E-Newsletters

Dear friends and neighbors: One bill of mine currently before the Senate Ways & Means Committee would reduce costs for high school students in Running Start and College in the High School programs. Senate Bill 5719 would establish a grant program to pay up to $35 per credit for College in ...

Dear friends and neighbors: I have three main priorities for the legislative session that began Monday. First and foremost, I am helping to develop a transportation revenue package that will, among other things, provide the funds to finish Highway 18 without raising the gas tax. As the serious head-on collision earlier this week ...

Dear friends and neighbors: I was encouraged recently to see a judge throw out the state insurance commissioner’s emergency rule banning insurers from using credit scoring to set rates. While this is only one step in the overall process, it’s a positive step that could lead to the rescinding of the ...

Dear friends and neighbors: Many of you have or will soon be seeing significant increases in your insurance premiums because of a recent emergency rule by the state insurance commissioner to prohibit the use of credit scores in insurance. The basic effect is that many people who file few claims will ...

Dear friends and neighbors: Numerous 5^th District communities will benefit from the state construction budget we’ll soon be passing off the Senate floor. This budget, separate from both the transportation and operating budgets, supports infrastructure such as buildings for local governments and nonprofits, trails, affordable housing, and many other local community ...

Dear friends and neighbors: As we near the final week of this legislative session, probably the single piece of legislation on which I’ve worked hardest is Senate Bill 5478 to bring urgent relief to businesses large and small that have been hurt most by the pandemic. I don’t think the importance ...

Dear friends and neighbors: One of my favorite areas of focus in Olympia is the state construction budget, partly because it allows me to tap my background in finance—I’ve helped write this budget in every one of my nine years in the Legislature—but even more because it allows me to make ...