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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Save the Date:
Town Hall Meeting Saturday, March 14
Sen. Mark Miloscia, Rep. Carol Gregory and I are hosting two public town hall events Saturday, March 14. I hope you can join us for one of these meetings, and I look forward to taking your questions and getting your feedback on state government!
10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Federal Way City Hall Council Chambers
33325 8th Avenue South
12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m.
Milton City Hall Council Chambers
1000 Laurel Street
This week has been full of floor action in the state House of Representatives, and we've sent more than 200 bills over to the Senate for consideration.
House of origin cutoff is March 11, so all House bills have to make it out of the House, or be considered “dead” for the session. However, a number of bills with fiscal components can be deemed “necessary to implement the budget” and, therefore, survive legislative cutoffs. You can read more about cutoff here.
So far, two of my bills have passed out of the House. One, House Bill 1987, extends interest arbitration to court marshals of county sheriff offices. This legislation will affect a small community of county court marshals who work in King, Snohomish and Thurston counties.
House Bill 1279, which will allow Federal Way to create a tourism promotion area, also passed. It allows hoteliers and moteliers to charge up to a $2 fee on lodging and use those funds for the purpose of publicizing and promoting tourism destinations within the designated area. Federal Way has a lot to offer, including the Weyerhaeuser Aquatic Center, which hosts many Olympic trials and national and international competitions annually.
On Wednesday I was honored to present retired Army Master Sgt. James Hayden with a resolution in recognition of his bravery and military service during World War II and the Korean War. Several months ago, I helped James' family with the paperwork filing process for James to receive his POW medals and Silver Star. Read more about James Hayden's accomplishments and service here.
Additionally, I had the privilege of sponsoring two pages this week! Josephine Akiniosotu joined me from Federal Way High School and Joy Ellis from Sacajawea Middle School. I hope they both enjoyed their time at the state Capitol. The legislative page program is open to 14-16 year-olds who apply, and receive permission from their parents and teacher. Pages spend a week during session in Olympia, delivering important documents to legislators and staff, and experience the legislative process firsthand. You can learn about the House page program here.
The House still has several more days of floor action before cutoff, and it's important I hear from you. Please email, call or write to me with any questions or concerns you have about pending legislation before the House. Your feedback informs my vote!
Thank you for allowing me to serve you.
Sincerely,
Linda Kochmar
