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In my work representing our community, I’ve had the opportunity to meet so many of you and your neighbors, listen to your concerns and learn about what issues affect your daily lives. It’s clear that people want bold action to support a healthy economy – one that benefits all in our community.

This session, I looked for ways to support our rural economy, fund important local projects, support veterans and military families and improve public safety. I’m pleased to report that we made meaningful progress in each of these areas.

Education, living-wage jobs and college affordability

Improving college affordability and strengthening workforce training are critical for rural communities. Programs like Running Start, College in the High School and the Washington State Opportunity Scholarship are smart, cost-effective paths to family-wage jobs. Increasing access to these programs is one of my greatest priorities.

This year, I led the effort to create a statewide summer Running Start program and students will be able to benefit from this landmark policy as soon as this summer.

Running Start accelerates learning and reduces college debt and I’ve long championed that the program should be available in the summer. Many students have jobs and participate in athletics during the school year, which prevents them from taking advantage of dual-credit programs. Expanding Running Start to the summertime allows more students to enroll in the program.

I also successfully passed legislation expanding the Washington State Opportunity Scholarship to include apprenticeship programs and more rural students, providing them another path to jobs in high-demand professions. Additionally, this bill helps nurses earn advanced nursing degrees. That’s critically important as we train the next generation of nurses.

Sustainable economic recovery

The last two years have been very challenging for so many of us and our neighbors. I fought hard for investments in our community and helped secure funds for behavioral health, broadband, workforce housing and other local projects that will improve the quality of life in the 10th Legislative District.

Here are some local investments that I secured for the La Conner region:

• $640,000 to complete construction of the?La Conner Regional Library

• $4 million to build the Mount Vernon Library Commons project

• $330,000 for?Camp Korey?to improve its telemedicine services?

• $100,00 for design and permitting to modernize the pump station near La Conner

Protecting the environment

Many of you have expressed concern about protecting the Salish Sea. Derelict boats are a significant issue across our region. They are dangerous to boaters, our ports and our shipping lanes – and can have a significant environmental impact. I sponsored HB 1700 to help local governments and ports remove these safety hazards before they pollute our waterways – saving taxpayers millions of dollars.

Improved services for veterans and our community

Our district contains one of the state’s largest populations of veterans. One of my greatest legislative priorities has been to improve the lives of veterans, active duty servicemembers and their families in order to better assist those who have served our community.

More veterans die by suicide than in combat and our state must do more to support the mental health and well-being of veterans. HB 1181 helps prevent suicide among Washington’s veterans and military members by providing better access to resources and prevention programs.

Public safety

Everyone deserves to feel safe in their community and I’ve been working alongside law enforcement officials, constituents and local leaders to improve public safety throughout our region and Washington state.

We face a looming workforce shortage of law enforcement personnel as many police officers and deputies near retirement. To help with this problem, the Legislature increased funding for the state’s law enforcement academy.

In addition, HB 1703 will modernize the 911 emergency system and help counties develop regional approaches to handling emergency calls. The legislation also helps organize our state’s efforts to coordinate 911 calls with the new 988 behavioral health emergency system that will be implemented later this year.

These bills will go a long way towards improving public safety in our state so everyone can thrive.

It’s an honor to serve as your state representative. Please reach out to my office if you have any questions, concerns, ideas, or suggestions.