Dear friends and neighbors,
When Democrats won the Senate Majority last November, my legislative colleagues and I immediately felt what Martin Luther King Jr. once called the “fierce urgency of now.” Hoping to embrace it, the Senate Democratic Caucus laid out an inspiring agenda to get our state back on track and moving forward.
I am proud to report that in just a short 60-day session, we were able to achieve a staggering number of progressive victories – the majority with bipartisan support – ranging from fully funding education and protecting women’s healthcare, to gun safety measures and net neutrality.
Our first order of business was to finish a few items remaining from the 2017 session. The top priority was to pass the capital construction budget, which included Washington’s largest-ever investment into school construction. Here in the 48th district, the 2017 capital budget, along with our 2018 allocations, will fund the following projects for our communities:
- $1.5 million for Highland Village Preservation
- $1.5 million to replace the Pacific Northwest Ballet School at the Francia Russell Center
- $500,000 to modernize the Kirkland Performance Center
- $200,000 to aid the Boys & Girls Club’s acquisition of the Lake Hills Clubhouse
In the 2018 supplemental operating budget, we also addressed critical needs facing our state. We invested in education, mental health, and jobs as well as completing the final piece of funding tosatisfy the McCleary decision, the state’s constitutional obligation to amply fund K-12 education. We did this all while cutting property taxes and maintaining a $2.4 billion reserve, the largest in state history.
For my part, I was the prime sponsor of six bills that reached the Governor’s desk this year. Please click here to read my full report.
I am deeply grateful for the impressive work of the many groups and individuals who helped make each of these bills a reality. I am even more grateful to know these policies are part of a much longer list of key legislation to pass this year, including those below!
However, we had hoped to get much more done this year, including stricter regulation of assault rifles and providing car tab relief. I am committed to working on these issues and many others over the interim to give us the best chance at passage next session.
It is truly an honor to serve as your Senator and my door is always open. If you have any questions about this session or any topic, please feel free reach me by email at Patty.Kuderer@leg.wa.gov or by phone at 360-786-7694.
Best regards,
