Throughout the 2019 legislative session, and even since the session finished in the wee hours of April 28, folks have asked me what my first session as a state senator felt like. In a wide-ranging interview with The Washington State Wire, I said it was “like jumping on a hamster wheel and drinking out of two fire hoses at the same time,” among other things. You can read the interview here.
My main impression is that the Legislature is a very, very different environment and one that most people never see or experience. So I’ve made it a point, through Facebook posts and tweets, to share insights and examples that “open the doors” of your Legislature and let you see what it looks like on the inside. Another way to open those doors, now that session has concluded, is by looking at the numbers.
For instance:
97 — the number of visits my Olympia office received from constituents.
19 — the number of meetings I had on the key topics of early learning and childcare.
209 — the number of handwritten letters or postcards my office received.
888 — the number of phone calls to my office.
6,826 — the number of emails to my office.
61 — the number of Senate committee hearings I participated in.
4 — the number of visits from elementary schools.
32 — the number of times Bill the bird visited outside my office window. Bill, in case you didn’t know, is a seagull who apparently took up residence on the ledges of the Legislative Building and was a regular visitor outside my office window, brightening my days with his chirps and general presence. (CAPITOL HUMOR: In answer to a question posed earlier in session, Bill never did quite become a law.) Anyway, I hope this gives you a little different view of your Capitol.
Cheers,
