The legislative session is scheduled to come to a close on Thursday. We are working to come to a final budget agreement before then and I will have a full budget update before the end of the week.
I concur…
In addition to budget negotiations, the next few days will be busy with concurrence votes. For bills that have passed the House and Senate with different amendments, the chambers have to reconcile the differences and pass the bill in exactly the same form before it can go to the governor to be signed into law.
I have one prime-sponsored bill in the concurrence process, Senate Bill 5879. This bill improves the process by which funding for toddlers with disabilities receive state assistance. The House amendments were minor and improved the bill, so I anticipate the Senate will concur.
And the winner is…
Thank you to everyone who participated in the Spokane legislative trivia contest last week. Congratulations to our winner, Sam Cassel, who was selected randomly from among all those who submitted correct answers.
We had a nice response and appreciated everyone playing along. Here are the correct answers to our legislative trivia questions…
1) Senator Reba Hurn from Spokane was a groundbreaking pioneer as the first woman in the Washington State Senate. She served in the Senate from 1923 to 1930. The Senate changed their customary address once she was elected. “Gentleman of the Senate…” became “Senator Hurn and gentleman of the Senate….”
2) House Bill 1489, passed by the legislature in 2011, eliminated unnecessary phosphorous in lawn fertilizer to help reduce harmful algae blooms in the Spokane River and waterways throughout the state.
3) My colleague from the 6th Legislative District, Sen. Michael Baumgartner, was the only other Spokane area Senator who voted for the U-District Bike and Pedestrian Bridge and the rest of the transportation infrastructure package last year.
Campaign finance transparency
For the third year in a row, my bill to curb the flow of “dark money” into political campaigns (SB 5153) was blocked from moving forward by the Senate majority. I am disappointed that this bill was not allowed to the Senate floor for a meaningful debate.
Despite this setback, I will continue to work with concerned citizens and other elected officials to ensure we make progress on campaign finance transparency next session. The citizens of our state deserve no less than a healthy and fair democracy.
To learn more about the bill, I encourage you to read this article that was published last week in the Spokesman Review.
I couldn’t do it without them
Sen. Billig with staff
As the session winds down, I would like to take a moment to thank our wonderful staff. Kate, Erin, and Reed worked hard to serve the citizens of our district and keep the office running smoothly and efficiently. I have been so impressed with the three of them individually and with their teamwork together. Thank you!
Keeping in Touch
If you have a comment, idea or question, please let me know. I would love to hear from you!
You can email me at andy.billig@leg.wa.gov or call me at 360-786-7604.
Onward!
Andy
