{"id":2912,"date":"2025-01-17T19:11:34","date_gmt":"2025-01-18T02:11:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/bateman\/?p=2912"},"modified":"2025-01-17T19:11:34","modified_gmt":"2025-01-18T02:11:34","slug":"first-week-in-the-senate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/bateman\/2025\/01\/17\/first-week-in-the-senate\/","title":{"rendered":"First week in the Senate!\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear friends and neighbors,\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is my first week in the state Senate, and I\u2019m so excited about this new opportunity to serve you! I was sworn in by Chief Justice Debra Stephens on Monday, and we\u2019re already at work on some of the biggest issues facing our district and state.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Sen.How to get in touch<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m glad to have some of the most active constituents of any district in the state, with so many of you being state employees or retirees from state service. Representing the 22<\/span>nd<\/span> district, which is home to our state capital means it\u2019s convenient for you to visit my office, and it\u2019s so much more meaningful and informative for me to hear from you directly.\u00a0 With my new Senate role, I want to make sure you have my updated contact information if you\u2019re trying to reach me.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Email: Jessica.Bateman@leg.wa.gov<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Phone: 360-786-7642<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Office: LEG 409, on the fourth floor of the legislative building on the Capitol campus\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If <\/span>you\u2019re<\/span> just looking for information, t<\/span>he Legislat<\/span>ure<\/span> has updated the <\/span><\/span>leg.wa.gov<\/span><\/span><\/a> website, and <\/span>it\u2019s<\/span> easier than ever to find <\/span>details<\/span> on a bill<\/span> or weigh in on legislation before us<\/span>. <\/span><\/span>This is a helpful page to learn<\/span><\/span><\/a> how to use the website to track legislation or find out more about a bill. If <\/span>you\u2019d<\/span> like to testify <\/span>on a bill or just sign-in for the record on a committee hearing, <\/span><\/span>we\u2019ve got information<\/span><\/span><\/a> on how to do that as well.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Sen.<\/p>\n

Bills I\u2019m working on<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the most important jobs I have this session is chairing the Senate Housing Committee, where I\u2019ll help advance the Legislature\u2019s agenda to ensure we expand housing affordability and clear red tape to help folks build more of the right housing for their communities. As you likely know, this is an issue I\u2019ve been passionate about for years, and I\u2019m introducing several important housing bills this year:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One major bill is the Housing Accountability Act. We\u2019ve passed some transformative housing reforms over the past few years, but those state-level policies don\u2019t matter much if they can\u2019t be implemented across Washington. This bill will help put a process in place to ensure folks are actually able to build the affordable housing communities are asking for and the Legislature has voted for.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Parking Reform Act is all about making sure builders have the flexibility to build the right amount of parking for each project. Some places need lots of parking and some need only a little \u2014 letting people build what\u2019s right rather than forcing one-size-fits-all plans will make it easier to construct more affordable buildings for both housing and businesses.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve also been working on health care issues throughout my time in the Legislature, and I\u2019m a member of the Senate Health & Long-Term Care Committee this session. I\u2019m sponsoring a couple bills on the subject this year to support people who provide long-term care to an elderly or disabled family member, to help people in need access psychiatric drugs by allowing psychologists to write certain prescriptions, and to make sure insurance companies using algorithms to approve or deny behavioral health care base those decisions in best practices and modern standards of care \u2014 not on what makes them the most profits.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What are you thinking about?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve shared some of the bills I\u2019ve introduced so far, but I also need your input on what we should prioritize. What issues are on your mind? Send me an email at <\/span>Jessica.Bateman@leg.wa.gov<\/span><\/a> \u2014 your thoughts, feedback, and questions are always appreciated.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks for reading, and please stay in touch!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sen. Jessica Bateman<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear friends and neighbors,\u00a0\u00a0 This is my first week in the state Senate, and I\u2019m so excited about this new opportunity to serve you! I was sworn in by Chief Justice Debra Stephens on Monday, and we\u2019re already at work on some of the biggest issues facing our district and state.\u00a0\u00a0 How to get in touch\u00a0 I\u2019m glad to have some of the most active constituents of any district in the state, with so many of you being state employees or retirees from state service. Representing the 22nd district, which is home to our state capital means it\u2019s convenient for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":1240,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"disable_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e-news"],"yoast_head":"\nFirst week in the Senate!\u00a0 - Sen. Jessica Bateman<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/bateman\/2025\/01\/17\/first-week-in-the-senate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"First week in the Senate!\u00a0 - Sen. Jessica Bateman\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dear friends and neighbors,\u00a0\u00a0 This is my first week in the state Senate, and I\u2019m so excited about this new opportunity to serve you! I was sworn in by Chief Justice Debra Stephens on Monday, and we\u2019re already at work on some of the biggest issues facing our district and state.\u00a0\u00a0 How to get in touch\u00a0 I\u2019m glad to have some of the most active constituents of any district in the state, with so many of you being state employees or retirees from state service. Representing the 22nd district, which is home to our state capital means it\u2019s convenient for...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/bateman\/2025\/01\/17\/first-week-in-the-senate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sen. 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