-
Ringing the Gong for Homeless Kids
The Committee to End Homelessness rents a gong every year and has people volunteer for stints ringing it once for every unhoused person found in King County during the annual count on January 23rd. I stopped by for a few minutes and was able to take a few whacks. As you can see from the…
-
Compelling Speech from New Rep. Tom Dent (R-13) on Mental Health
We passed our first two bills today. It’s always fun on the first day – lots of people feel moved to speak and there’s always been some minor change to the voting software that is weird to figure out. The first bill typically tries to make a statement about priorities, but is usually pretty simple…
-
Advice from 4th Graders – Week 1
I recently spent a fair amount of time working with Linda Myrick’s 4th grade class at Somerset. After my visit they sent me a stack of cards with advice on them. In general, it is EXCELLENT advice. I’ll be posting one a week until I run out. Perhaps at that point another 4th grade class…
-
Joel’s Law and dealing with lawsuits, disasters, and an increase in child abuse reports
The House Appropriations committee is planning to hear two bills Today, (Jan. 26, 2015): HB 1258 – Concerning court review of detention decisions under the involuntary treatment act. This is “Joel’s Law,” a bill creating the ability for parents and other family members to provide information to the court in involuntary treatment act cases. The…
-
Mental Health, Child Abuse, Disasters, Lawsuits…
OLYMPIA – The House Appropriations committee will have a public hearing on Monday, January 26 to discuss an early action supplemental operating budget proposal. The bill deals with a small handful of items that need immediate attention. The committee expects to adopt a more typical supplemental budget later in the session. Issues addressed in the…
-
State budget battles and Cougar culture in Seattle at Civic Cocktail, Feb. 4
SEATTLE CHANNEL FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 22, 2015 Contact: Lori Patrick, Seattle Channel Communications (206) 733-9764, lori.patrick@seattle.gov State budget battles and Cougar culture in Seattle at Civic Cocktail, Feb. 4 WSU President Elson Floyd and state legislators Ross Hunter and Steve Litzow join the conversation SEATTLE –A contentious state legislative session and a conversation about…
-
Nobody is going to be able to ram anything down anyone else’s throat…
I get a small cameo on the Seattle Channel Legislative preview show. I’m in the first 30 seconds, and all I get to say is “Nobody is going to be able to ram anything down anyone else’s throat.” This is in the context of host Brian Callanan talking about the split control of the Legislature. Seattle City Council…
-
Great Town Hall meeting last weekend
Rep-Elect Joan McBride, Sen-Elect Cyrus Habib and I had a great, if lightly attended town hall meeting last week at Redmond City Hall. We’ll do more of these, and I’ll get my email notification system working more effectively by then. I think there is one schedule in late February. The Reporter papers covered it, if…
-
Washington reserves becoming healthy again
The Pew Charitable Trusts devotes significant resources to assessing the fiscal health of the states. They do (mostly) great work, and the information they provide is a great comparison of how different states approach managing their finances. It’s something we look at regularly. As you can see Washington was slightly above the national median at…
-
Lawmakers seek community input on state budget
Posted on January 5, 2015 Rep. Ross Hunter How would you solve Washington state’s $4.4 billion budget problem? That’s the central question Senator-elect Cyrus Habib (D-Kirkland) and Representative Ross Hunter (D-Medina) will be asking their constituents at a town hall meeting this Saturday, 10 a.m. at Redmond City Hall. Representative-elect Joan McBride (D-Kirkland) will also…