Dear Friends and Neighbors,
With the start of the election year, this will be my last legislative update (until December). During an election year, there are certain restrictions on my communications to prevent the use of state resources for election purposes. Some of these restrictions include freezes on email updates and websites. However, you can still reach out to my office with questions, requests for meetings, or to deliver messages to me.
We will host our final round of legislative town halls for the 2023 – 2024 legislative session on Saturday, May 4th. Our first will be held at Nordic Hall Lodge in Coupeville from 10:00 – 11:00 am; and our second will be held at Skagit Valley College (Angst Hall 125) in Mount Vernon from 1:00-2:00 pm.
Throughout my two years as your state representative, I have tried my absolute best to bridge our communities together and heal our state. And to do this, I have always looked to find balance in my own life and the policies I pursue. During a time when others painfully try to tear us apart, we continue to search for compassion and kindness within ourselves and our community.
As I’ve said before, my responsibility in the state legislature is to solve tomorrow’s problems today – to keep moving forward and pass the baton to the next generation. While many see problems and criticize, I have always strived to envision solutions and say how.
And I believe that’s what we’ve done together during these past two years.
Environmental Protection
By drafting and passing the first fusion clean energy bill (HB 1924) – and fighting for green hydrogen funding in our state, we are working to change the way we power the world and the future.
Education
By drafting and passing financial education (HB 1658) and health care curriculum (HB 2236) in our high schools, we are helping create a new generation of young adults ready to take on the world and serve our communities.
Military and Veterans
By drafting and passing the Purple Star Award that recognizes schools that serve children of military families (HB 1346), we are helping ensure that our students have the social-emotional and educational support they need to succeed.
Public Safety
By drafting (HB 1413) and passing the Senate version (SB 5424) that provides flexible work schedules for police officers, we are creating a diverse law enforcement community of new mothers, retirees, etc. dedicated to continued public service.
Affordable Housing / Mental & Behavioral Health
By funding affordable housing and mental & behavioral health projects across every part of our district, we show our compassion by helping those whom we may never meet and caring for those who have never been cared for.
Lowering Cost of Living & Protecting Benefits
By working to expand property tax relief (HB 1355) and increasing retirement benefits (HB 1985) – among many other bills, we can find balance with supporting the programs we care about while also caring for those struggling.
Protecting Reproductive Rights
By cosponsoring access to abortion medication (HB 1854), we fight for everyone’s right to health care and reproductive freedom.
The Work Ahead
However, our work is never done – we are always on the way to helping more people and passing bills that didn’t make it to the finish line:
HB 1936 which gives a voice to our farmers in environment protection through a tax credit for those participating in conservation programs.
HB 1925 which expands the statewide veteran service officer (VSO) program so that every veteran – no matter the zipcode – has access to benefits.
HB 2023 which provides greater language translation for voting material so that every citizen can take part in our democracy.
HB 1951 which prohibits the use of artificial intelligence to discriminate so that technology works to help, not harm, us.
Serving as your state representative has been the greatest honor of my life – and I’m so proud to be part of making our little corner of the world a little bit better.
Always at Your Service,
Representative Clyde Shavers