Town Hall meetings provide valuable feedback to legislators | Rep. Jay Rodne
Published 5:06 pm Thursday, March 13, 2014
By Rep. Jay Rodne
On Feb. 22, my seatmates and I hosted three in-person town hall meetings around the 5th District. The turnout was great and the questions and feedback was invaluable.
We just finished the 2014 legislative session where we debated new and higher gas taxes and transportation fees to fund projects statewide. What I heard from constituents is they understand the need to invest in critical road and transit systems, but are skeptical that their money would be spent wisely. The 520 Bridge and Seattle Tunnel projects have eroded confidence that will need to be rebuilt before they accept new and higher transportation taxes.
We also had questions about K-12 education funding and reform. Will our investments improve student out comes and support teachers? How best can we measure teacher performance to ensure that there is a qualified teacher in every classroom? We will continue to try to reach consensus on these issues during the final days of the 2014 legislative session.
With the state Supreme Court’s ruling in the McCleary case, the Legislature last year stepped up in a bipartisan fashion to fund K-12 education first. We invested an additional $1 billion directly into our schools. We funded full-day kindergarten; K-1 class size reduction; pupil transportation; and materials, supplies and operating costs. We also added dollars to the Learning Assistance Program, or LAP, among other critical programs that make a difference in the classroom.
Finally, we heard loud and clear that government needs to be held accountable, whether it is budgeting responsibly or living up to our state’s constitution to ensure K-12 education is treated as the “paramount duty” of the state. Residents want to ensure every dollar they send us is used wisely and in ways that make a difference in their communities.
I welcome any additional feedback constituents have for me.
Rep. Jay Rodne, R-Snoqualmie, represents the 5th Legislative District, which includes Issaquah, Fall City, Snoqualmie and North Bend.
