Legislators share goals for legislative session

Legislators share goals for legislative session Main Photo

21 Jan 2025


News

The Skagit Chamber Alliance hosted its annual Legislative Sendoff in early January, prior to the beginning of the state legislative session. Legislators from the 10th, 39th and 40th districts attended the forum virtually to share their priorities and take questions from the audience.

Rep. Carolyn Eslick, Rep. Sam Low, Rep. Alex Ramel, Rep. Dave Paul and Sen. Liz Lovelett touched on many topics of importance to constituents, including several that EDASC takes active interest in:

Child care – Eslick from the 39th District said child care is high on her list for the session. Her work includes House Bill 1082, which would allow child care workers to demonstrate experience-based competency in lieu of earning an early childhood education certificate or other relevant education. 

Ultimately, passage of this bill would help to open much-needed child care spots for working families. Lack of child care was cited by 79% of employers surveyed by EDASC in 2024 as affecting tardiness, absenteeism and distraction from work.

Eslick noted passage of the bill doesn’t just benefit families but employers as well.

"At the end of the day,” she said, “that's good for our businesses."

Housing – Low from the 39th District is the ranking minority member on the House of Representatives’ Housing Committee, and said he is focused on finding ways to provide affordable housing for everyone.  One of 15 bills he is sponsoring is House Bill 1010, authorizing detached ADUs in rural areas as a way to deal with the housing crisis. Sen. Liz Lovelett of the 40th District also sees this as a viable solution, and said she is supporting a companion bill to this proposal in the Senate. 

Rep. Ramel from the 40th District is sponsoring House Bill 1480, which would allow counties to impose a real estate excise tax on short-term rentals, such as Airbnbs, to be used for developing affordable housing.  He is also sponsoring a rent stabilization bill.

The Skagit Housing Consortium, of which EDASC is a founding member, recognizes the need for increased housing availability as this is a prime obstacle to job growth in Skagit County.

Career & Technical Education – Rep. Paul from the 10th District is focusing on a bill to award dual credit (for both high school and college) for CTE classes. Dual credit is already available for students taking Running Start courses, and this bill would bring the dual credit program to technical education as well.

EDASC has been partnering with educational institutions over the last several years to develop a workforce pipeline from schools to local employers.  

Energy – Encouraging business attraction and expansion depends in part on a reliable, available energy supply, and Rep. Ramel is focused on creating economic opportunities in the clean energy sector and improving electricity transmission within existing corridors.

“I’m working on some legislation that will help to make sure the economic benefits of those projects really flow back into the communities,” he said.