Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Things just keep getting busier here in Olympia! The number of bills I had up for a hearing in committee doubled since last week, so I’ve been hard at work to push these good ideas forward.

Please check out the updates below on my work in Olympia and let me know if you have any questions.

Yours in service,

Local Students at the Capitol

Last Friday, 80 4th-grade students from Hearthwood Elementary in Vancouver came to Olympia to visit me and my fellow 17th District legislators. I love having these groups visit to see the work we’re doing and learn more about government. It’s also just a fun opportunity to see some friendly faces from home!

Bills in Focus: Small Business Bill of Rights

This week I had eight bills up for hearing in committee. Each bill needs to be heard in committee before it can be moved forward to be voted on by the full Senate, so this is a big step for each bill. Read the list below of my bills heard in committee this week.

Senate Bill 5230: Small Business Bill of Rights

I am very proud to lead a bipartisan group of sponsors introducing the Small Business Bill of Rights. I worked with Sen. Guy Palumbo (D-Maltby) and the National Federation of Independent Business to guarantee basic protections for small businesses when working with state government.

What this bill will do is require a select number of agencies to review their laws, rules, and internal policy documents to identify the rights a small business owner has when a state agent shows up at their door unannounced to conduct an audit or inspection.

I don’t know about you, but as a small business owner, when the government shows up at the door, there’s a feeling of apprehension. Why are there here? What are they looking for? Who do I contact to find that out?

This bill makes it very clear what rights you have as a small business owner and what rules the government has to follow.

My Bills Up for Hearing

SB 5230: Small Business Bill of Rights – Commerce, Labor & Sports Committee

SB 5203: Allowing youth courts to have jurisdiction over transit infractions – Human Services, Mental Health & Housing Committee

SB 5211: Clarifying adjudicative proceedings by state agencies – Law & Justice Committee

SB 5185: Protecting professional or trade associations that provide emergency response volunteers – State Government Committee

SB 5212: Clarifies the scope of land use control ordinances for purposes of vesting. – Local Government Committee

SB 5213: Permits the court to award fees incurred by a limited license legal technician in domestic violence proceedings. – Law & Justice Committee

SB 5314: Improving county treasurer administrative efficiencies. – Local Government Committee

SB 5214: Expands the responsibilities of the Joint Administrative Rules Review Committee. – State Government Committee

Honored for Service: Legislative Awards

I was deeply honored to receive the following awards in the past two weeks:

• Legislator of the Year – Washington State Fraternal Order of Police (pictured above)
• Honorary Lifetime Member – Washingtonians for Wildlife Conservation
• Legislator of the Year – Voters Want More Choices

Focus on Higher Ed: Graduating for Success

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been hearing from all sides of higher education about our biggest needs and opportunities. The common thread running through each of our work sessions is the need to graduate kids with the education and degrees they need to compete for jobs.

We’ve heard from our state’s two- and four-year institutions, the Washington Roundtable of CEOs, the Council of Presidents, the Washington Student Achievement Council, medical schools, workforce initiatives and many other groups and individuals invested in getting more kids prepared for jobs in Washington.

Tune in to TVW.org on Tuesday and Thursday mornings to catch our committee meetings and hear the latest on our work for higher education.