Greetings Friends and Neighbors, In order to ensure fair and proper elections, Washington State has stringent rules on the use of public resources during election years. Senators who are up for re-election in 2016, including me, must follow specific rules and laws concerning our written communications with you. As of...

Washington’s Paramount Duty A look at education funding in our state Greetings, For the past 30 years, starting in the early 1980s, growth in general government spending outpaced the state’s investments in public education. Billions of dollars were diverted from the state’s paramount duty toward other state programs. As the...

May 21, 2015 Budget Update: Day 24 of the Special Session The end of the 2015 special session is just over a week away. The Legislature was convened by the governor for 30 days to finish work on the operating budget that should have been completed in the 105-day regular...

February 24, 2015 Greetings Friends and Neighbors, We are past our first cut-off, Feb. 20. Bills that have received a public hearing and have been voted out of committee will continue through the legislative process. I am focused on increasing fairness in how our state deals with small businesses and...

January 14, 2015 Greetings Friends and Neighbors, The 2015 legislative session began Monday. Considerable work will go into building a sustainable budget that prioritizes education. I believe that we can do this without significantly altering our state’s tax structure as Governor Inslee is proposing. Raising taxes should be a last...

January 12, 2015 Greetings Friends and Neighbors, The 2015 Legislative Session begins this coming Monday. It will be challenging, as we build a budget that reflects the values of the people of our state and district and prioritizes jobs, education and responsible spending. I will focus my efforts on policies...

Greetings, We adjourned this legislative session in March on time and on budget. During the following weeks, the Governor signed various bills passed by the Legislature, and I had the opportunity to see some of the bills I sponsored or their companion bills signed into law. Our work on the...

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