Dear neighbors,
In my work as your Representative over the last three years, I’ve had the opportunity to meet so many of you and your neighbors, listen to your concerns, and learn about what issues affect your daily lives.
As a result of those discussions, I know how much people want the Legislature to take bold action to support a healthy economy–one that benefits all the people of our community.
This week, I’d like to update you on the legislation I’m working on during the 2022 session to support community priorities.
There’s also included information on ways you can easily participate in our democracy—I hope you find it useful!
Thank you for taking the time to get informed and involved. As always, it’s an honor to serve as your representative.
Top priorities this session
Our state must expand access to higher education and family-wage jobs, support rural economic development and recovery, and put healthcare and our quality of life first.
This session, I’m sponsoring legislation on each of those issues.
To expand access to higher education, I want to improve dual-credit programs, which allow students to earn college credit while still in high school. House Bill 1760 was introduced to allow more working families to join in Running Start and College in the High School. These are proven programs that accelerate learning and reduce college debt—and students should not be denied access based on the costs of textbooks or college fees.
I’m sponsoring House Bill 1805 because high-quality educational options lead to high-paying jobs. This bill enhances the Washington State Opportunity Scholarship and makes significant apprenticeship opportunities available to more rural students.
For rural communities like ours, healthcare is essential. I sponsored House Bill 1733, which strengthens the WA Cares Act and will better provide cost-effective care for our individuals, families, and our community. Seniors, disabled individuals, and their families should not be compelled to spend down their savings, go bankrupt, or sell their homes in order to pay for long-term care.
More Washingtonians will be able to get the care they need to stay in their homes longer as a result of these improvements to the WA Cares Act, which is better for everyone. I’m also working with local health doctors, behavioral health experts, and government leaders to enhance mental health services in our region.
Many of you have expressed concern about the ecology and the Salish Sea. House Bill 1700 will establish a stronger long-term funding approach for the removal of abandoned vessels from our waterways before they cause environmental harm.
Our community needs a sustainable, effective ferry system. I’m working to ensure the Transportation Budget addresses the workforce shortage in Washington State Ferries. We must also fund the construction of five new hybrid-electric ferries. Hybrid-electric ferries will be less expensive to maintain, which is beneficial to both the taxpayers and the environment.
Finally, our district contains one of the state’s largest populations of veterans. I’m continuing my efforts to improve the lives of veterans, active-duty servicemembers, and their families in order to better assist those who have served our country.
I’m particularly proud to be a sponsor of House Bill 1804, which ensures that firefighters, police officers, and other public servants who get an expeditionary force medal receive the retirement benefits they deserve. In addition, House Bill 1733 will allow military spouses and injured veterans to opt out of paying WA Care payments voluntarily.
Ways you can participate in the 2022 session
There are new ways that you can take part in the 2022 session of the Legislature, and I’m especially happy about how this will help the people of the 10th District. Depending on where you live, it could take two or three hours–each way–to fight traffic on I-5 to get to Olympia.
That’s simply not an option for most working families who want to meet their local lawmakers or testify on legislation.
Here are some quick links to ways you can learn, watch, research, or testify:
- Learn—The whole legislative process, from start to finish, is explained at leg.wa.gov/legislature/Pages/Overview.aspx
- Watch—Go to TVW.org for broadcasts of debates, votes, committee meetings, and other events in the House and Senate. There’s also an extensive archive of past events, if you couldn’t watch it live.
- Research—To look up legislation by lawmaker or topic, visit app.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/
- Testify—The 2021 Legislative Session proved that remote testimony is a great way for everyone to have a chance to share their voice. The remote committee testimony system will continue to be in use for all testimony for all bills.
A more comprehensive guide is available from the non-partisan legislative website available here.
Keep in touch
Thank you to everyone who has met with me over the last year to help shape these community and legislative objectives.
Civil discourse and respectful dialogue are critical to our democracy. Please contact my office if you have any questions, suggestions, or want to share your family’s story!
