PORT ORCHARD — In her session-ending report emailed recently to residents in the 26th Legislative District, state Sen. Emily Randall wrote that the concluded 105-day session in the Washington State Legislature — her first representing the district — was a success in making the state a better place “to expand access to health care, to make it easier for kids to fulfill their dreams through higher education, and to ensure that our community is getting the investment we deserve from the state.”
Randall, a Democrat, said the state Legislature made significant progress on crucial issues facing the state this year, including budgeting $41 million over the next two years for transportation projects in the 26th District. That amount includes $7.9 million in funding for the upkeep of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and $2.5 million for the Bremerton and Southworth ferry terminals.
The first-term senator also pointed to $29 million in the capital budget that was allocated by legislators for projects in the community, including $10.1 million for Olympic College’s Innovation & Technology Learning Center and the renovation of the Shop Building; $4 million for construction work at the Retsil Washington Veterans Home; $3.5 million for West Sound Technical Skill Center; $2 million for Peninsula Community Health Services Behavioral Expansion and Mobile Dental Clinic; $800,000 for McCormick Woods Sewer Lift No. 2 improvements; and $52,000 for Howe Farm water service.
Randall also recounted five bills she sponsored that passed the Legislature this session: SB 5800, which creates pilot programs at six colleges across the state to provide assistance to students who are experiencing homelessness or have been in foster care; SB 5602, a bill that prohibits health care discrimination on the basis of gender identity and extends care to college students who have suffered sexual assault; and SB 5723, a bill protecting people on bicycles, on foot, in wheelchairs, and others using roads, and encourages Washingtonians to use alternative methods of transportation.
She also sponsored SB 5622, which allows municipal and district court commissioners, who she said more often come from marginalized communities, to officiate at marriages; and SB 5764, a bill changing the name of the state’s medical licensing commission to make it less confusing and easier to remember.
Randall said she believes in transparency and keeping constituents informed of her legislative calendar by posting it each week on her Facebook page.
The state senator also announced a regular schedule for coffee hours around the district. Beginning in June, Randall said she will host the sessions from 4-6 p.m. on the first Mondays in Port Orchard, the second Mondays in Gig Harbor, the third Mondays on the Key Peninsula and the fourth Mondays in Bremerton.
The Port Orchard coffee session will take place Monday, June 3 at Whiskey Gulch Coffee Pub. The grand opening of her district office is scheduled for Friday, June 7, at 820 Pacific Ave., in Bremerton.
Details are available on her Facebook page: Sen. Emily Randall
