Dear neighbors,

The plan, as you may have heard back in December, was to hold a hybrid legislative session where some of us would take turns going to the Capitol to debate and vote on the House Floor. However, with the Omicron variant raging across the nation, and our state, it just wasn’t safe to do business as usual, so we’re back to working remotely.

We learned a lot last year and have improved the processes to ensure that, over just sixty days, we can safely and effectively do the work the people of Washington have entrusted upon us.

We had record participation from folks in every corner of the state last session and we saw it again this first week. When constituents can connect to the Legislature and participate in our democracy without having to travel, it is so much easier to have a say on the issues that matter to you.

Here are several ways you can continue to stay engaged remotely in the legislative process and provide input:

Watch all the action! TVW.org broadcasts all of the debates and votes that happen in the House and Senate, as well as committee meetings and other events in the public interest.

Need info on a bill and committee agendas? Find it all here.

Curious about the legislative process from start to finish? Check out this page.

Want to share your thoughts on a bill? Visit the How to Testify in Committee page.

Keep up with what I’m doing by signing up for my legislative e-newsletter here and following my official Facebook page.

And don’t hesitate to contact my office by sending an email or giving us a call at 360-786-7924

Tell us how to change Washington state’s tax code!

For the last few years, the Tax Structure Work Group (TSWG) has aimed to identify options to make the Washington State tax code more fair, adequate, stable, and transparent for both individuals and businesses. After conducting extensive analyses of Washington’s current tax structure, as well as modeling many possible scenarios for updating the code, the TSWG wants to hear your thoughts!

Learn more about the Work Group and the work they do in this 2 minute introductory video. 

Provide your feedback on ideas for changing Washington’s taxes by completing the TSWG survey before the January 31 deadline. These are just ideas at this point – the Work Group has not developed policies or bills yet. Depending on how much time you have, I encourage you to fill out either the short version of the survey (takes approximately 5 minutes) or long version of the survey (takes approximately 30 minutes). There are also multilingual surveys available in Spanish (Español), Vietnamese (tiếng Việt), Korean (한국어), Traditional Chinese (正體字), Simplified Chinese (简化字) and Russian (русский). Thank you in advance for helping to shape the future of taxes in our state.

2022 Priorities

This year we have a very short time frame to address three big issues:

1. We must be sure that the intent of the police accountability legislation passed last session is clear and addresses public safety concerns. Within the budget, we must ensure that our justice system, our mental and physical health system, and our training practices work as needed and are sufficient and funded. Ensuring there are mental health professionals available is part of this effort.
2. We need to write a supplemental transportation budget that keeps projects on track and people working as our economy recovers and grows. In addition, we are working on a longer-term transportation package that uses federal dollars and new technology to build a transportation system for the future. The replacement of the I-5 Bridge is a priority in this process.
3. Our major accomplishment of creating a long-term care system to address the future needs of our aging population was complex and should be paused and fixed in order to be successful. It is important to do this and to do it right.

Watch my first video update of the year where I discuss some of the work we will be focusing on this session:

Lastly, below are some of my prime sponsored bills:

HB 1523 allows local governments with Transportation Benefit Districts to extend their time frame with a local vote to complete needed projects.

HB 1666 clarifies an issue regarding the valuation of personal property tax.

HB 1667 addresses a problem in the Cannabis industry caused by the lack of federal action.

HB 1672 addresses and updates the conservation futures program that Clark County and other communities rely on for quality recreation and preservation of open space.

HB 1975 allows Housing authorities to be efficient in managing and maintaining the affordable housing they are responsible for operating with contractors.

Thank you for reading my newsletter.  If you need more information on any of the issues discussed here, or on any other legislative matter, please contact my office.

Sincerely,