In the final days of this year’s session, the legislature reached agreement on several historic pieces of legislation to decrease carbon emissions in our state and protect the environment.
News Releases


Dear friends and neighbors, The 2021 Legislature has adjourned for the year. While the 105-day session was conducted mostly on Zoom, we managed to complete our work on time for the fourth year in a row and enact historic policies to improve life here in Seattle and across the state. In the coming weeks, I will send more detailed updates on ...
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Dear friends and neighbors: We are nearing the halfway mark of the 105-day legislative session in Olympia. Our top priority this session has been to help the people of our state make it through the pandemic. The legislature passed and Gov. Inslee signed a $2.2 billion measure (HB 1368) to expand testing and vaccine distribution, provide support to schools, ...
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Dear friends and neighbors, The 2021 legislative session started this week under circumstances unlike any in our state’s history. Our legislative buildings in Olympia were surrounded by security fencing. Hundreds of personnel from the Washington National Guard and State Patrol stood guard. Like most Americans, I’m deeply disturbed by the hateful violence and intimidation we saw in our nation’s capital and ...
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OLYMPIA – Sen. Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle, introduced legislation today to subject the Legislature to the state Public Records Act and make a broad range of records available to the public and press.
“The people of our state value both open government and effective government. This bill attempts to strike a balance between those important principles.” Pedersen said. “It’s time for the ...
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OLYMPIA – Sen. Jamie Pedersen (D-Seattle) started his second full term in the Washington State Senate today. Pedersen will continue to serve as chair of the Senate Law & Justice Committee. He will also serve on the Senate Ways & Means and Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education committees. Pedersen was first appointed to the Senate in 2013 and elected in 2014. ...
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OLYMPIA – Today the United States Supreme Court issued its much-awaited ruling on marriage equality across the country. In a landmark decision that will finally secure marriage rights for all couples, the Court ruled state bans on same-sex marriages across the country unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment, effectively granting couples in all 50 states the right to marry. Washington voters approved marriage ...
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Sen. Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle, will take over as the ranking Democrat on the Senate Law and Justice Committee as the legislature convenes the 2015 session. “We will have a lot of important issues to consider in 2015. I am excited to get to work with my colleagues on the committee as we face another challenging legislative session,” Pedersen said. The committee considers ...
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OLYMPIA — Seattle University will soon have its own specialty license plate. The bill (HB2100) creating the plate was the last piece of legislation introduced by Sen. Jamie Pedersen in the state House before he joined the Senate late last year. Proceeds collected from the new plates go toward scholarships for current and incoming students. “The 43rd district is proud to be ...
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Sen. Jamie Pedersen, House Speaker Frank Chopp and Rep. Brady Walkinshaw will be holding a legislative town hall on Feb. 22 at 1:30 p.m. at Seattle First Baptist Church on First Hill in Seattle. The lawmakers are taking a brief pause from the 2014 legislative session in Olympia to hear what’s on the minds of their constituents in the 43rd Legislative ...
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