Dear Friends and Neighbors,
I hope that you and your family enjoyed a very peaceful and joyous Christmas celebration, and are ready to welcome in the new year.
As 2018 rapidly approaches, so too does the start of the new legislative session in Olympia. Like every session, this year will bring some challenges and opportunities, as well as a good helping of change.
We have completed the move to our new district office at 408 N. Mullan Road, Suite 106. Remember: We will be closing the district office after this Friday, December 29, to move back to Olympia for the start of the new session on January 8. Our phone number during the session will be 360-786-7606.
Logistical changes aren’t the only ones happening in Olympia. Democrats now have complete control of the lawmaking process for the first time since 2012, due to the November election of a Democrat to an open Senate seat from King County. This means we will have to work harder than ever before to protect taxpayers, defend our Constitutional rights, stand up for families and guarantee that the concerns of Eastern Washington will be heard.
Recently, Governor Inslee released his proposed supplemental budget for 2018. While there is much in that proposal that I strongly disagree with, there are signs that Democrats are beginning to realize that they will actually have to govern this next year. That’s a change from 2017, when they could make wild promises to Seattle that they knew our majority would block. One of the positive signs is that the governor’s proposal is even in line with the 4-year balanced budget requirement our bipartisan coalition pushed through in 2012.
We also got yet another promising court decision last week, when a judge in Thurston County rejected the governor’s job-killing energy-regulation rule. That’s a Christmas present our employers, workers and families can really appreciate! You can read more about that and more in this update.
Happy New Year!