Dear friends and neighbors,

Since the legislative session ended on April 27, I have been back in Spokane engaging with the community, drafting policy for the upcoming session, attending statutory committees, and working at my non-legislative job.

As a citizen legislature, most legislators have other jobs that they work during the interim (the time between sessions), in addition to their legislative duties. I work as a Community Relations Manager for CHAS, which helps to inform me about healthcare access and policy, which is one of my focus areas in Olympia. This work also deepens my connections with the Spokane community as I focus on outreach and accessibility.

The other lesser-known part of legislative work is membership on statutory committees. These committees are established by the legislature and are typically made up of a group of stakeholders whose goal is to establish issue-specific recommendations to the legislature, state agencies, or the governor. I currently serve on the following statutory committees:

I attend meetings throughout the year for each of these committees. They help inform my legislative work and keep me connected with stakeholders in a variety of issue areas.

Out and About

I spent the last few months visiting with constituents and organizations that are making a positive impact on our community. I have been proud to help secure state support for these organizations in the last few years. A few highlights include visits with Maddie’s Place, Alexandria’s House, the NATIVE Project (pictured above), Leadership Spokane, the Emerson Garfield Neighborhood Council, the Salish School of Spokane, the Scale House Market, and Thrive International.

Thank you!

Thank you to everyone who took the time to stop by and say hello at our Mobile Office last Friday at the Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market. It was great to hear from so many people about important issues facing our community and state. Your ideas and feedback are essential to the work we do in the legislature each year.

I am already looking forward to our next Mobile Office in the coming weeks. I’ll be sure to share the details as soon as we confirm a date and location.

For those of you unable to attend last week, please check out the 3rd Legislative District newsletter we recently sent out by clicking here. Follow me on Facebook and Instagram for more updates and please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at Marcus.Riccelli@leg.wa.gov.

It is an honor to serve you!

 

Sen. Marcus Riccelli