Issaquah residents invited to legislative town hall
February 14, 2012
Residents can join Issaquah legislators to discuss the ongoing session in Olympia at town hall meetings in Mercer Island and Newcastle soon.
Meet state Sen. Steve Litzow and state Reps. Judy Clibborn and Marcie Maxwell — 41st Legislative District lawmakers — at the Feb. 18 meetings. The sessions come as the Legislature confronts a $1.5 billion shortfall in the state budget.
The bipartisan delegation — Republican Litzow; Democrats Clibborn and Maxwell — plans to answer participants’ questions.
The morning meeting is scheduled from 10-11:30 a.m. at Hazelwood Elementary School, 7100 116th Ave. S.E., Newcastle. The afternoon session is planned from 1:30-3 p.m. at Mercer Island High School, 9100 S.E. 42nd St., Mercer Island.
Participants can submit questions before the meeting. Email questions to townhall41@leg.wa.gov or mail them to Sen. Steve Litzow, P.O. Box 40441, Olympia, WA 98504.
Washington State Redistricting Commission members shifted the 41st District from encompassing Cougar Mountain neighborhoods to include North Issaquah and Sammamish. (Remaining Issaquah neighborhoods fall inside the 5th Legislative District.)
The realigned political maps go into effect for the November election.
Governor signs same-sex marriage into law after Issaquah legislators support bill
February 13, 2012
NEW — 5 p.m. Feb. 13, 2012
Issaquah legislators joined Gov. Chris Gregoire to legalize same-sex marriage in Washington — a decision supporters hailed as an “historic” milestone.
Gov. Chris Gregoire
The governor, a Democrat, signed the legislation Monday as local state Sen. Cheryl Pflug and other supporters looked on from the packed State Reception Room at the Capitol.
The landmark legislation put Washington among the half-dozen states and Washington, D.C., to allow same-sex marriage, but the measure could face a challenge on the November ballot before any weddings occur.
“It is a day historians will mark as a milestone for equal rights — a day when we did what was right, we did what was just, and we did what was fair,” Gregoire said. “We stood up for equality and we did it together — Republicans and Democrats, gay and straight, young and old, and a variety of religious faiths. I’m proud of who and what we are in this state.”
Most Issaquah representatives support ‘historic’ same-sex marriage bill
February 9, 2012
NEW — 8 a.m. Feb. 9, 2012
Republican Glenn Anderson on Wednesday joined local Democrats in the state House of Representatives to approve a landmark bill to legalize same-sex marriage in Washington.
Glenn Anderson
The lawmakers representing Issaquah in the House joined the majority on the 55-43 decision. The delegation is comprised of Democrats, except for Anderson and state Rep. Jay Rodne.
The legislation heads to Gov. Chris Gregoire. The governor, a Democrat, is expected to sign the bill in the days ahead.
In the Issaquah delegation, state Reps. Judy Clibborn, Marcie Maxwell, Deb Eddy and Ross Hunter supported the legislation.
Rodne opposed the measure to allow same-sex marriage. The legislator, a North Bend Republican, asked for a referendum clause to send the issue to voters in November; the proposed amendment failed.
Join 48th Legislative District lawmakers for town hall meeting
February 8, 2012
NEW — 6 a.m. Feb. 8, 2012
Residents can join Issaquah legislators to discuss the ongoing session in Olympia at a town hall meetings in Redmond soon.
Meet state Sen. Rodney Tom and state Reps. Deb Eddy and Ross Hunter — 48th Legislative District lawmakers — at the Feb. 18 meeting. The session comes as the Legislature confronts a $1.5 billion shortfall in the state budget.
In Issaquah, the district encompasses Greenwood Point, South Cove and other neighborhoods along Lake Sammamish.
The meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. to noon in the Council Chamber at Redmond City Hall, 15670 N.E. 85th St.
Washington State Redistricting Commission members shifted the 48th District elsewhere in the recent reshuffling. (Remaining Issaquah neighborhoods fall inside the 5th and 41st legislative districts.) The realigned political maps go into effect for the November election.
Senators offer key support for same-sex marriage bill
February 7, 2012
Issaquah legislators offered key Republican support for the same-sex marriage bill passed in the state Senate on Feb. 1.
Cheryl Pflug and Steve Litzow joined the 28-21 majority to endorse the legislation.
So far, a half-dozen states — Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont — plus Washington, D.C., allow same-sex marriage. Washington state has had a domestic partnership law — or “everything but marriage” law — in place since 2009.
Cheryl Pflug
Steve Litzow
(Pflug, a former state representative from Maple Valley, represents the 5th Legislative District; Litzow, a freshman senator from Mercer Island, represents the 41st Legislative District.)
Issaquah’s other senator, Democrat Rodney Tom, also endorsed the legislation. (Tom represents the 48th Legislative District, including the Greenwood Point and South Cove neighborhoods.)
The measure heads next to the state House of Representatives. The bill is expected to easily pass the House and proceed to Gov. Chris Gregoire to be signed into law.
The governor, a Democrat, endorsed same-sex marriage legislation last month. Gregoire praised the Senate decision.
Issaquah lawmakers invite residents to town hall meetings
February 7, 2012
NEW — 8 a.m. Feb. 7, 2012
Residents can join Issaquah legislators to discuss the ongoing session in Olympia at town hall meetings in Mercer Island and Newcastle soon.
Meet state Sen. Steve Litzow and state Reps. Judy Clibborn and Marcie Maxwell — 41st Legislative District lawmakers — at the Feb. 18 meetings. The sessions come as the Legislature confronts a $1.5 billion shortfall in the state budget.
The bipartisan delegation — Republican Litzow; Democrats Clibborn and Maxwell — plans to answer participants’ questions.
The morning meeting is scheduled for 10-11:30 a.m. at Hazelwood Elementary School, 7100 116th Ave. S.E., Newcastle. The afternoon session is planned for 1:30-3 p.m. at Mercer Island High School, 9100 S.E. 42nd St., Mercer Island.
Issaquah senators offer key Republican support for same-sex marriage bill
February 2, 2012
NEW — 10 a.m. Feb. 2, 2012
Issaquah legislators offered key Republican support for the same-sex marriage bill passed in the state Senate on Wednesday.
Cheryl Pflug
Steve Litzow
Cheryl Pflug and Steve Litzow joined the 28-21 majority to endorse the legislation.
So far, a half-dozen states — Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont — plus Washington, D.C., allow same-sex marriage. Washington state has had a domestic partnership law — or “everything but marriage” law — in place since 2009.
(Pflug, a former state representative from Maple Valley, represents the 5th Legislative District; Litzow, a freshman senator from Mercer Island, represents the 41st legislative district.)
Dave Reichert’s district retains Issaquah under redrawn congressional map
January 3, 2012
Dave Reichert
Issaquah remains in U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert’s 8th Congressional District but some Issaquah School District communities shift to another district as the state panel responsible for a redrawn political map shifts boundaries to create a new congressional district centered in Olympia.
In a plan unveiled Dec. 28, Washington State Redistricting Commission members Tim Ceis and Slade Gorton proposed a 10th Congressional District based in the capital city and a 9th Congressional District stretching from Tacoma to Bellevue.
The redrawn 8th District — confined to King and Pierce counties in the existing arrangement — is stretched from South King County to Wenatchee in Chelan County. The current and future district includes Issaquah.
Under the redrawn map, Issaquah remains in a redrawn 8th District alongside other cities contained inside existing district boundaries — North Bend, Sammamish and Snoqualmie — plus Pierce, Chelan and Kittitas counties.
Local voters support liquor, homecare measures; reject tolling
January 3, 2012
In November, voters endorsed better care for senior citizens, halted a measure to change highway tolling, and turned liquor distribution and sales from state government to businesses.
The results in the Issaquah area mirrored the outcome statewide, though the margins differed depending on the legislative district. The information comes from district-level data released by state elections officials Dec. 21.
By the numbersIssaquah is divided among the 5th, 41st and 48th legislative districts. Local voters’ choices matched the statewide results in the Nov. 8 election. 5th Legislative District
41st Legislative District
48th Legislative District
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(Issaquah sprawls across the 5th, 41st and 48th legislative districts.)
Initiative 1183 called for state-run liquor stores to close and for the state to get out of the liquor business. The measure also requires the state to license private enterprises to sell and distribute hard liquor, set license fees based on sales and regulate licensees.
Opponents said safety concerns remain about efforts to privatize the system and sell booze at more locations.
Issaquah-based Costco, the largest employer in the city, spent $19 million to promote the initiative.
Tim Eyman’s Initiative 1125 — a measure to require the Legislature to approve tolls rather than the appointed state Transportation Commission — came up short on Election Day.
The electorate approved Initiative 1163 — a measure sponsored by the Service Employees International Union to address homecare workers’ certification and training. Supporters said the measure means better care for senior citizens, although funding the requirements outlined in the initiative poses a challenge for the cash-strapped state.
The electorate also approved the noncontroversial constitutional amendments on the ballot.
Senate Joint Resolution 8205 addressed a residency requirement for presidential voting outlined in the state Constitution. The measure brings state law into synch with a U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Senate Joint Resolution 8206 called for the state “rainy day” reserve fund to require contribution of a portion of “extraordinary” revenue in the future.
Warren Kagarise: 392-6434, ext. 234, or wkagarise@isspress.com. Comment at www.issaquahpress.com.
Senator: Put state government’s ‘sacred cows on a diet’
December 20, 2011
State Sen. Cheryl Pflug — a lawmaker representing Issaquah in Olympia — said state government needs to “put some sacred cows on a diet” to rein in spending as legislators return to the Capitol next month to tackle a budget shortfall.
Legislators adjourned from a 17-day special session Dec. 14 after adopting a $480 million package to trim spending. (The average cost of a day the Legislature is in session is more than $10,000 per day.)
Sen. Cheryl Pflug
Lawmakers needed to reduce spending by $2 billion in order to close a $1.4 billion budget gap. Gov. Chris Gregoire asked lawmakers to cut $2 billion and called the Legislature into a special session. The hole opened in the state budget due to lower-than-predicted revenues.
The governor called for a shorter school year, reductions to social-services programs and other measures to cut costs. Gregoire also asked lawmakers to send a temporary sales tax increase to voters to offset reductions.
Pflug said the governor must do more before lawmakers consider a tax increase.
