Dear Neighbors,
On April 26 we adjourned the 2009 legislative session, my first as your state senator. I came to this legislative session with several priorities – a few pieces of legislation, an intense focus on the transportation budget – particularly ferries and other key issues in Whatcom, Skagit and San Juan Counties, and a complete dedication to reforming and improving our state educational system.
To balance our budget we had to overcome a $9 billion budget shortfall – one of the most strenuous and difficult budget tasks ever handed to a legislature in our state. We used this moment in history to reevaluate a lot of things in Olympia, everything from our educational system to prisons to health care. However, the cuts that were made are significant and will have impacts in each of our communities.
While the budget overwhelmed every discussion, we did take some major steps forward for the people of Washington this session. We broke new ground in education reform, increased benefits for unemployed workers, and provided protection of our waters from oil spills. In a time of economic upheaval, we’re moving forward as a state, working hard for middle-class families and investing in our future.
In this newsletter, I outline some of the key investments coming to our communities, and the difficulties that we’re facing as we move towards economic recovery. As always if you need more information, please call my office or check out my website and sign up for my e-mail updates.
Sincerely,
Kevin Ranker
Ranker’s newsletter will be posted at noon on Saturday, June 6.
