Friends and neighbors,

With week three of the 2022 Legislative session coming to a close, we have been working hard to pass some exciting bills both in Committees and on the Senate floor. Bills move fast during short, 60-day sessions, and that’s certainly no different this year!

Keep reading this newsletter for a few bill updates and an opportunity to hear from your 21st District legislators.

Join our upcoming 21st District Town Hall!

Join Reps. Lillian Ortiz-Self, Strom Peterson and I for a virtual town hall on Monday, Jan. 31 from 6-7pm! We’ll be going live on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube to answer your questions about the 2022 Legislative session and highlight some of our top priorities for the year. We hope to see you there!

You can submit questions in advance of the event at this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FH7GRJV

Important work session in the Senate Transportation Committee

This week, the Senate Transportation Committee held a work session to learn more about the negative impact of highways being built through our communities – and especially communities of color. We know that the transportation system as it has been constructed has caused harm, and we need to be actively working towards solutions.

Thank you to environmental justice consultant Dr. Regan F. Patterson, Coté Soerens from Cultivate South Park, Spokane Council Member Betsy Wilkerson, and Executive Director from the Carl Maxey Center Sandy Williams for their important presentations in the committee.

You can watch the hearing at TVW.org.

Exciting bill updates

This week, the Senate unanimously passed my first bill of the 2022 session! Senate Bill 5508 is a crucial step towards ensuring people who pay into private long-term care plans can receive their benefits.

In some cases, folks have been paying into these plans for decades, but when the time came that they needed coverage, they were unable to access it. This legislation will work to prevent that by aligning Washington law with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners Model Act. You can read more about it on my website!

A few of my other bills are working their way through committees, including:

  • Senate Bill 5830 which would help to diversify faculty at our public universities. This bill made it out of the Higher Education & Workforce Development Committee this week and is now headed over to the Ways and Means committee!
  • Senate Bill 5648 to allow for more accessory-dwelling units (or ADU’s) and increase the supply of housing in Washington. This bill had its first public hearing in the Senate Housing & Local Government Committee on Tuesday, and I’m eager for more momentum on this issue!
  • Senate Bill 5861 to authorize certain cities to establish a housing benefit district for affordable housing and community development projects received its first public hearing of the session this week.

Thank you for reading my latest newsletter. Remember that you can always get in touch with my office about the issues you care about!

All my best,

Marko