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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Last week, I recorded my first video update from my desk on the House floor. In it, I discuss why I decided to run for the Legislature, what my top priorities are, and the story behind a bill (House Bill 2034) I've introduced to help at-risk youth in our state. I hope you'll take a few minutes to watch:
Bills hit first major session deadline
This past Friday marked policy committee cutoff, which means all policy bills (i.e. bills that don't have an impact on the budget) that did not pass out of their respective policy committees are now considered “dead” unless deemed necessary to implement the budget. Four of my bills survived cutoff. Unfortunately, House Bill 2034 was not among them. However, I'll continue advocating for that policy in future sessions.
House Bill 1764 would update storage requirements pertaining to lost and found items that are required to be stored by local governments—typically by police departments. I discussed this bill in detail in my last update. It's since been approved by the House Local Government Committee, and is now in the House Rules Committee.
House Bill 2022 would create the Local Barrier Partnership Account and a corresponding competitive grant program to fund the public portion of certain public-private fish passage barrier removal projects. Our goal is to encourage private investment into a dedicated account that cities and counties can access to help remove the thousands of fish barriers—aging culverts, washed out road crossings, weirs, dams, gates and screens—that exist across the state. HB 2022 was approved by the House Rural Development, Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee last week, and was given a public hearing in the House Capital Budget Committee earlier this week.
House Bill 2033 would hold mandatory reporters accountable for their failure to report child abuse and neglect. Click here for a list of people and professions designated as mandatory reporters in Washington state. This bill passed out of the House Human Services and Early Learning Committee last week, and is now in the House Rules Committee.
House Bill 2050 would authorize the creation of a special “Washington Wine” license plate as a way to generate funds to promote tourism in Washington's wine regions. This bill is scheduled for a public hearing and executive session in the House Transportation Committee on Thursday.
Town hall recap; next one is on March 16!
I wanted to thank all of you who came out to join Sen. Zeiger, Rep. Gildon and me at the two town hall meetings we held earlier this month. Turnout was great, as was the conversation. Topics included transportation, homelessness, gun rights, affordable housing, taxes, and more. If you weren't able to make it to either town hall, we'll be holding another one on March 16 at Thun Field's Civil Air Patrol Building (16915 103rd Avenue Court East) in Puyallup.
House Page Program
Every session, college and university students—mostly undergraduates—have the opportunity to work in Olympia as staff for members of the House or Senate. My intern this year is Daniel Black, who attends Eastern Washington University and is majoring in Mathematics and Economics. He's done an excellent job, and has been a huge help!
One of the other legislative programs available for young people in Washington state is the House Page Program. Students ages 14 to 16 travel to Olympia for a week, learn about their state government, and fulfill a variety of tasks critical to the efficient operation of the Legislature. If you know of a student who would be interested in paging, please reach out to me at kelly.chambers@leg.wa.gov.
Contacting me
Please continue contacting me with your comments, questions and concerns. My email address is kelly.chambers@leg.wa.gov and my phone number is (360) 786-7948.
It is an honor to serve you.
Sincerely,
Kelly Chambers
