County’s lawmakers try a little togetherness in Olympia

OLYMPIA – A majority of lawmakers representing Snohomish County did something Wednesday morning they rarely do during a session — meet.

Sixteen of the 21 members whose districts include part of the county chatted about what they’re working on and broader issues like higher education and transportation on which they might unite their energies.

There was no agenda for the 7 a.m. meeting that lasted 45 minutes. No votes were taken, though they agreed it turned out well enough to do it again in the near future.

“It was a good meet-and-greet to get to know one another,” Sen. John McCoy, D-Tulalip, said afterwards.

Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe, D-Bothell, who is in her fifth term, described it as “one of the best ones I’ve attended.”

“It was a real opportunity for us to begin building a working relationship on the issues of importance to Snohomish County,” she said.

There have been periodic attempts to get the delegation together, most recently on the question of where to put a University of Washington branch campus. That didn’t turn out well; the county’s contingent couldn’t agree on a location so the Legislature dropped the idea.

Rep. June Robinson, D-Everett, who is in her second year, and Sen. Kirk Pearson, who is in his second decade in the Legislature, organized Wednesday’s event.

“There was great conversation which, in the short time I’ve been here, we’ve never had,” Robinson said.

Pearson said, “It turned out really positive just hearing from everybody.”

Higher education emerged as a subject of common interest because of Washington State University’s expanding presence in Everett, Robinson said.

Transportation is another topic on everyone’s radar, she said. Each of the seven legislative districts in the county have unmet needs for roads, bridges, ferries or buses. And everyone is eyeing the capital budget as a possible source of money for community and countywide projects.

Members of the delegation are well-positioned to influence the conversations around these matters.

For example, Sen. Barbara Bailey, R-Oak Harbor, is chairwoman of the Senate Higher Education committee and Rep. Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish, is chairman of the House Capital Budget.

Sen. Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens, is the ranking Democrat on the Republican-run transportation committee and Sen. Marko Liias, D-Everett, is the number two Democrat. Rep. Luis Moscoso, D-Mountlake Terrace, is vice chairman of the House committee. Five members of the delegation sit on the panel.

House Minority Leader Rep. Dan Kristiansen, R-Snohomish, said after Wednesday’s meeting that he’s hopeful it will enable concerns of the county’s diverse population to be fully considered by the delegation on all subjects.

“We’ve got some big issues in the county. We’ve got some big challenges in the state,” he said. “I’m hopeful we can be successful in coming to some conclusions (together) on them.”

Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com