Community Government
How to contact your legislators as 2024 session begins
The state Legislature convened on Monday, Jan. 8, to begin a 60-day session scheduled to end March 7.
Among the chief tasks lawmakers must complete in the next two months is passing a supplemental budget. Washington operates under a two-year budget cycle, approving the overall spending plan in odd-numbered years and adjusting it in even-numbered years.
This year, the state has collected about $1.2 billion more than it expected since approving the biennial budget in April 2023. It also received a windfall from higher-than-expected revenues from a carbon allowance auction authorized by the state’s cap-and-trade program.
Plenty of hands are already out for that money, though. The state must replace culverts that block fish passage, a project costing more than anticipated. The decrepit Washington State Ferry system needs new boats. Homelessness, addiction treatment and mental health care are crisis-level problems.
Gig Harbor is part of the 26th Legislative District, which also includes the Key Peninsula, South Kitsap County and parts of Bremerton.
Here’s how to contact local legislators, along with what committees they serve on and what they listed as 2024 priorities during a Gig Harbor Chamber of Commerce event last week:
Sen. Emily Randall, D-Bremerton
Sen. Emily Randall, D-26
Address: 416 Sid Snyder Ave., PO Box 40426, Olympia, WA 98504
Phone: 360-786-7659
Email: Click here
Website: Click here
Committees: Higher Education & Workforce Development; Health & Long Term Care; Ways & Means
Priorities: Expanding access to substance use dis order treatment and detoxification; making Washington among the most affordable states to attend college or vocational/technical school; making housing more affordable; transparency in gasoline prices.
Rep. Michelle Caldier, R-Gig Harbor
Rep. Michelle Caldier, R-26
Address: 122H Legislative Building, PO Box 40600, Olympia, Wa, 98504
Phone number: 360-786-7802
Email: Click here
Website: Click here
Committees: Health Care and Wellness; Innovation, Community and Economic Development, and Veterans; Regulated Substances and Gaming
Priorities: Removing the state’s cap on the number of special education students it will fund in school districts; ensuring Medicaid patients have an adequate number of providers; offering high school students basic life-saving measures like CPR and how to use a defibrillator.
Rep. Spencer Hutchins, R-Gig Harbor
Rep. Spencer Hutchins, R-26
Address: 122D Legislative Building, PO Box 40600, Olympia, Wa, 98504
Phone number: 360-786-7964
Email: Click here
Website: Click here
Committees: Health Care and Wellness (assistant ranking minority member); Transportation (assistant ranking minority member); Housing
Priorities: Making sure doctors are adequately reimbursed so they can accept Medicaid patients; reducing barriers to create more housing and drive down prices; easing restrictions on law enforcement pursuits and addressing drug laws.