{"id":3563,"date":"2025-01-17T13:07:49","date_gmt":"2025-01-17T20:07:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/riccelli\/?p=3563"},"modified":"2025-01-17T16:51:57","modified_gmt":"2025-01-17T23:51:57","slug":"kicking-off-the-2025-legislative-session","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/riccelli\/2025\/01\/17\/kicking-off-the-2025-legislative-session\/","title":{"rendered":"Kicking off the 2025 legislative session"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Dear Friends and Neighbors,<\/p>\n<p>We are just wrapping up the first week of the 2025 legislative session in Olympia. On Monday <a href=\"https:\/\/fb.watch\/xamNR_6KLA\/\">I was officially sworn in<\/a> and joined the Washington State Senate after 12 years in the House \u2013 and I\u2019ve never been prouder to represent the people of Spokane. We\u2019ve been fortunate to have strong leaders in my new seat for many years, and I\u2019m excited to build on the progress made by my predecessors Andy Billig and Lisa Brown.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Universal Free School Meals<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>I\u2019ve been working to expand access to free school meals for more than a decade and this year I am sponsoring legislation to make it universal across the state. Last week, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spokesman.com\/stories\/2025\/jan\/10\/washington-legislature-to-again-consider-free-scho\/\">I joined Gov. Bob Ferguson<\/a> in Spokane to introduce the proposal and yesterday I officially dropped the bill with my colleague Sen. T\u2019wina Nobles of Fircrest.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3564 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/riccelli\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/01\/Free_School_Meals.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"650\" height=\"552\" srcset=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/riccelli\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/01\/Free_School_Meals.png 650w, https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/riccelli\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/01\/Free_School_Meals-300x255.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>There is already <a href=\"https:\/\/fb.watch\/xarHRICBmo\/\">enthusiastic bipartisan support for this plan<\/a> because we all know our kids need access to nutritious food to grow, learn, and be healthy. We\u2019ve made steady progress since we passed the \u201cBreakfast After the Bell\u201d bill in 2018 and today more than 70% of students are eligible for free meals in school. This is the year we can finish the job!<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Directing Traffic on the Senate Floor<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Before we started this year\u2019s 105-day session, I was chosen by my new colleagues in the Senate to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spokesman.com\/stories\/2024\/nov\/23\/marcus-riccelli-named-to-leadership-post-before-fi\/\">serve as the Senate Majority Floor Leader<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3566 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/riccelli\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/01\/Senate_Floor.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"650\" height=\"433\" srcset=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/riccelli\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/01\/Senate_Floor.png 650w, https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/riccelli\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/01\/Senate_Floor-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/riccelli\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/01\/Senate_Floor-150x100.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The floor leader opens the day\u2019s proceedings, assigns bills to committees, and sets the agenda for debates on the Senate floor \u2013 ensuring that priority bills are debated and voted on. I will also serve on the Ways &amp; Means Committee, Health &amp; Long-Term Care Committee, State Government, Tribal Affairs &amp; Elections Committee, and the Rules Committee. I\u2019ll be busy this year!<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Stay In Touch<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Getting <a href=\"https:\/\/leg.wa.gov\/learn-and-participate\/\">involved with the Legislature<\/a> is easier than ever with <a href=\"https:\/\/leg.wa.gov\/bills-meetings-and-session\/session\/how-to-testify-at-a-committee-meeting\/\">remote testimony<\/a> and we want to hear your thoughts on hundreds of proposals and budget items that will be introduced this year. In November, a <a href=\"https:\/\/leg.wa.gov\/\">new website launched<\/a> to make it easier to follow our state\u2019s democracy in action.<\/p>\n<p>I know people are facing unique challenges across Spokane and I look forward to working with you to find solutions. Often the best laws start with an idea from a constituent, and I hope you\u2019ll reach out to me anytime at <a href=\"mailto:Marcus.Riccelli@leg.wa.gov\">Marcus.Riccelli@leg.wa.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>It is my honor to serve you!<\/p>\n<p>Sincerely,<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3567 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/riccelli\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/01\/Riccelli_Signature.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"173\" height=\"73\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Marcus Riccelli<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dear Friends and Neighbors, We are just wrapping up the first week of the 2025 legislative session in Olympia. On Monday I was officially sworn in and joined the Washington State Senate after 12 years in the House \u2013 and I\u2019ve never been prouder to represent the people of Spokane. We\u2019ve been fortunate to have strong leaders in my new seat for many years, and I\u2019m excited to build on the progress made by my predecessors Andy Billig and Lisa Brown. Universal Free School Meals I\u2019ve been working to expand access to free school meals for more than a decade&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":3565,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"disable_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Kicking off the 2025 legislative session - Sen. Marcus Riccelli<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/riccelli\/2025\/01\/17\/kicking-off-the-2025-legislative-session\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kicking off the 2025 legislative session - Sen. Marcus Riccelli\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dear Friends and Neighbors, We are just wrapping up the first week of the 2025 legislative session in Olympia. On Monday I was officially sworn in and joined the Washington State Senate after 12 years in the House \u2013 and I\u2019ve never been prouder to represent the people of Spokane. We\u2019ve been fortunate to have strong leaders in my new seat for many years, and I\u2019m excited to build on the progress made by my predecessors Andy Billig and Lisa Brown. Universal Free School Meals I\u2019ve been working to expand access to free school meals for more than a decade...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/riccelli\/2025\/01\/17\/kicking-off-the-2025-legislative-session\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sen. Marcus Riccelli\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-17T20:07:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-01-17T23:51:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/riccelli\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/01\/Riccelli_Swearing_In_2025.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"461\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"aaronw\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"aaronw\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/riccelli\/2025\/01\/17\/kicking-off-the-2025-legislative-session\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/riccelli\/2025\/01\/17\/kicking-off-the-2025-legislative-session\/\",\"name\":\"Kicking off the 2025 legislative session - Sen. 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