{"id":3226,"date":"2022-03-15T14:39:56","date_gmt":"2022-03-15T21:39:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/dhingra\/?p=3226"},"modified":"2022-03-15T14:39:56","modified_gmt":"2022-03-15T21:39:56","slug":"thats-a-wrap-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/dhingra\/2022\/03\/15\/thats-a-wrap-2\/","title":{"rendered":"That\u2019s a wrap"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear neighbors,<\/p>\n

Each year since I came to the Senate, we have finished on time, with a balanced budget that puts people first. This year was no different. Last Thursday, when we passed the budget and brought the 2022 legislative session to a close, marked the first time since 1899 that the Washington State Legislature has finished on time for five sessions in a row.<\/p>\n

Our state has a lot to be proud of. Our state budgets over the past several years have earned and maintained our first ever AAA bond rating<\/a> from Moody\u2019s. CNBC<\/a> and others<\/a> have ranked us one of the top 10 states for businesses at the same time as Oxfam<\/a> has ranked us the best state for workers.<\/p>\n

Even though we were the site of the first Covid outbreak in the US, Washington has the seventh-lowest<\/a> death rate of any state. And a study<\/a> from this summer about how state economies handled the pandemic ranked Washington the best in the country. It\u2019s no surprise to Washingtonians that U.S. News<\/a> ranked us the number-one state to live in two years in a row.<\/p>\n

The work we did this session, with your help, will continue to build a strong foundation for an even brighter future in our state.<\/p>\n

Investing in communities<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our budget is our values statement, and this year\u2019s budget puts people first\u2014just as we have done in every year since Democrats regained the Senate majority in 2018. We invested in expanding our behavioral health workforce, rapidly increasing the supply of affordable housing, building out our green-energy infrastructure, supporting teachers, increasing the number of nurses and counselors in schools, and much more.<\/p>\n

We also put money back into the pockets of people around the state, especially those whose small businesses have struggled because of the pandemic. More than 125,000 small businesses across the state will no longer pay the state business tax, and all employers across the state will see $214 million in unemployment insurance tax relief to address the historically high unemployment rates since the onset of the pandemic.<\/p>\n

You can read more about our budget and many of the great policy bills we passed this session here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Protecting survivors and doing justice<\/strong><\/p>\n

In my first session as chair of the Senate Law & Justice Committee, I was proud of the progress we made this year to establish a missing indigenous person alert, reduce gun violence, cut down on catalytic converter theft, and more.<\/p>\n

Five bills I sponsored in the Senate passed the Legislature\u2014all on bipartisan votes. They will help protect survivors, improve our justice and behavioral health systems, and make our state safer for everyone.<\/p>\n