Tag Archives: Press Releases

Apple Blossom royalty visits state Capitol

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Feb. 25, 2014

CONTACT:
Sarah Stewart, Public Information Officer – (360) 786-7720
Kurt Hammond, Public Information Officer – (360) 786-7794

Apple Blossom royalty visits state Capitol

The 2014 Apple Blossom court, chosen just a couple weeks ago, visited the state Capitol yesterday to be recognized by state lawmakers and promote the Apple Blossom Festival in Wenatchee.

Apple Blossom Queen Roslyn Thompson, Princess Caroline Dahl and Princess Nikara Morgan traveled to Olympia and visited with 12th District Reps. Cary Condotta and Brad Hawkins; the Assistant Secretary of State Ken Raske and Chief Justice Barbara Madsen of the Washington State Supreme Court. They also had the chance to speak before the Senate, be honored in the House and take a tour of the Capitol building. They were chaperoned by Pat and Adele Haley and Lori Reed.

“The Apple Blossom Royal Court coming to Olympia has been a long-standing tradition,” said Condotta, R-East Wenatchee. “It is a great experience for the royal court, and is a reminder to all legislators how important our fruit industry is to Washington state.”

“These young women not only represent a bright future for our state, but they are great role models and representatives of Central Washington,” said Hawkins, R-East Wenatchee. “I was pleased to meet the court and I know their time here in Olympia promoting the festival was productive.”

The young women will also be featured in Rep. Hawkins’ weekly video update – click the photo below to watch:

Photos

Click on the photos below to view them on Flickr. To download a higher resolution, right click on the photo in Flickr, choose the desired size, then select “download” at the top. Please provide credit to the Washington State Legislature if used in publication.

Caption: From left: Rep. Brad Hawkins, Princess Nikara Morgan, Queen Roslyn Thompson, Princess Caroline Dahl, Sen. Linda Evans Parlette and Rep. Cary Condotta pose for a photo in the Senate chamber. Feb. 24, 2014.

Caption: Queen Roslyn Thompson (center) addresses the state Senate as Princess Nikara Morgan (left) and Princess Caroline Dahl (right) look on. Feb. 24, 2014.

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Rep. Condotta’s media:

Rep. Hawkins’ media:

Washington State House Republican Communications
houserepublicans.wa.gov
455 John L. O’Brien Building
P.O. Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600

12th District residents invited to telephone town-hall meeting Feb. 25

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Feb. 17, 2014

CONTACT:

Eric Campbell (360) 786-7503
Kurt Hammond (360) 786-7794
Sarah Stewart (360) 786-7720

12th District residents invited to telephone town-hall meeting Feb. 25

The three lawmakers serving Washington’s 12th Legislative District – Rep. Cary Condotta, Rep. Brad Hawkins and Sen. Linda Evans Parlette – invite residents to join them for a telephone town-hall meeting starting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25.

Many across the district will receive phone calls just before the meeting begins, inviting them to stay on the line; those wishing to call in directly should dial 877-229-8493 (toll free) and press 112411 when asked.

“In a legislative district as large as ours, and knowing how unpredictable the winter weather can be, meeting by telephone while we’re in session at the Capitol is convenient and practical,” said Parlette, R-Wenatchee. “This is a great way to bring thousands of people together to discuss how decisions being considered in Olympia affect our part of the state, and Washington as a whole.”

“I enjoy every opportunity I have to touch base with the people I represent, and this is just another way I can hear from them about their priorities, concerns and questions,” said Hawkins, R-East Wenatchee. “I look forward to the conversation and hope a lot of people will participate.”

“We are in the final few weeks of the legislative session, but there are still many important issues being debated,” said Condotta, R-East Wenatchee. “This is a great opportunity for folks to weigh in. And this technology allows a large group of people to participate and to ask questions right from their own home.”

The Legislature’s regular session for 2014 is limited to 60 days and will end March 13.

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Rep. Brad Hawkins, Rep. Cary Condotta and Sen. Linda Evans Parlette represents Washington’s 12th Legislative District, encompassing the Chelan and Douglas counties and parts of Grant and Okanogan counties.

Wenatchee teacher honored as Washington’s Civic Educator of the Year

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Feb. 17, 2014

CONTACT: Sarah Stewart, Public Information Officer – (360) 786-7720

Wenatchee teacher honored as Washington’s Civic Educator of the Year

Malia Renner-Singer, a civics education teacher at Wenatchee High School, was awarded the Washington State Civic Educator of the Year award today in Olympia. She was surrounded by her family at the event held in the Capitol.

“It is such a huge honor to receive this award,” said Renner-Singer. “It recognizes not only my work, but the support behind me from the administration at my school and the district, as well as the financial support of the Community Foundation of North Central Washington.”

Rep. Brad Hawkins, R-East Wenatchee, nominated Mrs. Renner-Singer for the award after she coordinated a program for high school seniors known as Project Citizen. Hawkins participated as an evaluator and said he was impressed with the work Renner-Singer put into the program.

“Malia Renner-Singer has gone above and beyond to ensure that her students truly experience public policy in a meaningful way,” Hawkins said in his nomination form. “Organizing the culminating event where students presented their semester projects required a great deal of effort, which demonstrated to her students how much she values their learning and civic education. She also helped raise awareness of this project through local media, which required even more personal time beyond coordination of the event itself. As a continuation of this effort, Mrs. Renner-Singer helped coordinate student testimony this session on a bill related to the students’ policy interests. She is a shining example of an outstanding civic educator in our public school system and is most deserving of this award.”

“Project Citizen” promotes responsible participation in government by students and teaches them how to monitor and influence public policy.

Students from Renner-Singer’s class traveled to Olympia last month to testify in the House Capital Budget Committee in favor of legislation similar to their own project at school dealing with student nutrition.

“Project Citizen allows students to practice being in a democracy by collaborating in a group on solutions to policy problems,” Renner-Singer said. “This legacy of civic education at Wenatchee High School began with Jim Bailey and Scott Benner. I appreciate everyone’s support so my students can take part in policy discussions that affect them and get them involved in their government for the rest of their lives.”

Renner-Singer teaches U.S. History, Civic Citizen and AVID at Wenatchee High School.

Caption: Sen. Linda Evans Parlette, Malia Renner-Singer, Rep. Brad Hawkins and Legislative Aide to Rep. Cary Condotta Brandt Cappell, Feb. 17, 2014. Credit: Washington State Legislature.

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For more information about Rep. Hawkins, visit: www.representativebradhawkins.com.

Rep. Hawkins’ media:

Washington State House Republican Communications
houserepublicans.wa.gov
455 John L. O’Brien Building
P.O. Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600

House passes Hawkins’ open government legislation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Feb. 12, 2014

CONTACT: Sarah Stewart, Public Information Officer – (360) 786-7720

House passes Hawkins’ open government legislation

A bill related to public agencies posting meeting agendas online was approved by the House of Representatives today by a vote of 85-13. The legislation is part of an ongoing effort by Rep. Brad Hawkins to increase transparency in government.

The state’s Open Public Meetings Act, first enacted in 1971, only requires public agencies to issue notice of meetings (such as the date, time and location) and does not require public agencies to publish their meeting agendas.

“This bill is a modest first step at updating the Open Public Meetings Act to reflect our online society. Posting agendas online is important to providing more transparency in government,” said Hawkins, R-East Wenatchee. “This bill will help citizens know what a public agency plans to discuss so they can better determine if an issue is important to them.”

House Bill 2105 would require that agendas be posted online by public agencies at least 24 hours prior to a meeting. The bill provides exceptions for government entities without websites or with fewer than 10 full-time employees. It was approved by the House Government Operations & Elections Committee Jan. 22. The Washington Newspaper Publishers Association, which represents more than 100 community newspapers in the state, along with other supporters, testified in favor of the legislation during the public hearing.

“I’m pleased the House approved this legislation and I look forward to this being considered in the Senate. Hopefully, we can get this passed before the end of session,” said Hawkins.

The legislation now goes to the Senate for further consideration. The 2014 session is scheduled to adjourn March 13.

For more information about Rep. Hawkins, visit: www.representativebradhawkins.com.

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Rep. Hawkins’ media:

Washington State House Republican Communications
houserepublicans.wa.gov
455 John L. O’Brien Building
P.O. Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600

Elections bill sponsored by Hawkins passed by House

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Jan. 27, 2014

CONTACT: Sarah Stewart, Public Information Officer – (360) 786-7720

Elections bill sponsored by Hawkins passed by House

The House of Representatives passed a measure today sponsored by 12th District Rep. Brad Hawkins addressing certain county primary elections.

House Bill 2106 would relieve county election offices of the requirement to hold a primary election when only one candidate for a position has filed to fill an unexpired term for partisan county offices. Many counties in Washington State have partisan county offices such as prosecutor, assessor, clerk and coroner. The bill was passed by the House 86-10.

“This bill is much needed for many counties, because according to current law, primaries are required for all partisan county offices,” said Hawkins, R-East Wenatchee. “This bill will prevent what happened last August in Chelan County where a primary election was held when only one person’s name was printed on the entire ballot.”

Hawkins worked on the bill over the summer and fall of 2013 and pre-filed it in December to help ensure its passage in the short 60-day session. The House Government Operations and Elections Committee approved the bill Jan. 21.

“I look forward to this bill being heard in the Senate so it can be passed in that chamber and be signed into law,” said Hawkins. “Some of my House colleagues expressed concern about opportunities for write-in candidates in these types of elections, but I wrote the bill narrowly to preserve as many opportunities as possible while trying to save election dollars where possible.”

The legislation now goes to the Senate for consideration. The 2014 session is scheduled to adjourn March 13.

For audio of Rep. Hawkins’ floor speech today, please click here.

For more information about Rep. Hawkins, visit: www.representativebradhawkins.com.

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Rep. Hawkins’ media:

Washington State House Republican Communications
houserepublicans.wa.gov
455 John L. O’Brien Building
P.O. Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600

New online map provides transparency in capital, transportation spending

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Jan. 7, 2014

CONTACT:

Sarah Stewart, Public Information Officer (Rep. Hawkins) – (360) 786-7720
Billie Toyra, Communications Specialist (Rep. Riccelli) – (360) 786-7224

New online map provides transparency in capital, transportation spending

“Show me the money!” Residents across Washington can now see exactly where their tax dollars are being spent on capital and transportation projects. A new online map launched today by the Legislative Evaluation and Accountability Program Committee (LEAP) can now be viewed by the public at: https://fiscal.wa.gov/WebMaps.aspx. The user-friendly map displays project spending by legislative district and county.

Legislation signed into law last year to provide more transparency in the state’s spending activities was sponsored by Rep. Brad Hawkins, R-East Wenatchee, and Rep. Marcus Riccelli, D-Spokane (pictured together at right).

“Transparency is essential to an effective government and should be a bipartisan effort,” said Hawkins. “I am very excited to see this legislation implemented and for people to have more access to information about their government.”

The map allows constituents to choose their county or legislative district to see projects in their community, or to simply click on the statewide map to see details of capital and transportation projects, like the state agency overseeing the project, the description of the project and the budgeted amount.

“The transportation and capital budgets are what build our roads, schools and community projects, and now there is a simple way for Washingtonians to see where their money is going,” said Riccelli. “I’m proud of the work that Rep. Hawkins and I have done and look forward to continuing to improve the transparency of our state government.”

The two legislators are teaming up again in this year’s session to expand the map further. House Bill 2104 would provide a link to the state contract associated with each of the state’s capital and transportation projects.

“This is just another step in providing more transparency for the public. Taxpayers should be able to find out more about the business the state is doing on their behalf,” said Hawkins.

If this year’s legislation is passed, the expanded map would be available to the public by January 2015.

“I’ve been impressed with the work of LEAP to get this information loaded into a user-friendly map,” said Riccelli. “Adding the state contracts will further serve the public by providing information about not only where, but how, the state’s resources are being spent.”

The 2014 session begins Jan. 13 and is scheduled to run 60 days.

For more information about Rep. Hawkins, visit: www.representativebradhawkins.com.
For information about Rep. Riccelli, visit: www.housedemocrats.wa.gov/roster/rep-marcus-riccelli/.

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High resolution headshots:

Rep. Hawkins

Rep. Riccelli

Hawkins pre-files legislation for 2014 session to save money, increase transparency

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dec. 3, 2013

CONTACT: Sarah Stewart, Public Information Officer – (360) 786-7720

Hawkins pre-files legislation for 2014 session to save election dollars, increase transparency

Rep. Brad Hawkins, R-East Wenatchee, pre-filed three bills this week for consideration in the upcoming 2014 legislative session. Legislators were allowed to “pre-file” legislation starting Dec. 2 for next year’s session. One of his bills is aimed at reducing unexpected election costs for counties while the others continue his efforts to promote transparency in government.

“These are bills I have been working on since last session,” Hawkins said. “With the shorter, sixty-day session just around the corner, I knew I had to work ahead in order to give the bills the best opportunity to advance.”

Hawkins introduced the first bill, House Bill 2106, in response to an unexpected result from a 2013 law which led to additional costs in a Chelan County election. Hawkins’ proposal would allow counties to save money by not holding a primary election when just one candidate for a county position has filed to fill an unexpired term.

“The Legislature did not anticipate the burden last year’s bill could place on counties for primary elections,” Hawkins said. “This should not have been overlooked, but now we need to correct this error for the counties in our district and others throughout the state.”

The proposal is co-sponsored by the chair and vice-chair of the House Government Operations and Elections Committee, improving its odds of passage in 2014. Hawkins’ seatmate, Rep. Cary Condotta, R-East Wenatchee, also co-sponsored the legislation.

House Bill 2058, sponsored by Hawkins and Rep. Marcus Riccelli, D-Spokane, was signed into law earlier this year. It directed the Office of Financial Management (OFM) and the Legislative Evaluation and Accountability Program (LEAP) Committee to create a user-friendly online map to display capital and transportation spending by legislative district and county. That map is expected to be completed in January 2014.

House Bill 2104, introduced this week, would build upon that work by expanding information provided to include a link to state contracts by January 2015.

“Representative Riccelli and I believe transparency is a critical aspect of government – and not a partisan issue. It is worthwhile for us to continue providing information about how taxpayers’ dollars are spent so we have a more effective democracy,” Hawkins said. “We worked really well together last session and plan to continue our efforts.”

The third piece of legislation introduced by Hawkins this week also deals with government transparency. House Bill 2105 would amend the state’s Open Public Meetings Act to require meeting agendas for any public agency with a governing body to be made available online 24 hours before a meeting. Under the Act, public agencies include any state board, commission, committee, department, educational institution, state agency or local government. Exceptions would be made for governing bodies without a website and those with fewer than five employees. The legislation does not change any current laws about notice of public meetings.

“I have always been surprised that the state’s Open Public Meetings Act only requires entities to give notice – and not also to publish agendas,” Hawkins said. “This bill takes a modest first step at modernizing the law to reflect our online accessibility.”

All three bills have Republican and Democratic co-sponsors, something that was important to Hawkins.

“I think the Legislature accomplishes its best work when lawmakers work together. I have been very intentional in this regard and I want it to become the basis for how I can get things done for our district,” Hawkins said. “It is my hope these three common-sense bills will receive the same support throughout the entire legislative process. I am optimistic we can get public hearings scheduled for these bills early in the process to help increase their chances of passage in the short sixty-day session.”

The 2014 legislative session is scheduled to begin Jan. 13, 2014.

For more information about Rep. Hawkins, visit: www.representativebradhawkins.com.

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Rep. Hawkins’ media:

Washington State House Republican Communications
houserepublicans.wa.gov
455 John L. O’Brien Building
P.O. Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600

Aplets and Cotlets: A story of ingenuity, hard work and Washington produce

By Rep. Brad Hawkins, Wenatchee

Growing up in the 12th Legislative District, I’ve visited Aplets and Cotlets many times. As a child, I visited and toured behind-the-scenes and watched people making the candy in the factory. It was fascinating to see how the people working each had a part in delicately mixing, preparing and packaging the candies to be mailed all over the country. With two young children of my own, my wife and I continued the tradition and brought the kids to Cashmere for a tour and tasting.

The story of Aplets and Cotlets is the true American dream story – two young men from Armenia who emigrated to the United States found their way to the quiet town of Cashmere in Central Washington. They bought their own orchard, named Liberty Orchards after their new homeland. Like so many growers, they didn’t want to waste their surplus fruit. They started with apple dehydration and “applum” jam. Then they thought of using the surplus fruit to make Rahat Locoum, a near eastern candy popular when they were children. This produced the first Aplets, made from Washington apples and walnuts, and Cotlets, made from apricots and walnuts.

During a sugar rationing in World War II, Liberty Orchards expanded to canning for a while. Over time, and with changing consumer demands, other kinds of candies were developed, like Grapelets, made popular in the 1974 World’s Fair in Seattle. The company changed as the world around them changed, and that same company can still be toured in Cashmere today. Liberty Orchards still uses Washington apples and apricots to make their Aplets and Cotlets, all by hand. This company is truly one of the prides of Washington state.

While attending graduate school in the other Washington (D.C.), I promised my friends and professors I would bring them back some Aplets and Cotlets. I packed up an entire carry-on suitcase of the candies and proudly distributed them to everyone I knew. Later that night, I walked to a drugstore and saw them – sitting on a shelf! I knew the candies were a big deal where I was from, but I didn’t know they were sold nationally!

This past year in my first year as a state representative, I passed out Aplets and Cotlets on the House floor after an especially long night of voting to give everyone a little sugar rush – they were a hit!

It’s an honor to represent a district with stories such as Liberty Orchards – where a couple of emigrants’ dreams, American ingenuity and Washington produce made a delicious product we all can enjoy.

Photos of Aplets and Cotlets being made at Liberty Orchards in Cashmere, Washington:

NEWS: Hawkins statement on 2013-15 operating budget

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 28, 2013

CONTACT: Ashley Wilson, Public Information Officer – (360) 786-7761

Hawkins statement on 2013-15 operating budget

Rep. Brad Hawkins, R-East Wenatchee, offered the following statement after voting in favor of the 2013-15 operating budget:

“Today I was happy to vote for a budget that significantly invests in K-12 education, protects our most vulnerable citizens, keeps the state’s promise not to extend the Business and Occupation tax, and provides for a healthy reserve fund.

“As with any negotiated budget, there are aspects that both parties like and dislike. To me, this just demonstrates that lawmakers have achieved real bipartisan compromise.

“From the beginning of this session, I made it clear my priority was to make sure we met our constitutional obligation to invest in our children’s education. This budget makes K-12 education a priority by assisting school districts with operational costs, investing money to reduce class sizes and enhancing programs which target our students who need the most help.

“While this effort took much longer than I had anticipated or preferred, I am very pleased with the outcome.”

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Rep. Hawkins’ media:

Washington State House Republican Communications
houserepublicans.wa.gov
455 John L. O’Brien Building
P.O. Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600