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As our communities face harsher climate effects including droughts, heatwaves, and floods, it is important for all of us to work together towards ensuring a healthier environment. That’s why we are dedicated to pursuing two approaches to environmental protection. First, I am committed to investing in clean energy technologies that create good-paying jobs, lower energy bills and support a path toward energy independence. House Bill 1924—which supports fusion technology—passed the Senate and will be signed into law. By incorporating this techn...
Nothing changes your outlook on life quite like the birth of a child. Seeing the helpless life for which you’re now responsible can be scary, but as many parents find, that gives way to excitement and optimism for what the future holds for this precious gift. What will their personality be like? What will their laugh sound like? What impact will they have on our community and world? I’m eagerly awaiting the birth of a grandchild and considering what the world will look like for them. It got me thinking that too many people aren’t as optim...
The United States was born out of conflict. Profound disagreement led to a war with tragic losses of life and property for the revolutionaries who put at stake their lives, fortunes and sacred honor. The promise of progress was worth the risk even as many of the fledgling nation’s potential citizens fled north to Canada or returned to the United Kingdom. Similarly, during the Civil War, it became apparent that the evils of slavery could not stand, and the Union’s moral certitude required imposing progress. From today’s vantage point, I can’t...
Our democracy is strongest with full and equal participation in free, fair and secure elections. This means protecting your right to vote and having your vote counted. That’s why I introduced House Bill 2023, which increases language assistance in our elections. Put simply, if an individual cannot understand the ballot, they’re less likely to vote. Even for proficient English speakers, the voting process is challenging to navigate. By expanding the language requirements in the Voting Rights Act, this bill will provide voting translation res...
If you’ve been following my work in the state Senate, you’ve likely picked up on some themes. In all my work, I look at the state’s policy problems through a pragmatic lens of structure, discipline and accountability. But what’s the goal? In my view, legislators have an obligation to the public to use the resources they send to state government to do the most good for the most people. One area that touches all of our lives and pocketbooks is health care. Escalating costs are a big problem for patients in Washington. You may have heard me rattle...
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, I wrote a column in this paper bringing attention to a different public health problem sweeping the nation. While maybe not as physically deadly, the long-term impacts on the health of our communities were and are still as dire. I was discussing the very real pandemic of hate. The data is clear. While COVID-19 was a killer, the government's heavy-handed response was just as deadly. Deaths of despair via suicide and other destructive behavior have...
During the hectic, fluid and complex process of the 2023 legislative session, I wanted to keep our priorities front and center. I’ve been fighting to help our low-income and working families, support our veterans and military families, protect and preserve our environment, provide our students more opportunities and ensure our rural counties and cities have the resources they need to keep our communities strong. We’ve made significant progress and I wanted to share some successes we’ve had t...
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 legislature reviews hundreds of proposed pieces of legislation during sessions. This year, with the help of our team, I have drafted and introduced twelve bills. Six passed the House and five passed the Senate. So far, two have been signed by the Governor with more scheduled. As a first-time legislator, I would like to share how proposals become law with a bill that I’ve introduced this year, House Bill 1658, which allows high school students to earn credit for paid work experience and f...
The facts about health care in the United States are eye opening. How can a nation that spends nearly twice as much as our economic peers still have so many problems? As the former ranking member of the state Senate Health Care Committee and current assistant ranking member, I spent some considerable time trying to unpack our rising health care cost challenge. Like other complex, human problems, this one won’t be solved with a silver bullet either. Let’s start with the biggest problem in our...
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...
The Skagit Valley’s environment and economy has been shaped over time by changes in our climate and land use. Some of these changes have resulted in devastating impacts to our communities, including floods, heat waves, droughts and wildfires. In 2021, our farmers and farmworkers witnessed one of their driest years with record low rainfall in spring and a vicious heat wave in summer. By late July, the Washington Department of Ecology issued a drought emergency as farmers dealt with dry conditions...
It seems that the efforts to enshrine reproductive access in the state constitution have been aborted, as the proposed amendments from the House and Senate failed to receive a Floor vote before our most recent cutoff. As I’ve said in other media outlets and during committee proceedings on the Senate’s version, I believe the issue of abortion access is settled in Washington state. In no uncertain terms, voters told us via initiative their policy preference on the matter. My job is to rep...
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...
As vice chair of the House Education Committee, I’ve been regularly meeting with students, teachers and administrators on every aspect of our education system. We’ve collaborated on special education, early childhood education, career and technical education and much, much more. I’ve spoken with low-income students who have jobs outside of school to support their family. Students with rigorous academic schedules tell me they simply don’t have time to explore job opportunities. And parents are wo...
There seem to be a lot of “crises” in Olympia – a housing crisis, an opioid crisis, a public safety crisis, a climate crisis. Attaching this moniker has adverse effects on people by creating a false sense of urgency and helplessness and driving otherwise rational people toward the irrational. Lawmakers better serve the public by toning down the rhetoric. Instead of stoking the flames of division and panic, legislators should offer a positive vision of hope, unity and calm. There is too much...
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...
The 10th legislative district has one of the largest populations of veterans in Washington state. Island County, for example, has more veterans per capita than any other county. Between Island, Snohomish and Skagit counties, the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs reports over 72,000 veterans in our region. Our veterans return home and continue to serve our communities as our friends, neighbors and colleagues. They buy a home, start a family and reintegrate as heroes living among us....
There are lies, dang lies and statistics, but in the debate on fixing the failed "police reform" laws from 2021, it seems that no amount of research, pleading, facts or lived experience can overcome ideology. In my estimation, that is exactly the sticking point. Advocates of the public safety status quo that has facilitated significant upticks in police evasions, violent crimes and thefts, are unwilling to entertain any reasonable arguments for why their ideologically driven approach may need...
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...
Washington has a proud history of agricultural leadership. Here in Skagit County, we have one of the largest and most diverse agricultural communities west of the Cascade Mountains. Island County is home to an ecosystem of organic and school district farms, training programs and community supported agriculture. We have a lot to be proud of – and a lot to protect. Agriculture should be home-grown and family owned. Local farmers mean a stronger local food pipeline, more robust local economy and a...
We deserve better, even if we don't demand it. The latest findings from the Washington state auditor's office are unfortunately just a snapshot of an obscure yet growing problem in our state government, one that has only been made worse by large influxes of funding from the federal government and unprecedented economic growth in our state. In a time of scarcity, when many of our neighbors have been left behind, not only is state government failing to provide necessary and promised services, but...
