Lobbying in Olympia

Hi MLEA Friends,

Last Tuesday the 27th I went over to Olympia with the WEA-Eastern Members Lobby Team (MLT) to meet with the legislators from the 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 7th legislative districts, which essentially covers Spokane and all points north.

It was an ugly day on the hill in more ways than one. This picture that I put up on my Facebook profile was the view from the hotel room that morning; the sort of skiff of snow that we would all shrug off but had districts over there opening two hours late. Later in the day the snow turned into that familiar western Washington rain/mist combination that is absolutely miserable for someone like me who wears glasses. Fun times! :-P

The meetings with the legislators were very rewarding. The day opened with Rep. Joel Kretz, a Republican out of Okanogan County who is also the deputy leader of the House Republicans. He was very interested in hearing our thoughts on levy equalization, which is a funding source that means an awful lot to districts here in Eastern Washington. Rep. Kevin Parker (R, Spokane) is new to the house and listened very intently to what we had to say about class size, why HB1410 deserves to fail, and the importance of de-linking the WASL from graduation.

Towards the end of the day we went to visit with Sen. Bob McCaslin (R, Spokane Valley), where we found that his Chief of Staff has a local connection to us here in Medical Lake. Senator McCaslin has been working to pass SB5212 for a couple of years now, which would help military parents who have to make changes to parenting plans while overseas. He's highly interested in military families, and I thank him for his commitment!

I also was in on the meetings with Rep. Shelly Short and Sen. Bob Morton (both of the 7th LD), Rep. Timm Ormbsby (3rd), and Rep. John Driscoll (6th); Matt Shea (4th), Alex Wood (3rd), and Lisa Brown (3rd) were all covered by other members of the MLT. The only local legislator we weren't able to meet with was Rep. Larry Crouse out of the 4th, so we'll redouble our efforts to meet with him the next time around.

It's an interesting time, with the state budget deficit getting that much worse but with potential for federal money on the horizong that could help a big piece of the situation. I'll keep you up-to-date as things evolve!

With thanks,

--Ryan--