E-Newsletters

Happy New Year! Happy New Year! I wish everyone a joyous, healthy, and successful 2015! Deputy Minority Leader I was honored that my colleagues recently elected me Deputy Leader of the Senate Democratic Caucus. As deputy minority leader, I will work to lead the Senate in passing legislation that will provide opportunities and build prosperity for the citizens of our ...

Community Leadership Summit on Transit Earlier this month, I participated in a transit summit with other elected officials, non-profit and business leaders and other transit riders. We completed a challenging transit planning exercise and expressed our priorities for transit in Spokane. Organized by the Spokane Transit Authority, the goal of the planning ...

Oil Train Hearing Spokane was the site of one of two public hearings last week on the Governor's Rail and Marine Oil Transportation Study. I testified at the hearing on the growth of oil transportation by rail through our state and the significant impact that oil trains could have on two important community priorities: safety and prosperity. Our safety could be ...

Commencement Address Last month, I had the honor of delivering the commencement address for the Spokane Falls Community College graduation ceremony. In my speech I focused on the benefit to being open-minded and quoted Dr. Seuss’ “Green Eggs and Ham,” one of my favorite stories to read with my daughter when she was little. The message of the story - to ...

Protecting the Spokane River Safeguarding the Spokane River is a priority for our community and has been one of my legislative priorities over the past four years. In that work, I often end up viewing the river through the lens of parts per million of PCBs or tons of phosphorous, so it was a pleasure last week to experience the river ...

In the community One of my priorities during the interim between legislative sessions is to spend time diving deeper into the challenges and successes in our community. I work toward this goal by touring businesses, visiting with teachers and students in our schools, attending community events, and meeting with constituents in any way I can.

Passing the Operating Budget Last week, both the Senate and the House passed their supplemental operating budget proposals. Our state operates on a two-year budget cycle. In the odd years, we do two-year biennial budgets. In the even years, like this one, we do a supplemental budget that is an update and adjustment to the two-year budget plans. I supported the bipartisan Senate ...

The DREAM Act   Last week, after three years of work the Legislature passed the DREAM Act. This historic piece of legislation will provide equal access to state-based higher education financial aid without regard to immigration status as long as a student has graduated from a Washington State high school.   I was proud to join a bi-partisan coalition in support of the ...

Focus on Safety - Oil by Rail One of the most pressing and growing safety concerns for our community is the dramatic increase in trains traveling through Spokane carrying Bakken crude oil from North Dakota to terminals in Western Washington. I have received many comments from constituents who are concerned about this subject and the Spokane City Council has been active in ...

“Cut-off” Week Last week was committee “cut-off” week in Olympia. The legislative schedule provides for certain cut-off dates that serve as a funnel narrowing down the number of bills to be considered this session. If a bill did not pass out of committee by the cutoff date, it is dead for this session. The only exception to these cut-off dates are ...