Tag Archives: Email Updates

State House passes $53 billion operating budget

The 2019 legislative session is winding down, with less than 30 days left. While the number of days are dwindling, we have a lot of critical issues to get through these next few weeks. Among these is a new, two-year state operating budget.

On Friday, the House passed the Democrats’ $53 billion budget proposal. Despite a $2.8 billion budget surplus, lawmakers passed a budget that would require a tax increase of more than $4 billion. Republicans have continued to argue the state has sufficient funds to cover all our state’s priorities without raising a single penny of additional tax dollars. Our latest revenue forecast is evidence of that – we have an additional $861 million in tax revenue coming into our state’s coffers—$307 million for the current 2017-19 budget cycle, and $554 million for 2019-21.

Republicans also offered 31 separate amendments in an attempt to reduce the damage this budget proposal would cause, a few of which were accepted and you can learn more about here. The vote went along party lines, with Democrats voting for the inflated budget and Republicans voting ‘no.’

I break this budget down in my most recent video update. You can watch it here or by clicking below.

Investing in our mental- and behavioral-health system

I’ve often said that if I only had $1 to invest in this budget, I would send it to our mental- and behavioral-health system. Mismanagement of our state hospitals and our failure to connect individuals to critical services are among the top issues we are facing as a state. Solving this issue will undoubtedly lead to safer, more vibrant communities, alleviate pressures on law enforcement and housing, and will help those suffering from mental health crises lead healthier lives. This budget, however, is out of whack.

For example, this budget increases higher-education spending by $607 million while providing just $340 million to behavioral health. We are already number one in the nation for providing college financial aid – we have the market cornered when it comes to taking care of our students. So, why then, would we allocate nearly twice as much for grants and other tuition assistance programs than we do for a chronically underfunded and deeply flawed system that needs urgent assistance? That doesn’t make sense to me, and that’s one of the many reasons why I couldn’t support the budget that passed the House on Friday.

‘Like’ my Facebook page

In an effort to be even more accessible to you, I’ve created an official, legislative Facebook page. I encourage you to like and follow the page, and join the community conversation!

Of course, you can always reach me by calling (360) 786-7968 or sending an email to Chris.Gildon@leg.wa.gov. It’s important in these final few weeks of the legislative session that you continue sending me your thoughts and concerns on bills and other matters before the Legislature. It’s an honor to serve as your advocate in Olympia.

Thank you!

Washington State Legislature reaches halfway point of 2019 session

Last week, the state Legislature passed the halfway point of the 2019 legislative session. For the past week and a half, lawmakers have been on the floors of their respective chambers passing legislation.

Before we dive into some of the policies the House explored the past few days, I wanted to remind you that I, along with Sen. Hans Zeiger and Rep. Kelly Chambers, will be hosting another Coffee and Conversation event this Saturday, March 16. Here are the details:

Saturday, March 16
12-1:30 p.m.
Civil Air Patrol Building
16915 103rd Ave. E.
Puyallup, WA 98374

If you have any questions about the event, or if you won’t be able to make it and would like to share your thoughts on issues before the state Legislature, please don’t hesitate to contact me. You can find all of my contact information on my website at RepresentativeChrisGildon.com. I look forward to seeing you there!

A roundup of floor action

As I mentioned above, we’ve been spending a considerable amount of time on the floor passing bills over to the other chamber. In total, we have sent more than 300 bills to the Senate. Below is a brief summary of some of the good, interesting, and controversial bills we considered during this period of floor action.

The Good

HB 1168 – This bill would provide a tax exemption for self-help housing. With a housing shortage of 338,000 units, this bill provides an incentive to build so we can close the housing availability gap.
HB 1702 – There have been a lot of bills offered this year to provide “free college” for some students. I like to call these types of proposals “taxpayer-funded college” bills. I believe the most benevolent form of financial aid is lowering the cost of tuition and books for everyone. That’s exactly what this bill seeks to do, by requiring community and technical colleges to designate during registration whether course materials are “low-cost.”
HB 1231 – This is such a monumental bill for sexual assault survivors. The legislation would eliminate or extend the statute of limitations for various sex crimes. This is long overdue.

The Interesting

HB 1061 – Move over geoduck. This bill would name the Pacific razor clam as the state clam.
HB 1133 – This was a honey of a bill that created quite the buzz around the Capitol. It limits the civil liability of apiarists and operators. There are already protections for commercial beekeepers in rural areas, and this bill would extend some similar protections to apiarists in urban areas.
HB 1196 – This bill would have Washington state ditch the switch, and keep permanent daylight savings time all year long.
HB 1476 – This bill would prohibit a pet dog or cat from being named as collateral in a consumer lease or secured transaction.

The Controversial

HB 1074 – This bill would raise the age to purchase tobacco products to 21 years.
HB 1311 – This changes the College Bound Scholarship to an entitlement, which means the state is obligated to fund it. I offered an amendment to the bill that would have required scholarship recipients to complete eight hours of community service per year to maintain eligibility for the benefit, but my measure was soundly rejected by the majority party.
HB 1575 – I’m calling this the Hotel California bill: “You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave!” It allows public employees to join a union at any time, and they may do so verbally, but only provides a 15-day exit period each year and only allows opt out by signature. The bill is in direct response to the Janus decision, in which the Supreme Court ruled that requiring “agency fees” from public employee non-union members is a violation of an individual’s First Amendment rights.
HB 1638 – Perhaps one of the hottest topics this session, this legislation removes the personal or philosophical objection exemption for the MMR vaccine.

All of the above bills passed the House and are now up for consideration in the Senate.

TVW Legislator Profile

I recently sat down with TVW to share a little bit about our wonderful communities in the 25th District, one of our nation’s former presidents I admire most, and my legislative priorities. Watch here or by clicking below.

An update on my bills

I’m pleased to report my bill to provide fee-exempt license plates to veterans with a disability rating of 70 percent or more passed the House this week. Current law only allows veterans with a 100 percent disability rating to qualify.

My other piece of legislation that would help increase the supply of affordable housing by encouraging private developers to participate in one of the state’s tax credit programs was not heard on the House floor and is now “dead” for the year. As the assistant ranking Republican on the House Housing, Community Development and Veterans Committee, I have made it one of my priorities to work on solutions that will reduce our housing shortage. This bill would have brought us closer to that goal, and it’s a shame the majority party did not let it advance.

As always, if you have any questions about any of the proposals mentioned in this email update, or any other issue before the state Legislature, I encourage you to contact me. You can do so by calling (360) 786-7968 or sending an email to Chris.Gildon@leg.wa.gov.

Thank you for allowing me to serve you!

Policy Committee Cutoff winnows pool of bills; affordable housing solutions introduced

First, I want to thank everyone who attended the Coffee and Conversation events on Saturday, Feb. 16. At both venues, we were at or near max capacity, and we all engaged in thoughtful conversations on a variety of topics.

If you weren’t able to attend one of those events, I hope you’ll consider joining me, Sen. Hans Zeiger, Rep. Kelly Chambers, and your fellow community members at our next Coffee and Conversation event in a few weeks. Here are the details:

Saturday, March 16
12-1:30 p.m.
Civil Air Patrol Building
16915 103rd Ave. E.
Puyallup, WA 98374

Policy Committee Cutoff

As I mentioned in my last update, Friday was Policy Committee Cutoff. This means most bills that did not pass out of the policy committees to which they were referred are now considered “dead” for the remainder of the legislative session. Bills deemed necessary to pass or implement the budget were exempt from the deadline, however.

Two of my bills survived this cutoff, which you can learn more about below.

This Friday, March 1, is Fiscal Committee Cutoff, which means all of the bills that survived last week and were referred to fiscal committees must pass out of those committees, or be considered “dead” for the year.

Increasing the supply of affordable housing

I’m excited to announce one of my bills that would help increase the development of affordable housing throughout the state was unanimously approved by the House Housing, Community Development and Veterans Committee on Friday.

According to a recent study, the Washington State Housing Finance Commission hasn’t been doing enough to involve for-profit, or private, developers in the 9 percent Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program (LIHTC), which provides tax incentives to builders of affordable multifamily housing.

The study also found private developers could develop the same unit for 13 percent less than nonprofit builders, and 22 percent less than governmental agencies. Despite this, private developers haven’t participated in the LIHTC since 2013.

That’s like benching your star athlete. My bill (House Bill 2010) seeks to get all of the players on the field so we can address our state’s housing shortage.

Learn more about this legislation, and another bill I sponsored targeted at affordable housing by watching my recent video update.

Giving back to our veterans

In my first update to you, I shared details about my bill that would allow veterans with a 70 percent disability rating or above to receive license plates at no cost. Current law only allows veterans with 100 percent disability rating to qualify.

The bill is scheduled for a vote of the House Transportation Committee on Wednesday, and I hope it will receive full support.

This bill is just one way we can give back a little to those who have given a lot.

Reforming Sound Transit and making transportation affordable

For several years, I’ve been hearing concerns from community members and Western Washingtonians about Sound Transit and the skyrocketing cost of car tabs. This year, I cosponsored three bills that would hold Sound Transit accountable to you, the taxpayer, and would help reduce transportation costs.

House Bill 1868 — would allow cities and counties to opt out of a Regional Transit Authorities taxes.

House Bill 1956 — would change the board of a Regional Transit Authority, including Sound Transit’s Board of Directors, from appointed to directly elected to make it more accountable to voters.

House Bill 2021 — would tie the Motor Vehicle Excise Tax (MVET) to a vehicle’s Kelley Blue Book value rather than the inflated formula that’s currently used.

Sadly, the majority party has not scheduled hearings on any of these bills.

I want to hear from you about these above proposals, and any other bills before the Legislature. You can contact me by visiting my website at RepresentativeChrisGildon.com, sending me an email at Chris.Gildon@leg.wa.gov, or calling my office at (360) 786-7968.

It’s an honor serving you!

Join your 25th District legislators for coffee Feb. 16

The state Capitol was effectively shut down on Monday due to the snowstorm impacting our region, which means all committee meetings in the House and Senate were cancelled. Reporters and veteran lawmakers said they haven’t seen anything quite like this during their time in Olympia.

Aside from that, things have been clipping along at a steady pace so far. We are approaching our very first cutoff of the 2019 legislative session on Feb. 22 — Policy Committee Cutoff. On this date, most bills that have not passed out of their policy committees will be considered “dead” unless they’ve been deemed necessary to pass or implement the budget.

A lot of good, common-sense legislation has been proposed, as well as a fair mix of bills that would be harmful to taxpayers and detrimental to many individuals and families throughout the state. Once we get past the first few cutoff periods, we’ll have a better idea of what bills could feasibly make their way to the governor’s desk. When that time comes, I’ll be sure to keep you apprised.

Join me for coffee on Saturday, Feb. 16

On Saturday, Feb. 16, Sen. Hans Zeiger, Rep. Kelly Chambers and I will be hosting two ‘Coffee and Conversation’ events. This is a time for us to come together as a community to discuss issues affecting our district and state, as well as talk about possible solutions. I look forward to these productive conversations and to meeting you if I haven’t already! Here are the details:

Poodle Dog Restaurant
1522 54th Ave. E., Fife
12-1:30 p.m.

Anglea’s Restaurant
7511 Portland Avenue E., Tacoma
2-3:30 p.m.

If you’re not able to make it to one of these events, don’t worry! We’ll also be hosting another ‘Coffee and Conversation’ event Saturday, March 16 at Puyallup’s Hangar Inn (16919 Meridian E.) from 12-1:30 p.m.

Also, be sure to check my website at RepresentativeChrisGildon.com for the most up-to-date information about these events.

I look forward to seeing you soon!

Common-sense housing solutions

As the acting ranking Republican on the House Housing, Community Development and Veterans Committee, one of my policy goals is to work on solutions that increase the supply of affordable housing while investing your tax dollars wisely and ensuring accountability.

I’ve sponsored two bills that will help accomplish this:

House Bill 2010 directs the Washington State Housing Finance Commission to research and evaluate options to increase participation of for-profit developers in the 9 percent low-income housing tax credit program.

For-profit developers have a greater incentive to keep costs down, especially when compared to governmental agencies. In fact, a recent study conducted by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC) found that for-profit developers could develop the same unit for about 13 percent less cost than non-profit builders, and 22 percent less cost than a governmental agency. The study also found that due to the way the commission scores applications for the 9 percent low-income housing tax credit program, for-profit developers haven’t participated in the program since 2011, even though they already build at less cost.

My second bill, House Bill 2011, directs the Department of Commerce to collect the final cost data for affordable housing developments and make recommendations on ways to improve efficiency and lower costs.

According to JLARC, Commerce has not been collecting the final development costs from Housing Trust Fund recipients. This means they really don’t know how much it costs to build each affordable home they fund. My bill would change that.

Hair stylists and cosmetologists ‘wig out’ over bill targeting independent contractors

Lawmakers witnessed an impressive grassroots effort last month coordinated largely by hair stylists and cosmetologists concerned over bills that would jeopardize their ability to be self-employed.

Democrat-sponsored House Bill 1515 and Senate Bill 5326 would hinder the ability for hair stylists and cosmetologists to be classified as independent contractors. Many of these individuals rely on the flexible schedule being an independent contractor or sole proprietor provides, allowing them more time to spend with their families and achieve a better work-life balance.

Thankfully, their voices were heard and the sponsor of Senate Bill 5326 withdrew the bill. However, House Bill 1515 is still alive, as well as other efforts that would impact a broader population of independent contractors.

Rest assured, House Republicans will continue to stand with anyone who wants to be their own boss and against policies destructive to small business owners.

This above mobilization is a testament to what can be accomplished when you get involved with your state Legislature. I encourage you to contact me with your ideas, concerns, and questions. You can do so by calling my office at (360) 786-7968 or sending an email to Chris.Gildon@leg.wa.gov.

A message from your new state representative, Chris Gildon

Hello! On Jan. 14, I began my first term serving as your state representative in the 25th Legislative District. I am honored and humbled to serve our communities in this new role.

As I was preparing for the 2019 legislative session, which got underway a couple of weeks ago, a few priorities came to mind:

Fiscal responsibility and sustainable budgeting. Our state economy is experiencing record revenue growth. At times like this, we should be siphoning more funds into our state’s rainy day fund and doing all we can to bolster continued economic activity. Yet, our governor is proposing $3.7 billion in tax increases for the 2019-21 budget cycle, and another $5.4 billion for 2021-23. These tax increases would include a new capital gains income tax, an increase in the service business and occupation tax rate, and graduated real estate excise tax rates. If our goal is to not stand in the way of economic generation, then why do calls for massive tax increases persist?
A holistic approach to homelessness. Homelessness and vagrancy is a problem in the 25th District, and in communities throughout Washington. Unfortunately, many of the solutions that have come forward aim to treat the symptoms instead of addressing the underlying problems. More needs to be done.
Set our students up for success with more education choices. We can all agree our students deserve a world-class education. Part of that quality education means preparing students for the jobs that await them upon graduation. There are many good-paying jobs that don’t require an undergraduate degree or higher. Students need to be given a breadth of education options, including but not exclusive to apprenticeships and career and technical education, in order to make wise decisions about their futures.

My priorities are informed by your input. If you have an idea for how to improve our communities, have a concern to share, or hit a snag with a state agency, I want to hear from you. You can reach my office at (360) 786-7968 or Chris.Gildon@leg.wa.gov. Also, if you ever make your way down to Olympia, please contact my legislative assistant, Rachel Jo Elliott, to set up some time for us to meet.

2019 committee assignments

I serve on four House committees: the Rules Committee, the Capital Budget Committee, the College and Workforce Development Committee, and the Housing, Community Development and Veterans Committee.

Just this week, I was asked to step in as the ranking Republican on the Housing, Community Development and Veterans Committee after our current ranking member, Rep. Bill Jenkin, suffered a heart attack last Friday.

Bill is in good spirits and I wish him well on his recovery!

You can learn more about the committee and my new role here.

I also serve as the assistant ranking Republican on the College and Workforce Development Committee.

How can we make college more accessible and affordable?

I spent some time this week talking about the House College and Workforce Development Committee. We recently heard some bills aimed at providing what some are calling “free college education.” Did you know the cost of college tuition has gone up twice as much as the cost of housing since 1997? I believe the most benevolent form of finanical aid is to cut the cost of tuition and books for everyone.

Learn more about these bills and my thoughts by watching the video below.

Bill to reduce license-plate costs for disabled vets

Under current law, veterans with a 100 percent disability rating may receive free license plates. I’ve introduced a bill – House Bill 1707 – that will lower that threshold to a 70 percent disability rating. You can learn more about the bill here.

House Page Program still accepting applications

Students ages 14 to 16 have an excellent opportunity to see their state Legislature in action by participating in the House Page Program. During a page’s week-long service, he or she will attend Page School, help lawmakers and staff fulfill their duties, and gain an invaluable experience witnessing state government operations. Pages also earn $35 per day while participating in the program. Many times we can even find a local family to sponsor your child so you don’t have to commute each day. To learn more and apply, click here.

Thank you for reading this legislative update! I’ll be sending these periodically throughout the session to keep you apprised of legislative news and information affecting residents of the 25th District. If you know anyone who would benefit from receiving these emails, please direct them to my official website at RepresentativeChrisGildon.com. There, you can find more information about me, the legislation I’m working on, and more.

I look forward to working with you!