An Update from Representative Marcus Riccelli – July 31, 2013

July 31, 2013

Good to be Home

Riccelli Constituent
Representative Riccelli speaking with a constituent from his legislative office in Spokane.

Greetings! With the month of July coming to a close, it is high summer in Spokane. The warm sunshine is a welcome change from the rainy months in Olympia. It feels great to be back with my family and the community that I love.

This has been a busy month for me, both personally and professionally. My wife and I welcomed a new daughter into the world. Bryn Marie Riccelli was born in early July, and we are so blessed to have her in our family. Mom and baby are doing great!

I was also appointed to two legislative committees that help facilitate government transparency and accountability and to boost economic development in communities across Washington state.

Transparency, Accountability, and Economic Development

The Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB) provides funding to local governments to help revitalize and reinvigorate local economies through public infrastructure investments. Spokane has benefitted greatly from the investments the committee has made, and as a board member I look forward to continuing their great work creating jobs both here locally and across the state

The Legislative Evaluation and Accountability Program (LEAP) Committee was created to provide lawmakers with independent information for developing budgets, communicating budget decisions, and tracking revenue and expenditures.

LEAP
The LEAP Committee met on July 25th and provided an update on implementation of Rep. Riccelli’s budget transparency bill.

During the session, I sponsored and helped pass legislation to increase transparency in our Capital and Transportation budgets. I believe people should be able to see where their tax dollars are going, and this legislation will make that information accessible online in an easy, user-friendly format.

This bill was one of the focal points at the LEAP meeting last week, which I was able to call into from Spokane. It was exciting to see how much progress has already been made to bring this vision to fruition. If you’re interested, you can listen to my remarks or catch the full discussion online.

Do you have thoughts about how to increase transparency or boost economic development? I would love to hear from you. Please email me at Marcus.Riccelli@leg.wa.gov or call my Spokane office at (509) 456-2760 to let me know what you think.

Best Regards,

Representative Marcus Riccelli
3rd Legislative District – Spokane