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We have wrapped up the 2024 legislative session, and I'm pleased to report that state lawmakers worked together to pass legislation and fund projects to benefit Washingtonians. I'm especially proud that my bill to lower the cost of health care by capping the price of asthma inhalers and epi-pens passed both the House and the Senate unanimously. This is great news for families who use these life-saving medications for asthma and allergies. In addition, the Legislature passed two very important...
Here’s an inside look at how your democracy works in Olympia. We just passed the deadline for bills to make it out of the House of Origin, meaning House bills needed to pass the House and Senate bills had to get voted out of the Senate. That meant we spent all day debating bills for about a week. More than once, we voted until about 2 a.m. I’m proud to report that we actually agree far more often than we disagree. Of the 270 bills we passed this year in the House, 76% received strong bipartisan support and 54% were passed unanimously. Thos...
Our state has long worked to reduce – and ultimately – eliminate fatal car accidents. That should be getting easier, given improvements of safety features on cars over the last few decades. Instead, we're losing ground. Crime makes the news – bank robberies, car thefts and murders always get a lot of attention. But far more Washingtonians die each year on our roads than because of homicides. In 2022, Washington state had 394 homicides. That same year, 745 people died in traffic wrecks. Over...
How can we listen to each other and find common ground – and solutions that work for our community? I think it starts with listening to each other. The legislative session began on Jan. 8 and runs for 60 straight days, including weekends. I’d like to share two things with you this week: (1) comments and ideas from our recent 10th District survey and (2) some common-sense reforms I’m working on this session. First, your comments and ideas. Hearing directly from you is incredibly important to me...
I’m happy to report the Legislature finished the 2023 session with a balanced budget – and excellent transportation and construction budgets that will create jobs in the 10th district and throughout our state. Affordability The price of everything has gone up – especially housing. I know how hard this is on family budgets. It’s also tough on our economy, making the workforce shortage worse when jobs go unfilled because people can’t find housing within commuting distance. This session, the Legis...
The 2023 legislative session ended on April 23. Over the last four months, we developed operating, transportation and capital budgets that will help our community and our state. I'll have more to say about these budgets and what they mean for our families here in the 10th District in my next column. This week, I want to give you a snapshot of how our democracy here in Olympia works – and how local community members affect that process. Passing a single bill is like running two separate m...
Our town hall meetings aren’t that different from what happens in the House and Senate in Olympia. People share their opinions – sometimes softly, sometimes loudly. Yet the kind of dialogue we have—and the attitude we bring to that conversation—determines everything else. It was an honor to host two bipartisan town hall meetings in March and to listen to your ideas, stories and questions. Every town hall is unique, because every community has different issues and ideas. What is the same each ti...
If we listen to each other with respect and work together, good things happen. I’m happy to report that we’re doing a lot of that this year in Olympia. With the legislative session at the halfway point, we’ve passed some great legislation for the people of Washington. I’m pleased to report that almost 60% of the bills voted out of the House of Representatives this year were passed with unanimous support – and almost 80% were passed with the support of 80 or more legislators from both sides of th...
Last month, I wrote about the workforce shortage, which is holding back our economy and critical services like healthcare. The housing crisis is intertwined with our workforce shortage. Even if a local business or hospital recruits a great candidate for a job, no one can take that position without a place to live. Sometimes, the only home they can find or afford isn't anywhere near their work. That means they either can't take the job – or they suffer through long commutes every day, adding t...
Here in the 10th District and throughout the state, we face challenges that affect all our families, including: • A shortage of housing. • Lack of access to healthcare. • Businesses who can't find skilled workers. The last point is key: a shortage of workers. That is the common thread to each of those problems. We can't make significant progress on improving ferry reliability, housing affordability, healthcare outcomes or the economy without addressing shortages of workers in those field...
Democracy works best when we listen to each other – and work together in good faith to tackle the issues most important to our community. That may sound old-fashioned today. Yet those three concepts – the values of listening to each other, working together and focusing on the common good – have never been more important to the future of our community and to our state. We live in an age where the angriest voices often get the most time on cable news shows and the most clicks on social media...
Our state has a diverse economy, and manufacturing plays a key role. Aerospace is what usually comes to mind when we talk about manufacturing – but our state has a rich history across a number of important industries. When our state, businesses, labor and local communities collaborate to make the right decisions and investments, we will have a prosperous future producing what people around the world need. This is a bipartisan issue: Democrats and Republicans alike recognize that increasing the number of manufacturing jobs is good for our...
Ferries are not just green-and-white boats to the families and businesses of the 10th District. To us, those boats are vital connections to work, school, and services like doctors and dentists. Reliable ferries are essential to our local economy and quality of life. So how can we improve ferry service today – and build a system that will work for the next 100 years? Part of the answer is we have to work together. I formed the Ferry Caucus alongside Sen. Liz Lovelett (D-Anacortes), creating...
Last week, the Legislature finished the house-of-origin cutoff. This means that House bills needed to pass the House – and Senate bills needed to pass the Senate – in order to stay alive for consideration during this legislative session. There are only a few budget-related exceptions that don’t fall on this timeline. Fortunately, nearly all of the bills I sponsored this session were passed by the House and are now in the Senate. This includes the three bills I sponsored to expand veterans’ benefits and a bill to explore summer sch...
In my work at both the State Legislature and at Skagit Valley College, I’ve learned that veterans face significant challenges during and after the transition to civilian life. Many face significant mental health and medical hurdles, as well as an increased risk of experiencing homelessness. Here are some quick facts about the difficulties many veterans face. Veterans are more likely to experience homelessness than non-veterans. Male veterans are twice as likely—while female veterans are three times as likely—to experience h...
On January 14, I had the honor of being sworn in as one of your representatives for the 10th district. I look forward to addressing tough issues like transportation infrastructure development, strengthening our public schools and developing effective and diverse college and professional-training pathways. The last topic is very important to me. I have taught in higher education for 20 years. The last 10 years, I have helped students at Skagit Valley College earn a degree or certificate that leads to a living-wage job or allows them to transfer...
