Dear friends and neighbors,

I’m proud to announce that the Senate just passed the capital budget proposal that I led the development of. What’s the capital budget? It’s the state’s infrastructure budget, which makes investments in all sorts of construction projects like affordable housing, schools, and other buildings around the state.

I’m very proud of our budget. It sets a record for the largest ever investment in affordable housing by the state, which we know is one of our top priorities for this session.

It provides nearly $2 billion combined for projects in our K-12 and higher education systems, helping fund school repairs, new buildings at our colleges and universities, and seismic safety to protect kids in case of earthquake.

It builds a new forensic hospital at Western State and mental health care facilities all across Washington, so people can get the care they need.

It sets another record for the investment in our Washington Wildlife & Recreation Program and makes other important investments in environmental projects like salmon recovery and stopping pollution.

And it helps our public safety efforts by building State Patrol crime labs to help process evidence faster and regional training centers for law enforcement across Washington, so officers can get the training they need closer to home.

You can read more about it on my website here.

I worked closely with both Democratic and Republican colleagues on the budget, and I’m proud to have developed this proposal in a collaborative, bipartisan way. That’s usually the best way, especially for a big budget like this that needs to work for every Washingtonian all across our state.

I talked a little bit about the budget in my weekly video – you can watch and share that here:

While I have a responsibility as the capital budget leader to write a budget that works for all of Washington, I also have a responsibility as the 5th District’s senator to make sure we’re getting the investments we need. The budget has a lot of good projects in our district, including:

  • $1 million for early learning facilities in the Issaquah School District
  • Fixing up Gibson Hall in Issaquah
  • Funding a new HVAC system for the Village Theater
  • Constructing a playground at Take-A-Break Park in Maple Valley
  • Making a big investment in the Sammamish Plateau Water Treatment Plant
  • Building a skatepark in Black Diamond
  • Supporting the Issaquah Senior Center Veterans Memorial Park
  • And more! (select 5th Legislative District in the ‘District’ dropdown to see the full list)

The House is expected to introduce their proposal next Monday, then I’ll work with them to negotiate our differences so we can agree to a final capital budget to pass before the end of session on April 23. I’m sure we’ll have our disagreements, but I also know that we share the same basic goals – funding housing, schools, higher ed, our environment, public safety, and health care – so I look forward to that work.

Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who has been in touch with my office about your thoughts, concerns, and questions. You can always reach me at Mark.Mullet@leg.wa.gov. Have a great weekend!

 

Sen. Mark Mullet