Dear friends & neighbors,
A big part of my job is keeping you informed—and listening to your ideas and comments. It’s always a pleasure to hear from you.
I hope you can make it to our 5th District town hall meeting on Saturday, Feb. 17. If you can’t be there, please feel free to email or call the toll-free Hotline!
It was my pleasure to sponsor a local student, Ellen Heacock, as a legislative page!
Legislative update
Here’s a quick inside look at what’s happening in the Legislature right now.
We’re roughly at the halfway mark of the 60-day session, with an important deadline: cutoff. It’s the deadline for House bills to pass House committees. The senate is going through the same deadline.
After cutoff, my colleagues and I spent long days and nights on the House floor passing good bills. After about a week of being on the floor, the process starts over in the Senate.
This is the status of legislation I introduced:
- Early learning facilities (House Bill 2195) boosts the construction of badly needed centers. This legislation passed the House and is receiving a vote in the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Committee next week.
- Special education cap increase (House Bill 2180) passed the House with a unanimous 97-0 vote. Even if this bill passes the Senate and is signed into law by the governor, I’ll keep working to finish the job and completely remove the cap on special education funding.
- First Approach Skills Training (House Bill 1851) provides funding for a consult line to pediatricians and school counselors who are delivering evidence-based Behavioral Health skills training to youth. It passed the House on a unanimous 93-0 vote and was being heard in the Senate Human Services Committee this morning.
- School district indebtedness (House Bill 2411) helps maximizes school capital levy funding for school renovation and construction. It passed the House and is now being considered in the Senate.
- Diaper changing bill (House Bill 2052) passed committee and didn’t make it out of the House—but I’ll keep working on it. This legislation was brought forward by a 5th District constituent and has the attention of the press:
It was my pleasure to meet with teachers and students—thank you for making the trip to our state capitol!
Keep in touch
I hope you continue to engage with me and my office, and I look forward to seeing you at the town hall!
