Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Hello from Olympia!
Special session continues
We are now on day 17 of the 30-day special session without an agreement on the operating and capital budgets. Negotiations continue with budget and legislative leaders and House members back in Olympia today to begin to move parts of the operating budget forward. Many bills will accompany the overall 2013-15 operating budget and it is good news we are starting to move on some of this legislation.
My goals for the special session remain the same as my goals for the regular session: craft a fiscally-responsible budget which funds education first, protects our most vulnerable and preserves public safety without tax increases.
The special session is about one question: Should the operating budget include around $1 billion in tax increases? The operating budget can be balanced with existing revenue, and the budget which came out of the Senate proved it. An important number to remember in the budget debate is $2 billion. The state is on track to collect $2 billion more revenue in the 2013-15 budget cycle compared to the current two-year cycle that ends on June 30. And that number will grow if our economy improves.
12th District office to open
In the coming weeks my legislative assistant Taylor and I will be opening a 12th District office in Wenatchee. I am very excited about the opportunity to serve my constituents in the interim with this District office. In the coming weeks I will provide more details about the location and hours of my District office, so stay tuned!
Sincerely,
Brad Hawkins
State Representative Brad Hawkins
12th Legislative District
E-mail: brad.hawkins@leg.wa.gov
Web site: houserepublicans.wa.gov/hawkins
Olympia Office (January-April)
122G Legislative Building – P.O. Box 40600 | Olympia, WA 98504-0600
(360) 786-7832 or Toll-free: (800) 562-6000
District Office (May-December)
11 Spokane Street, Suite 205A | Wenatchee, WA 98801
(509) 662-5733
