Tag Archives: Town Halls

We can’t tax our way to prosperity

March 14, 2019

Greetings from Olympia,

We have reached a significant deadline in the legislative process, and have spent the past week and a half working late into the night voting on bills before the cutoff this past Wednesday. This means that only bills that were approved by their respective chambers will continue. It’s a lot like a funnel, winnowing down proposals so only a fraction of the thousands of bills introduced are left.

I’m pleased that another one of my bills has made it through, granting dedicated funding to career skills centers in rural communities around the state. Senate Bill 5874, which was approved unanimously, would require direct funding of certain satellite skill centers in rural areas. The concept for the legislation was brought to my attention by the Davenport School District.

These are important assets for rural communities. They help develop our skilled workforce in areas like construction trades and health care, but funding can be a struggle. This legislation will help ease the burden on local districts for operating these satellite centers and offer even more programs in our communities.

Currently, the Davenport School District operates a satellite skills center in partnership with the Spokane School District, providing career and technical education (CTE) to high school students. However, some of the CTE programs may be too expensive or specialized for one school district to operate alone. My legislation would allow direct funding of these centers if they can secure agreements to enroll students from two or more school districts.

You can see a full list of legislation that I’ve sponsored by clicking here.

We can’t tax our way to prosperity

Budget history

Thanks in part to federal tax cuts and deregulation, our state has seen a big increase in tax collections. In fact, almost $5 billion more than expected since we approved our last two-year budget, now projected to be nearly $50 billion. You shouldn’t be surprised that some in Olympia don’t think that’s enough. The governor wants to spend $5 billion more, and is proposing a new income tax, carbon taxes, and increased taxes on small businesses to pay for it. Senate Bill 5129 would include a 67 percent increase in taxes on service-related businesses and a new income tax. You have voted nine times to reject an income tax.

The Senate majority also recently approved Senate Bill 5438, which would further add to our state’s challenges to attract workers in the agricultural industry. We are already facing a worker shortage and the proposal would add additional fees and regulations, making it harder for family and small farms to compete. This really amounts to double taxation, and I voted against this legislation.

Hearing from you – Town halls

13LD

I want to thank everyone who sends correspondence to my office. It helps me to hear from you about issues you care about that are before the Legislature. I take those notes and calls to heart when working on your behalf in Olympia. However, sometimes we receive hundreds of form letters with constituent information and it just isn’t possible for me to respond to everyone. I recently received letters from an advocacy group and did respond to one individual who had no idea that group was sharing their information!

My seatmates and I will be holding in-person town halls throughout the district March 22-23. Please see below for locations, dates and times. Please share with others who might be interested in attending. We want to hear from you and give an update on what is going on in your state government.

Ellensburg

Friday, March 22, 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.

Ellensburg City Hall

501 N. Anderson

Davenport

Saturday, March 23, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Lincoln County Court House

450 Logan St, Davenport, WA

*Parking is located on the west side of the entrance on the lower level

Moses Lake

Saturday, March 23, 3 p.m. – 5 p.m.

Big Bend Community College,

ATEC Building 1800, 7662 Chanute St. NE

For more information, contact Sen. Judy Warnick’s office at (360) 786-7624, Rep. Tom Dent’s office at (360) 786-7932 or Rep. Alex Ybarra’s office at (360) 786-7808.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to my office with any concerns or ideas you may have about your state government.

Sincerely,

Signature

Judy Warnick,

Your 13th District State Senator

13th District lawmakers to host Grant County town hall meetings

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 12, 2016

CONTACT:
For Rep. Dent – Nick Jacob, Public Information Officer – (360) 786-5097
For Sen. Warnick – Laudan Espinoza, Senior Information Officer – (360) 786-7504

13th District lawmakers to host Grant County town hall meetings

Sen. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, and Rep. Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake, are holding town hall meetings around Grant County, May 23, 2016, and encourage county residents to attend. Meeting locations and times are as follows:

When: May 23, 2016

9:00 a.m.

Quincy Community Center

115 F Street SW, Quincy

1:00 p.m.

Royal City Community Center

13702 Dodson Rd. So, Royal City

3:30 p.m.

Desert Aire Golf Course Club House

504 Club House Way, Mattawa

For more information about the upcoming events please contact 509.766.6505

Sen. Warnick’s E-newsletter – April 29, 2016

April 29, 2016

Greetings Friends and Neighbors,

Now that the legislative session is over, I am back in district meeting with constituents and gathering input on issues facing our community. This is an important time to prepare for the upcoming legislative session where we will be focusing on building a new state budget for the next two years.

I will be holding town hall meetings in Lincoln County May 2 and I hope you will be able to attend.

10:00 a.m.

Harrington Opera House – on the corner of Willis and South Third Streets

Enter on the South side of the City Hall Building,

19 S. Third Street, Harrington

2:00 p.m.

Wilbur Community Center

5 SW Railroad, Wilbur

New opportunities

Recently, my colleague, the Senate Majority Leader, requested that I be appointed to the Washington State Blue Ribbon Commission on the Delivery of Services to Children and Families, as referenced in Executive Order 16-03 by Governor Inslee.

I am honored to be nominated for this opportunity to work to improve the lives of children and families in our state.

During the interim I am keeping busy. I am a member of numerous committees and boards that meet when the Legislature is not in session. I recently met with those on the Law Enforcement Officers’ and Fire Fighters’ Retirement System, (LEOFF) 2 Board. This group sets policy for the first responders’ benefits in that system. I sponsored a bill this session that became law, Senate Bill 6263 that allows members to receive full retirement benefits for injuries that are currently considered non-duty related, such as responding to federally declared emergencies.

I also serve on the Community and Economic Revitalization Board. It provides funding to local governments for public infrastructure to support private business growth and expansion. This program is critical to rural economic development and many jurisdictions in our district have successfully used these funds to improve their communities.

I continue working with constituents and state agencies such as the state Departments of Natural Resources, Ecology, and Fish and Wildlife to ensure that solutions are found for issues that have been brought to my attention, including:

Farm leases
Grazing leases
Water issues
Carbon emissions rules
Working toward completion of the Odessa Ground Water Replacement program

These executive agencies need to be aware of the impacts their regulations have so that rules won’t negatively affect our local businesses and communities. For example, the state Department of Ecology is drafting a rule regarding the rail transport of biological oil, such as canola. Currently, those types of biological oils are considered the same as crude oil for emergency planning purposes. Unfortunately, legislation that I sponsored to change that was not adopted. Senate Bill 6576 would have not required the same kind of planning for biological oil as is required when transporting crude oil by rail.

Although the Legislature is not in session, I am busy working on issues that affect our community. I look forward to connecting with you while I am back in district and getting your insights on how we can improve our state and community.

It is an honor to serve as your state Senator. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with questions regarding your state government.

Sincerely,

Signature

Judy Warnick,

13th District Senator

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Contact Me

Olympia Office:

103 Irv Newhouse Bldg.

P.O. Box 40410

Olympia, WA 98504

District Phone:

509.766.6505

Olympia Phone:

360.786.7624

E-mail:

Judith.Warnick@leg.wa.gov

Website:

Click here to visit my website