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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
It's budget time under the dome here in Olympia. The House proposals for the supplemental operating, transportation, and capital budgets have been brought forward and will be voted off the House floor at the end of the week.
As the ranking Republican on the House Transportation Committee, I can say we truly worked in a bipartisan effort to write the supplemental transportation budget. We were able to prioritize special needs transportation, ensure projects that were paused by the governor in his budget proposal due to I-976 were unpaused, with minimal impacts to preservation and maintenance.
For more details on the supplemental transportation budget and the status of my housing bills, please watch the latest edition of the Barkis Breakdown. You can do so by clicking on the photo below.
Recently, the Economic and Revenue Council adopted and released the latest revenue forecast. Our state has a $2.4 billion budget surplus. House Republicans continue to stand united in seeking to reliever some of the tax burden facing our state by co-sponsoring House Bill 2946.
Why is the significant? Not only will it bring $1 billion in much needed tax relief to the citizens of Washington state, including upholding voters' demands for $30 car tabs, it will reappropriate some funds from the general fund into the transportation budget for needed projects.
This important policy will be heard in the House Transportation Committee this Saturday, Feb. 29. I'll keep you posted on its progress.
House of Origin cutoff | Good and bad bills that moved forward – or didn't
We've been busy for the last couple weeks, not only on finalizing the proposed supplemental budgets, but also voting on all the House bills that were introduced this session that made it through the committee process. We crossed the House of Origin cutoff deadline last week.
It's time to get Washington state building again! I'm happy to announce two of my monumental housing policies I introduced this session passed off the House floor. You can read all about it by clicking here.
House Republicans were successful in passing good legislation to move our state closer to becoming more safe, affordable, and accountable. You can read about the 81 bills passed by clicking here.
Stay in touch!
I'm your state representative year-round. Please reach out to my office to set up an appointment, to arrange a speaking opportunity, or to just sit and chat. My legislative assistant, Kendra, is happy to help with whatever you need.
It's an honor to serve you.
In Service,
Andrew Barkis
