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From:
White, Rep. Scott <White.Scott@leg.wa.gov> Date: Thu, Aug 13, 2009 at 2:02 PM
Subject: Legislative Update from Representative Scott White
To:
WALEG-HOUSE-WHITE@listserv.wa.gov
 In This
Issue TeleTown Hall: Success! New Laws now in effect Lessons from the Food Bank Featured School: John Rogers Elementary | | State Representative Scott White Working for the Education of our Children |  | | August 13, 2009 Dear Friends and Neighbors, The Legislature won't reconvene until January, but I work as your representative all year long. I'm writing to keep you up to date on important legislative news. I'd also like to invite you to share your thoughts and suggestions as I work on legislation and policies for North Seattle's 46th District. | TeleTown Hall a big success! Despite a sweltering summer heat wave, nearly 1,400 of our North Seattle friends and neighbors took part in my live TeleTown Hall for the 46th District on July 28. I'm very grateful to everyone who took the time to call in with ideas, comments, questions and support for various priorities—especially schools. The TeleTown Hall helped me to interact with local citizens at a tiny fraction of the paper, production and mailing costs of a traditional newsletter. That's important, because every dollar saved through improved efficiency is another dollar we can prioritize for our schools and other essential services. If you have ideas for making the Legislature—or any state agency—more efficient, please let me know! |  | If you couldn't make TeleTown Hall, don't worry. You can always reach me quickly through any of the addresses and numbers on my contact page. And please feel free to stop by the district office that I share with Rep. Phyllis Kenney (12345 30th Ave. NE). I'd enjoy having coffee with you and listening to your ideas about how we can make our state an even better place to work, retire or raise a family. New state laws take effect Many who joined our TeleTown Hall were interested in new laws that officially took effect in the last week of July. Some of the brand new laws getting the greatest attention include: - Woman's right to breastfeed (HB 1596). Ensures that Washington's Law Against Discrimination protects the right of a mother to breastfeed her child in any place of public resort, accommodation, assemblage, or amusement.
- Smarter funding for school projects (HB 1619). With strong support from Seattle Public Schools and the Superintendent of Public Instruction, lawmakers unanimously passed my smarter school-projects bill. It gives local schools more flexibility to use capital and levy funding for major repairs and preventative maintenance. Expanding local control will save tax dollars through increased preventive maintenance. I'm on a select committee that is looking for ways to further improve funding for school projects. This is essential for class-size reduction goals and taxpayers: restoring more of the state's historic share of funding for school projects would mean less pressure on local property taxes.
- Tattoos and body-piercing safety (SB 5391) Persons practicing body art, body piercing and tattooing must now obtain a license and comply with state health standards for conducting their business;
- Safer schools (HB 1741). In response to incidents of severe sexual misconduct with students, a new law that passed with the full support of the Washington Education Association greatly expands the list of serious crimes that require automatic dismissal of teachers or other school employees.
- Child Welfare Reform (HB 2106). We learned that expanding evidence-based programs in child-welfare services could help children avoid out-of-home placements and produce long-term state benefits of between $317 and $493 million. That's why we enacted major reforms that will convert some 1,800 existing child-welfare service contracts into performance contracts that reward improved results. The reforms also explores opportunities for privatizing various child welfare services.
- Higher-education online technology (HB 1946). North Seattle Community College is a local treasure, and one of my goals on the Higher Education Committee this year was to help students by encouraging open text books and online content for the top 50 courses. We succeeded! The new law I co-sponsored could ultimately save students $16.5 million ($100/each) annually at Washington's community and technical colleges.
- Education reform (HB 2261). This important but much-misunderstood bill defines a process for increasing accountability for student success and greatly expanding the state's responsibility to fully fund "Basic Education." The Legislature must hold itself accountable for living up to our duty to make education the paramount duty of the state! I co-sponsored this reform because modernizing state funding formulas and expanding constitutionally protected school funding is vital to helping students and teachers succeed.
This is just a small sample from the new laws that took effect on August 26. Click this link to see a PDF list of all new laws passed in 2009. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have questions or comments about any of the new laws passed this year! | Lessons from the Food Bank I learned a lot by volunteering to help at the North Helpline Food Bank recently. The people operating the center are community heroes helping clients who truly are in need. You'd be surprised how many of the clients at the food bank are working families, including many moms with kids. Many people who had never before faced a lengthy period of unemployment have been hurt by this severe recession through no fault of their own. We are extremely fortunate to live in a community where neighbors still care about one another, and the North Helpline Food Bank is a beautiful expression of our communities values. |  | Featured School: John Rodgers Elementary School | John Rogers Elementary School, located at 4030 NE 109th Street, has been serving North-East Seattle families for 53 years. The school features a great library, an active PTA, terrific teachers and a wonderful range of before- and after-school programs. |   | This group of John Rogers Elementary School students visited me during the legislative session. I had a good time and I think it was good educational experience for the kids. If you'd like to bring a school group down when the Legislature is in session, just let me know, and we'll make arrangements. I am always happy to visit schools to talk with students and teachers. I have already visited many schools in the district. Please contact my office if you would like me to visit your children's school or class. Additionally, I am currently planning a couple of Education Town Halls for this fall where I and members of the Seattle School Board will be meeting with the community to discuss fully funding our public schools. More details coming soon! Please feel free to contact my office with any questions regarding state government or to schedule a personal meeting. I always enjoy meeting with Constituents in local coffee shops or other venues around the 46th Legislative District. Thanks, | | | ![]() Thank you for subscribing to my E-memo. Please do not respond to this message; it is an automated service. To contact me directly, send an email to white.scott@leg.wa.gov | | |
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