E-Newsletters

Dear friends and neighbors,   We are about two-thirds of the way through the legislative session. As usual, I’ve focused on helping people find good jobs to support their families, and we’ve made some progress there: part of helping people succeed is funding our public schools, and the Senate has led the way in expanding school funding, as I explain in more detail below. I also have a bill giving people the right to repair their own wheelchairs, which will help open up opportunities for independent repair shops to get into this line of business!  Read More

Dear friends and neighbors,   We’re past the halfway mark of the 2025 legislative session. Most important:   You’re invited to our in-person town halls!  Do you want to hear more about the work we’re doing in the Legislature, or have questions about a particular bill? Your 23rd district lawmakers want to hear what’s on your mind. We have two town hall options for you to attend on Saturday, March 22: 

• 9:30-11 a.m. at Bainbridge High School (9330 High School Rd. NE, Bainbridge Island, WA ...
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Dear friends and neighbors,   A lot of my time this session has been focused on how we can better fund our schools from preschool to college.   My bills to improve access to higher education  I’m so grateful to the University of Washington students who made it down to Olympia this week to meet with legislators. Their continued advocacy to make college more affordable is incredibly inspiring.  In this country, people used to be able to work their way through the UW or Washington State University on a minimum-wage job — paying ...

Dear friends and neighbors,   We just started the second week of the 2025 legislative session, and I wanted to give you a brief update. Most time-sensitive: We are accepting page applications, so if you know a young person 14-16 years old interested in politics, we’d love to see if we can fit them in to spend a week with us in Olympia (I did this when I was a kid, and it was great fun). Applications close March 27, 2025.  Chief ...

Dear friends and neighbors,   As vice chair of the Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development Committee, I’m excited about the work we’re doing to expand access to college and career training and respond to workforce demands and shortages.    I recently attended the launch of a new regional health sciences campus in Poulsbo, a joint effort between Olympic College, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health and many other partners. I’ve supported health care worker training for many years — in 2019, my bill (the “Workforce Education Investment Act,” HB 2158) funded nurse educator faculty ...

Dear friends and neighbors,   We just wrapped up the 2024 legislative session! This is my first year in the Washington State Senate, and I focused on some of the most pressing issues Kitsap County faces—ferries, homelessness, and substance use disorder—and built on my work to make college and apprenticeships more affordable to help people get jobs and support their families.   Funding for ferries  Good news to share on ferries! This year’s transportation budget includes key investments Rep. Tarra ...

Dear friends and neighbors,  The Senate just released its proposal for the state’s capital budget (the budget that builds things—hospitals, schools, drug treatment centers, etc.). I’m happy to report that the Senate budget proposal funds significant projects I requested to help Kitsap County with homelessness as well as the fentanyl and opioid crisis.    Funding to allow St. Vincent de Paul Bremerton to house more people  We need many more options for people without homes—affordable housing, short-term shelter beds, permanent supportive housing, and more. St. Vincent de Paul Bremerton is working on a ...

Dear friends and neighbors,  We’re over a third of the way through the 2024 legislative session! We’ve got our first deadline this week – Jan. 31. That’s when policy bills will need to make it through their committee of origin. After that, much of the action will happen in the fiscal committees and on the House and Senate floors.  My bill (SB 5999) to make college and apprenticeships more affordable for working families made it out of committee with bipartisan support. We heard testimony from so many students ...