Dear friends and neighbors,
I wanted to kick things off this week by thanking the people who attended our town hall last weekend. We had some good conversations about housing, public safety, behavioral health and the other work in front of the legislature this session. I was also grateful for the chance to talk about our budget proposals (which I’ll go into more detail on later) and to hear from you about your priorities and concerns as we approach the end of session.
These town halls (and the survey I sent last fall and constituent conversations hosted throughout the district last summer) are incredibly helpful and informative for me. It’s truly an honor to represent you in Olympia, and all the phone calls, emails, meetings, encounters out in the community and more, help me to better represent you all. Thank you.
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This week we rolled out our proposed budgets for this session. Our state runs on a two-year budget cycle and has three different budgets: the operating budget, which pays for the day-to-day work of the state; the transportation budget, which pays for roads, sidewalks, public transportation, and more; and the capital budget, which is the state’s construction budget. This is the second year of the cycle, so these are supplemental budgets that build on our investments from last session.
There’s more information about each proposal below, and in the coming days we’ll be working with the Senate to negotiate a final agreement on each.
The supplemental operating budget proposal focuses on re-investing in Washington families. We increase funding for special education, put more money towards housing affordability, and increased food supports for families across the district and state. We also continued our work to combat the climate crisis, make post-secondary education more affordable, and strengthen our public health systems. You can learn more about the budget here.
Our supplemental transportation budget balances the significant increases we’ve seen in project costs with the need to get things done. Many of our projects are moving forward as expected, though some will need to be re-bid. However, this budget still makes strong investments in the preservation and maintenance of our existing infrastructure, in improving traffic safety, and in correcting fish passages. You can read more about the budget here.
Our supplemental capital budget invests in building more affordable housing, childcare centers, behavioral health treatment options, and more. It also funds projects to develop clean energy, help our salmon recover, and clean the air in our public schools. You can learn more here.