Spokane in Olympia
Many of you have inquired about what the Legislature is doing this session to help Spokane. Here’s a quick look.

Mental health
The Spokane County Regional Support Network (RSN) helps those in our community who suffer from mental illness. As I explained in my e-newsletter last fall, our RSN is facing a funding crisis.

This week I met with Department of Social and Health Services Secretary Robin Arnold-Williams; Edie Rice-Sauer, director of the Spokane County RSN; and Spokane County Commissioner Todd Mielke to discuss the importance of properly funding our RSN in the supplemental budget.

The bottom line: We need to ensure that those who require mental health services receive them in the appropriate setting, and avoid the costly effects – including higher crime rates, more victims, more kids on welfare and more incarcerated adults – of not providing treatment.

School records
Last year I heard from many of you who wanted the choice to prevent military recruiters from having access to your children’s school records. I am co-sponsoring a bill (SB 6681) that would require schools to have a policy allowing parents to prohibit the release of their child’s records. I hope this will be scheduled for a hearing in the coming weeks.

Local gubernatorial appointment
This week the Senate confirmed the gubernatorial appointment of local Spokanite Marilee Roloff to The Evergreen State College’s Board of Trustees. Marilee has been a tireless volunteer and advocate in our community. I was pleased to see the Senate confirm her appointment unanimously.

Spokane legislators’ brown bag
I’m meeting regularly with Spokane area legislators from the 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th and 9th Legislative Districts. We held our first meeting of the session Wednesday. Reps. Timm Ormsby, Alex Wood, Larry Crouse, John Serben, David Buri, as well as Sen. Bob Morton and I, all showed up to discuss local transportation issues and pursuing the modest state funding requested by Spokane to support our bid to host the 2009 International Figure Skating Championships.

Economic development
After passing a bill to create the state Strategic Economic Development Fund last session, I thought I’d try my hand at passing another economic development tool this year.

This week I sponsored a piece of legislation (SB 6700) that would establish what has been called “star bonds.” The bonds would allow a local community to set up a defined area and use the taxes raised in that area to pay for infrastructure and development costs, encouraging development that would have a positive economic impact on the community.

Headlines of the week

Gay rights
The civil rights bill I wrote about last week seems to be moving quickly. It passed out of House committee and off the House floor this week. We’re likely to take it up in the Senate next week.

As a reminder, under current state law, people cannot be discriminated against based on race, creed, national origin, sex, marital status or sensory, mental or physical handicap. The bill, which has existed for 30 years, simply would add sexual orientation to the list.

In Spokane, Seattle and other cities, this protection already exists. It’s time – passed time, actually – to extend it to the entire state of Washington.

For those interested in live Senate debate on the issue, tune into Channel 25, which is TVW, the state’s version on C-SPAN. The bill (HB 2661) will be heard in committee at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 24. Floor debate could occur later in the week.

Sex offenders
Dealing with sex offenders remains a major issue in Olympia. The Senate heard 15 related bills this week. I was happy to see a Tacoma News Tribune editorial this week that echoed the point I have been trying to make: Getting tough on crime isn’t always about stiffer penalties. The editorial urged us not to go overboard as we consider this legislation. I couldn’t agree more.

Early learning department
The smartest way to get children ready for success in school and life is to get them ready for kindergarten. The governor has introduced a bill that would create an early learning department, and I think it’s an idea whose time has come.

Ninety percent of human brain development happens in the first five years of life. Currently, our early learning programs are scattered and unfocused, so they’re often not coordinated with public schools in ways that help kids be prepared for success in school. I look forward to watching this bill go through the process, and hope it gets signed into law this session.

Olympia On-Call
On Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Mike Hewitt, R-Walla Walla, and I were guests on TVW’s call-in show, Olympia On-Call. Hosted by Seattle Times’ chief political reporter, it will air on Channel 25 at noon and 6 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 23.

Murray and Gregoire visit
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and Gov. Chris Gregoire visited Senate Democrats in caucus this week. They fielded questions on many topics, including the effects of the federal budget cuts in the state.

Emergency Preparedness
After Hurricane Katrina, this fall, I participated in hearings around the state to gauge just how ready we are to deal with a major catastrophe.

The truth is, we aren’t, yet – but we can be. And we can be a nationally recognized leader in emergency preparedness if we adopt some of the policies before us during this legislative session.

Among the policies we will consider:

• Establishing a statewide emergency management fund to bolster local response efforts and improve public outreach in case of a biological emergency or natural disaster.
• Funding the purchase of all-hazard alert broadcasting radios, the improvements of interoperable communication gateways, and the development of a curriculum for local emergency management programs.
• Creating a statewide emergency work force plan to ensure the continuity of critical services during a crisis.
• Creating a statewide 2-1-1 system to connect citizens to vital information during the immediate, short-term and long-term phases of a crisis. The 2-1-1 phone number is intended to connect people with important community services and volunteer opportunities.

Other policies we should consider:

• Creating a state grant program to provide local health jurisdictions with the resources they need to enhance their readiness to deal with major catastrophes, such as bird flu.
• Exploring the feasibility of licensing retired volunteer medical workers to increase the number of available emergency responders in the state.
• Providing 15 days paid leave for disaster volunteers who are state agency employees.

Stay tuned for next week’s update.

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