Do You Concur? In addition to working on the operating budget, we have now focused our attention on the concurrence process. For bills that have passed both chambers of the Legislature in different forms, the House and Senate must work ...
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Money time! I believe the Legislature does its best work when we collaborate in a bipartisan manner. I have seen the positive results for the people of Washington State when collaboration is fostered and compromise is found. With the two ...
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Zombies Lobby for Tax Incentives Last week, a horde of zombies stormed the capitol for an important cause: the growing film industry of Washington State. Cast and crew from Spokane’s very own “Z Nation” filmed a promotional video encouraging my ...
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Honoring a Hero in Our Community Last Tuesday, I had the honor of sponsoring Senate Resolution 8623 which recognizes a Spokane hero, Carla Peperzak. Carla, who has lived in Spokane since 2004, served in the Dutch Resistance as a teenager during Nazi occupation. With courage ...
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Bipartisan legislation to bring more transparency to campaign finance in Washington passed the Senate floor today on a unanimous 49-0 vote. Sen. Andy Billig, D-Spokane and author of SB 5153, applauded the Senate for acting on the important bill to ...
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Mid-Session Recap As we reach the halfway mark in this year’s legislative session, bills face another major step in our funneling process – the house of origin cutoff. ByWednesday, all non-budget related bills must pass out of their initial chamber ...
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“The transportation investment package voted on today in the Senate had both good and bad elements for the Spokane region. While I voted ‘no’ today, I plan to continue to work to pass a transportation package that responsibly invests in ...
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Transportation Investment Package Last week, we saw the introduction and committee action on the Senate’s transportation investment proposal. While there is a lot to like in the underlying transportation package, there are some concerning policy bills that have been attached ...
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Safe Routes to School Three of state government’s most important responsibilities are education, transportation and protecting the health and safety of the state’s residents. It is rare that we have a program that delivers on all three of these priorities, but that ...
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WSU Spokane An outdated state law from 1917 dictates that Washington is only allowed to have one medical school, but in recent months, momentum has been building to change that law and allow WSU to establish a second medical school. Last ...
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