News Releases

Dear friends and neighbors, This year’s legislative session produced several laws to improve life for our state’s LGBTQ+ community. As the senior member of our Legislature’s LGBTQ+ Caucus, I coordinate with my colleagues well before the session to ensure we prioritize legislation that will advance fair and equal civil rights protections for everyone. In the photo above, I’m with fellow LGBTQ+ Caucus ...

Dear friends and neighbors, This year’s legislative session gave us another opportunity to address the lack of affordable housing and the persistent homelessness we see in cities across our state. Building on historic investments made last year, the Legislature passed bills to increase the supply of housing, to prevent homelessness, and to remove barriers to housing construction.   In November, I celebrated as ...

Dear friends and neighbors, As climate change continues to threaten our health and natural environment in Washington, we must adapt, mitigate, and be better prepared for heat waves, flooding, wildfires, and drought that scientists warn are inevitable. And we must continue to lead other states and countries toward a clean energy future that will avoid the worst damage.  This session, the ...

Dear friends and neighbors, As the father of four students and the husband of a special education teacher in Seattle Public Schools, I have great appreciation for the importance of supporting quality public schools. I recognize the challenges that our schools are facing, especially stemming from enrollment and funding decreases. As a member of the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education ...

Dear friends and neighbors, The 2024 legislative session officially adjourned for the year last week. During the 60-day session, legislators introduced 1,615 bills, and we expect that Governor Inslee will sign about 380 into law over the next few weeks. We made important progress this year on a wide range of issues, including new investments in housing, transportation, special education, behavioral ...

Friends and neighbors, The first few weeks of the 2024 legislative session in Olympia have been busy, with dozens of public hearings and floor votes on legislation addressing critical issues facing our state. From affordable housing and public education to behavioral health and climate action, this year’s 60-day session is another opportunity to improve lives in the 43^rd District and across ...

Dear friends and neighbors, Last night, we officially adjourned the 2023 legislative session in Olympia. During the 105-day session, legislators introduced 2,306 bills, and we expect that Governor Inslee will sign roughly 500 of those into law. We made remarkable progress on many fronts, including historic investments in housing, special education, behavioral health, and climate action. We took important steps to ...

Dear friends and neighbors: We are nearing the halfway mark of the 2023 legislative session in Olympia. Over the next two weeks, the full Senate will debate and vote on dozens of new policies before the March 8^thdeadline to pass bills out of the Senate for consideration in the House. You can watch all the floor action live at TVW.org.

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Dear friends and neighbors, For the first time since 2020, legislators have gathered from around the state for an in-person session.  The pent-up energy is obvious, with over 500 bills having been introduced in the Senate in just the first 12 days. I am thrilled to be back at work tackling the challenges that face our state and people in the 43^rd ...

Dear friends and neighbors, In my final e-newsletter for this year, I would like to highlight some of the investments that the state will be making in neighborhood projects around our district. Many are the result of persistent and effective advocacy by individuals and nonprofits who are working hard to solve problems and help our communities thrive.

Local community investments