are spending most of our time in the House Chamber voting on bills.

The floor activity report is a great place to see what is going on right this minute. You can look at the floor and suspension calendars to see what bills are coming up soon or what bills we passed.

Another great way to tune into floor action is by watching it on TVW. In addition to the TVW channelon your television, you can stream video online from the House and Senate floors, committee hearings, and other interesting public policy events. There is even an archive of footage going back to TVW’s earliest days.

Champs from Ocosta

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On Friday the Ocosta High School Girls’ Cross Country team visited the Capitol. They were honored by the House of Representatives for being the first girls’ state title for the school. It was a very exciting day for all involved.

Page program

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I am excited to report that I sponsored my first page: Robert Thomas, from Montesano Junior-Senior High School, served last week and it was a great experience for both of us. Robert plays soccer and enjoys science fiction, fantasy shows and gaming. It was a great week with him. Robert’s parents, Dawn and Christopher Thomas, should be very proud of Robert’s character and hard work at every task he was given.

Pages perform a wide variety of responsibilities, from presenting the flags to distributing amendments on the House floor. In addition to contributing to the efficient operation of the Legislature, pages receive daily civics instruction, draft their own bills, and participate in mock committee hearings.

The session will be over in three weeks, so it’s a little late to take on new pages, but if this is something you’d like your kids to experience, let me know so we can set it up for next year’s session. Click here for more details regarding the Page Program.

Watch my videos

As you know, I do two types of short videos during session. One is my Legislative Video Update, and the other one is my Ask JD video where I respond to constituent emails. Here’s the link to my YouTube playlist, if you’re interested in checking them out.

Please stay in touch, hearing from you helps me represent you better.

Best regards,

JD Rossetti