Dear friends and neighbors,
We’re more than halfway through the 2024 legislative session! There’s a lot of deadlines and milestones to keep up with, especially during a short, 60-day session. Tuesday marked the final day to pass House bills out of the House before we jumped back into committee hearings.
Join me at the 49th LD town hall on Tuesday 2/20
On Tuesday, Feb 20, Sen. Cleveland, Rep. Wylie and I will be hosting a telephone town hall and hope you’ll join us starting at 6 p.m. We’ll provide a quick legislative update as we head into the final weeks of session, but mainly we’ll focus on answering your questions. You can submit your question ahead of time to make sure it gets on the list.
You can access the town hall on Tuesday by dialing 877-229-8493 and entering the PIN 116294.
As state lawmakers we work on policies that help people right here in Washington, like affordable housing and funding our schools. We understand there’s a lot going on in national politics right now and hope you’ll take the time to direct those questions to your congressional lawmakers. We would like to hear from you about how we can make the 49th District an even better place to live.
Bills on the move
Taking a bill from an idea to a fully baked piece of legislation and getting it signed into law by the Governor requires lots of effort, and a good chunk of time (sometimes years!). That’s why it’s not unusual to introduce a number of bills at the beginning of session and see that number get smaller and smaller as we move through deadlines and cutoffs.
This session six bills that I sponsored passed the House and move onto the Senate to be heard in committee.
You can go to https://app.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/ and type in any bill number to learn more about it.
Rent stabilization for Washingtonians
One of the bills I’m really excited about this session is Rep. Emily Alvarado’s HB 2114 that would bring rent stabilization relief to the more than 1 million Washingtonians who are tenants. We passed this bill out of the House on Tuesday.
In the district
While the legislature is busy in Olympia, there’s exciting things happening in our district, too. Here’s some highlights:
- City of Vancouver accepting applications for Culture, Arts and Heritage Grants Program
This program awards grants between $1,000 to $10,000 to projects that support local music, visual art, dance, drama, film and cultural events in the community. Applications accepted through April 7. More info here: www.cityofvancouver.us/culturegrants - Enrollment is up 10% so far this year at Clark College! You can read more in this article from the Columbian.
- See Climate Commitment Act dollars at work. You can use this handy tool to see where real investments have been made in communities across Washington state, including nearby Hockinson school district.
You can always follow my Facebook page for more information and session updates or email me at Monica.Stonier@leg.wa.gov.
