News Releases

Sen. Andy Billig, D-Spokane, has been awarded the 2014 Golden Crayon Award from the Early Learning Action Alliance in recognition of Billig’s commitment to improving and expanding early learning programs over the past two years. This past legislative biennium, Billig sponsored SSB 5595, a bill that improved the efficiency of the state’s early learning programs and increased access to high quality ...

Legislation introduced by Sen. Andy Billig would begin the Summer Knowledge Improvement Pilot (SKIP) program, an extended school year for selected high-poverty elementary schools to combat academic regression over the summer. The bill was introduced with a strong bipartisan list of cosponsors. “There are mountains of evidence that summer learning loss is a major factor in the opportunity gap that many ...

Legislation introduced today by Sen. Andy Billig would bring increased transparency and accountability to Washington’s campaign finance system. “The people of Washington should know who’s paying for political campaigns in this state, and we all count on a robust and transparent campaign finance reporting system to make that happen” said Billig, D-Spokane. “Recently we’ve seen examples from both sides of the ...

Washington’s Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) would develop and adopt rules for making contributions to state and local electoral campaigns through text message under new legislation proposed today by Sen. Andy Billig, D-Spokane. “Updating our campaign finance laws to reflect modern technologies will broaden participation in the election and campaign process, which leads to a healthier democracy,” said Billig. “We’ve seen charities and ...

Sen. Andy Billig, D-Spokane, released the following statement today on the passing of former Speaker of the House Tom Foley:

"I was deeply saddened to hear of the passing of former House Speaker Tom Foley. U.S. Representative Foley represented Spokane and the rest of the 5^th Congressional District with honor for three decades, during which he was a champion for ...

State Sen. Andy Billig (D-Spokane), a member of the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee, has been named to the Thrive by Five Washington Board of Directors. Seattle-based Thrive is the state's leading public-private partnership for early learning.

Billig, a first-term senator, made a name for himself during the 2013 legislative session as a champion for children, sponsoring ...

Governor Jay Inslee has signed into law a series of bills sponsored by Senator Andy Billig, D-Spokane. Two of these bills are focused on one of Billig’s top legislative priorities – expanding opportunities for children through quality early learning programs and a quality foster care system.

Early learning programs are crucial to preparing children for success in school and life, ...

Consumers will be safer from cancer-causing building materials under legislation signed into law today by Gov. Jay Inslee.

Asbestos has been known to be a carcinogen for decades, but many asbestos-containing building materials are still legal. SSB 5458 would require that any products containing asbestos be clearly labeled to ensure that consumers are informed that the product contains this dangerous ...

The remainder of the legislative session will be dominated by the state’s operating budget. Budget proposals from the Senate and House are expected over the next two weeks. The budget proposals usually follow the March revenue forecast, which was released last Wednesday. This latest revenue forecast was consistent with previous forecasts and we continue to face an approximate $1.3 billion projected ...

3^rd District Delegation to hold town hall meetings March 16th With the legislative session halfway over, my seatmates (Rep. Marcus Riccelli & Rep. Timm Ormsby) and I will be holding two town hall meetings to hear from constituents and answer questions on Saturday, March 16th. Topics will include education, transportation, job creation, the state budget and anything else you want to ...