The cold wind of high prices at the grocery store and not enough well-paying jobs is blowing through Hansville to Bremerton. When I grab a quick lunch or coffee, I see the worried faces of moms and dads, young people graduating from high school and those just trying to get back on their feet. I’ve been wondering, “How are we going to get through this?” It is challenging to make each dollar stretch to cover higher rents, home prices, utility bills and car payments.
As a state representative humbly serving the 23rd Legislative District, I’ve been called a lot of things. I am a survivor of crime, a child who grew up in poverty, a teenager who was both pregnant and homeless in Evergreen Rotary Park, the first in my family to graduate from high school and college, a formerly incarcerated individual, a former registered nurse, and a mother who relied on Medicaid and food banks to support her family. These experiences inform my fight in Olympia to protect funding for critical services for our community, yet make tough choices to be a responsible steward of taxpayer dollars.
The 2026 legislative session, which opens on Jan. 12, will be challenging, as I work with my colleagues to close a projected $2-3 billion deficit. That comes after closing a $12 billion deficit last year, which unfortunately, required new taxes and making cuts to critical services impacting all of us…