Dear friends and neighbors,
Since I’ve been working for you in Olympia, I have been fighting for working families and putting stronger worker protections in place. This session in the legislature, there has been a strong focus on our state’s opioid and fentanyl crisis. In today’s newsletter, I’m providing you with updates on two bills of mine that help our firefighters, bills I support regarding our state’s drug epidemic, as well as bills I support on these themes.
Protections for Our Firefighters
Did you know that in addition to being a lawmaker that I am a firefighter? There are currently three bills making their way through the legislative process that will help firefighters, two of which are bills I am sponsoring. The Senate bill mentioned below also has my full support.
House Bill 1726: This piece of legislation gets rid of the red tape for calculating reimbursement rates for Firefighter 1 training expensive of public fire agencies and ensures that reimbursement is provided in accordance with rules established by the Director of Fire Protection. This bill passed both chambers unanimously and now heads to the governor’s desk.
House Bill 2091: I’m proud of this piece of legislation—it will establish a fallen firefighter memorial to honor those who have died in the line of duty. It will also create a memorial account to fund construction and maintenance of the memorial. KING5 recently did a brief report on this bill—click here or on the image above to learn more. This bill also passed both chambers unanimously and now makes its way to the governor for his signature.
Senate Bill 6263: It’s always sad when a fellow firefighter dies in the line of duty, and this piece of legislation will help families grappling with losing a loved one as it increases the funeral benefit for firefighters covered by a pre-Law Enforcement Officers’ and Firefighters’ Retirement System pension from $500 to $1,000. This bill also passed both chambers unanimously and now awaits the governor’s signature before becoming law.
Our State’s Opioid and Fentanyl Crisis
In Washington, deaths related to opioids and fentanyl rose from 2016 to 2019 and have more than doubled ever since. Opioids are the biggest contributor to the increase in drug related deaths in Washington accounting for 68 percent of overdose deaths in the state. The change in opioid deaths is due to fentanyl and other synthetic opioids. In Washington, roughly two people a day die because of an opioid related overdose. Recently, a bipartisan and bicameral press conference was held at the capitol to address this crisis, which you can watch by clicking here or on the image above.
The bills below are ways the legislature is working towards addressing this crisis and have my full support.
House Bill 1956: My seatmate, Rep. Mari Leavitt, D-University Place, is the sponsor of this bill and it’s been in the news quite a bit this session. The premise of this bill is educating our middle and high school students about the dangers of opioids and fentanyl. She even penned an op-ed about it for the Tacoma News-Tribune, which I encourage you to read, by clicking here. This bill passed both chambers and is now in concurrence before it makes its way to the governor’s desk.
House Bill 2112: Much like the bill above, this piece of legislation, sponsored by Rep. Greg Nance, D-Bainbridge Island, is also about educating college-age young adults about the dangers of these illicit substances. Both chambers also passed this bill, making the governor’s desk its next stop.
Senate Bill 5804: This critical bill sponsored by Sen. Patty Kuderer, D-Bellevue, will enable high schools in our state to offer have opioid overdose reversal medication on hand and ready to use. It passed both chambers unanimously and is now awaiting the governor’s signature.
Senate Bill 5906: Sponsored by Sen. Claire Wilson, D-Auburn, this piece of legislation—also one that passed unanimously in both chambers and will soon be law—will implement a statewide drug overdose prevention and education campaign.
Returning to Work in District
If you’ve been following the 2024 legislative session on TVW and are curious about my role handling the gavel and presiding over floor debates as deputy speaker pro tempore, I encourage you to tune in to an episode featuring me on the Capitol Ideas podcast.
We are now just days away from concluding the 2024 legislative session and I’ll be back in our communities working on issues important to you. Please feel free to reach out to me anytime. I’m happy to take your questions and provide answers or work on your concerns.
Sincerely,
Rep. Dan Bronoske