Dear Friends and Neighbors,

The 2012 session of the Washington State Legislature is presenting us with yet another challenge, as the state budget gap is currently projected around $1.5 billion. We will be tasked with closing the gap between spending and revenue. Some in Olympia feel that more and increased taxes are the answer, while others want to see drastic reductions to programs and services.

I believe that we must take advantage of this unique opportunity and use it to rethink how the state does business. In order to make substantial changes to our state systems, all state departments and agencies – not just the Legislature – must take a hard look inward and perhaps restructure the way they operate using the Priorities of Government method.

I’ll be focusing my efforts again on reform and identifying waste, fraud and abuse within state government. My efforts last session led to a number of improvements to the way the Department of Social and Health Services operates, and I intend on continuing my work in that regard. In fact, in an effort to cut red through red tape, I sent an e-mail in October to nearly 10,000 DOC employees to ask them for ideas on how to save money and better deliver correctional services. I received over 200 responses in the first 24 hours, and I’ll be using those suggestions to draft legislation based on what works – and what doesn’t work – from the perspective of front-line employees.

If you have concerns or suggestions about changes in these or any other laws, please contact me to discuss them. Many of the bills that I have introduced over the years have come from the ideas of my community's input and some of those ideas are now law.

As always, it remains my honor to represent you in the state Senate.I’ll continue to work on your behalf, and if you have any comments or suggestions please don’t hesitate to contact me. Because of the reductions made in state government, I won’t be able to send you printed legislative updates this year. If you’d like to join my “Kitchen Cabinet” and receive my e-mail updates, please click the button on this page to sign up. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,