Dear neighbors,
A big part of my job is keeping you informed—and another part of that job is listening to your ideas, questions, and comments.
This is a quick update to tell you about three key issues that I’ve heard from you about: education, long-term care, and how you can participate in your democracy this session.
I’ll continue to send updates as we push to make progress on better schools, better health care, and better jobs for our community in SWWA.
Fairness for all our public schools
Why is 59 percent of the vote a landslide for an election—except if it’s a school bond? If 50 percent is good enough for politicians, it should be good enough for our kids!
That’s why I continue to introduce legislation to fix this problem. House Bill 1226 would let the people decide with a majority vote on school district bond measures – requiring a vote of 50 percent or more instead of the 60 percent requirement we have today. That higher number is a barrier that prevents our kids from getting what they need to succeed. School bond measures, even with a majority of voters in support keep “failing” because of this outdated, archaic, and undemocratic policy imposed during the Great Depression.
This is the last week we can vote this bill out of the Education committee, but I am getting concerned that my colleagues across the aisle and serving districts most impacted will not step up. I won’t give up this fight. There are more than one million students in our public schools and to me, that is one million reasons to continue to fight to right this historic wrong.
Listening to you about long-term care
Many people called, wrote, or emailed my office about needed changes to the WA Cares law that sets up long-term care benefits here in Washington state.
I listened and am happy to say that we took early action in the House of Representatives to address those concerns.
I voted for two measures that make necessary changes to this program, including exemptions for border county residents, military families, and an 18-month delay while we make further adjustments.
It’s important that every senior has access to long-term care when they need it. And it’s also important that we get this program right to best serve the people.
Participating in your democracy
There are new ways that you can get informed and involved during the 2022 session of the Legislature.
- 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.
Stay in touch
Hearing from you is so important to me. Please get in touch with my office to share your ideas, questions, or comments.
I hope to hear from you soon!
