Dear friends and neighbors,
Hundreds of you turned out on Sunday, March 12th for my legislative town hall meeting with Rep. Derek Stanford and Sen. Guy Palumbo. It was held at UW Bothell/Cascadia, and we packed the room at Mobius Hall. We even ran out of chairs!
When we asked who was attending their first town hall meeting, about half the room raised their hands. It’s great to see people getting engaged about what’s happening in our state legislature.
We had 200 question cards printed off, and we still ran out. People ended up writing their questions down on scratch paper. Popular topics included questions about our state’s relationship with the federal government and how we can advance progressive policies in light of the current administration. Other topics included tolling on I-405, ST3, education funding, charter schools, ACA repeal, environmental protection, and regional growth management.
If you weren’t able to attend the town hall but have a question about these or other legislative issues, please call my office or email me directly using the contact info in this newsletter.
It’s an honor to serve you.
Sincerely,
Slate of bills in response to ST3 car tabs introduced
I was one of five legislators who introduced bills last week in response to constituent concerns over the taxes being collected to finance the voter-approved Sound Transit package. My bill, HB 2150, would require a taxpayer accountability statement be included with annual property tax statements. This statement would provide information on the status of Sound Transit projects and whether or not they are on budget. It would also include a web link to the Sound Transit webpage where people can find audited financial statements and fiscal information on the projects.
I believe that it is good policy to keep voters informed of the projects they’ve approved. By directing county auditors to update property owners on the status of these Sound Transit projects, it keeps them in the loop.
The other bills that were introduced are:
- HB 2147, which addresses the “MVET schedule” that determines car tab valuation.
- HB 2148, which allows Sound Transit to develop an MVET rebate for low-income vehicle owners and a similar property tax rebate for low-income property owners.
- HB 2149, which is similar to my bill, but would require the Department of Licensing to send accountability statements with annual vehicle renewal notices.
- HB 2151, which requires transit agencies to coordinate.
“Strong communities are made by people who step up.”
TVW recently did a legislator profile on me. This three-minute video focuses on what motivated me to run for state legislator and what I’m focusing on so far. Click on the video image or click here to watch.