Dear Friends and Neighbors,
The state House unveiled its 2024 supplemental capital budget proposal on Monday.
As a member on the House Capital Budget Committee, I’ve been working hard to steer projects into our district, including:
- $10 million for the Seven Nations Healing Lodge youth expansion to help improve behavioral healthcare.
- $1 million for Broadway Senior Housing, a 60-unit affordable senior housing complex.
- $300,000 to design and implement accessibility for Scale House Market and Kitchen, including ADA parking accommodations and exterior lighting.
- $258,000 for a playground at Intersection Preschool and Daycare.
I also managed to get two important funding items in the operating budget (House Bill 2104):
- $1.25 million for victims of the Gray and Oregon road fires.
- The budget would provide a grant to Spokane county for disaster case management services and assistance with housing, rent, transportation, property replacement, health, child care, and similar disaster response needs for victims of the Gray and Oregon road fires in 2023.
- $900,000 for local schools.
The $1.27 billion statewide supplemental capital budget invests heavily in K-12 school construction, mental health facilities, housing, and early learning facilities.
About 8% ($101.5 million) of this supplemental budget is funded with general obligation bonds. Article VIII, Section I of the Washington State Constitution requires a three-fifths vote to contract debt, which passed during the 2023 session. That high vote threshold forces both parties to come together on a compromise spending plan.
For more information about the capital budget, you can read my press release here.
Thank you for attending the town hall meeting
I sincerely appreciate everyone who attended my town hall meeting at CenterPlace Regional Event Center in Spokane Valley last Saturday.
It was great to see everyone and answer your questions and concerns as we approach the end of the 60-day legislative session.
Update on the initiatives
Thank you to those who took my legislative survey on the initiatives. A strong majority (80%) want the Legislature to pass the initiatives during session.
Legislative Democrats recently announced public hearings on three of the six initiatives:
- Initiative 2113 would fully restore the ability of law enforcement officers to engage in vehicular pursuit.
- Public hearing: Wednesday, Feb. 28, at 9 a.m. in a joint House Community Safety, Justice, and Reentry Committee and Senate Law and Justice Committee.
- Initiative 2081 would establish a parental bill of rights, so that parents would have authority over their child’s school and medical records.
- Public hearing: Wednesday, Feb. 28, at 8 a.m. in a joint House Education Committee and Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee.
- Initiative 2111 would prohibit state and local personal income taxes in Washington state.
- Public hearing: Tuesday, Feb. 27, at 12:30 p.m. in a joint House Finance Committee and Senate Ways and Means Committee.
To participate in a public hearing, either in-person or remotely, go to: app.leg.wa.gov/csi
If you do not wish to testify in a committee hearing, you can still submit written testimony on a bill for the archived legislative record.
You can also choose to have your position noted for the public record. The Committee Sign In – Remote Testimony page also allows you to select a chamber, committee, and bill, then indicate you wish to have your position noted for the archived legislative record.
The three initiatives without public hearings are:
- Initiative 2124 would allow people to opt out of the new state-run, long-term-care program.
- Initiative 2117 would repeal the Climate Commitment Act, the state’s new carbon tax program.
- Initiative 2109 would repeal the state’s new capital gains tax.
Remember, if the Legislature does not pass an initiative, it will be on the ballot in November and the voters of Washington will have the final word.
Fighting to protect the integrity of our elections
In the State Government and Tribal Relations Committee on Tuesday, I fought to amend Senate Bill 5843, which would require every county to install and maintain an intrusion detection system to monitor their network and to disclose certain malicious activity or breaches of security of information technology systems.
I have major concerns with this bill for several reasons: it would force all 39 counties to enter into a contract with the Secretary of State’s mandated election security system, rather than allowing local governments the freedom to choose what works best for them. It would also mandate that counties enter into a contract allowing the Secretary of State office to avoid any liability if something goes wrong. As I read the bill, the enforcement mechanism might allow the Secretary of State to force elected county assessors to forfeit their office.
This top-down, centralized approach to election security could make our elections less secure and further erode trust in the process.
It’s an honor to serve you
Please contact me if you have any questions, concerns, or comments. I am here to serve you and everyone in the 4th Legislative District.
It is an honor to serve you.
Sincerely,