The People’s Work

January 12, 2023

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Dear friends and neighbors, 

Hello from Olympia, where we’ve started the 2023 Legislative Session! For the first time since 2020, we’re gathering to do the people’s work in-person — a welcome change after two years of remote session.  

As we start this year, I want to thank you all again for the confidence you’ve placed in me as your representative. I promise to honor that confidence with listening, hard work, and good policy. I’m also grateful to my colleagues in the House for again trusting me to serve as Speaker of the House. I gave remarks after I was sworn in Monday in which I talked about what House Democrats will be focusing on this session. You can watch those here. 

Looking ahead – I’m proud of how well Washington has weathered the last two years, but I know we still have work to do.  

Housing 

I know that there are families struggling to find accessible and affordable housing across our community and across the state. We need to build 1.1 million homes within the next couple decades to meet our current and future housing needs. Almost half of these homes will need to be accessible for low-income Washingtonians. This session I’ll be working with my colleagues to find creative, innovative, and bipartisan solutions to help build a stronger future for our state. 

Workforce 

I also know that every sector in Washington has been impacted by workforce challenges, from behavioral health to childcare, long-term care to K-12 education, public safety, and more. We’re looking at how we can grow each of these workforces, making it easier for people to get the education, training, or certification they need to provide quality services.  

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Last week I was on a bipartisan panel with other legislative leaders to talk about our priorities for the coming session. We may not agree on everything, but there’s a lot of common ground. In my opening remarks to the House I talked about being patient with each other and impatient about the problems we’re facing, I’m hopeful that with this approach our work together will produce better results for all Washingtonians. 

This is the People’s House and I’m proud to work hard here on your behalf. 

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Staying Engaged this Session

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Our transition to remote work over the last two sessions made the legislature more accessible than ever for our constituents. While we’re back in-person, we’re keeping those remote options for you to get involved. More information on those options is below:  

  • Learn — Curious about how the legislative process works? You can watch a start-to-finish overview by clicking here. If you prefer text instead, click here.  
  • Watch — TVW.org broadcasts all legislative debates, votes, committee hearings and other events in the House and Senate. There’s also an extensive archive of past events if you can’t watch it live. Check out TVW’s “Legislative Review” for a quick recap of everything that’s happened each day of session.  
  • Research — Find detailed information about legislation by lawmaker or topic by clicking here.  
  • Testify — Share your thoughts on legislation! This session, you’ll be able to testify in person, remotely or in writing based on what’s easiest for you. Click here for more information on how to testify.