Dear friends and neighbors,
The election results were certified yesterday, and with that I can resume our regular official legislative updates! You might remember from earlier this year (or, for long-time readers, previous election years) that during the election there are restrictions on our official communications — things like this e-newsletter or my official Facebook. These rules help keep elections fair by making sure that incumbents can’t use public resources for their campaign. I’m grateful for the many ways that we protect election security in Washington state, and these rules are just a small part of that.
I also want to say again what an honor it is to serve you all in the legislature. The trust you’ve placed in me is a guiding light as I make decisions down in Olympia. Thank you.
With that, I’m excited to be back in your inbox with a couple of small updates.
|
|
The House Page Program is accepting applications for next session, and I’d love to sponsor students from our district. If you know a student who is at least 14 years of age, but has not reached their 17th birthday, we would love to have them come to Olympia for a week to learn more about how our state government works. Students page for one week at a time, attending a Page School to learn more about the legislative process. They also support the operations of the House during floor action and other daily tasks.
Pages receive a stipend for their time and can earn community service hours. This year is a long session (more on that difference in a later newsletter!), so we’ll be accepting pages from Jan. 12, 2025 – April 25, 2025.
The program is open to all and I welcome applications from students of all backgrounds who live in or attend school in the 27th District. Several years ago, a scholarship program was established to encourage any student, regardless of income level, to apply for and participate in the Page Program. The scholarship offsets the costs of traveling to and staying in Olympia.
You can learn more about the program here, and apply for the program here.
You can also check out this interview I did with Viviane, who paged in the House during the 2023 session.
I’m looking forward to meeting this year’s 27th LD pages!
|
|
The open enrollment period for Washington Healthplanfinder has begun! If you are uninsured you can find a health care and dental plan for you and your family, now through Jan. 15, 2025.
Some households at a lower or middle income level may qualify for plans with premiums as low as $10 a month. Households that receive federal tax credits and participate through the Cascade Care Savings plan pay an average of $70 per month. You can get a more detailed estimate here.
Insurance questions can be complicated, but there are people available to help. Enrollment centers provide help for free, and there are locations available in Tacoma and broader Pierce County. The Washington Healthplanfinder is available to everyone, regardless of immigration status.
If you’ve got questions, check out their FAQ (also available in Spanish here).
I want to mention that included in these options is our public option plan. We established Cascade Care in 2019, and in 2021 we were the first state in the nation to offer a public option plan (Cascade Select). In 2024, this plan had significantly lower premium increases than other non-Cascade plans, and was the most affordable silver plan in most counties it was available. I’m proud of the fact that we’ve led the nation on this.
Strengthening our state’s safety net was one of the priorities you all identified in my survey last year, and that work will continue this session.