Early Endorsements!

I've been supported or endorsed in my 2008 campaign by a number of companies and organizations. I'll post a full list later, but here are a few of the early ones:

Washington State Labor Council
Washington Conservation Voters
Teamsters
Microsoft
Anheuser-Busch
Puget Sound Energy
Qwest
The Boeing Company
NARAL Pro-Choice Washington

Ross Named Towing And Recovery Assoc Legislator of the Year

I was selected the Legislator of the Year for the Towing and Recovery Association of Washington for 2007. They picked me for my work on the Streamlined sales tax Agreement.

This is a great honor, but all I did was work out a solution for the tow truck drivers for how they would figure sales tax. They often pick up vehicles in confusing locations. Is it Fife or unincorporated King County? Where's the line? It's dark, that's for sure. It's my job to help people work this kind of stuff out, but it's sure nice to be recognized for it.

Unfortunately the award does not come with a little sticker you could put on the back of your car to keep it from being towed...

Fundraising Freeze Off

The session-long fundraising freeze is now over, so you can make contributions to my campaign again. (Actually, YOU could always make contributions, I just couldn't take them...)

I would value contributions of any size. You can click the contribute button to the left or the blinking piggy bank to the right and either make a credit-card contribution, or print out the paper form and send it in with a check.

Contribution limits this year are $800 per person, per election. The primary counts as an election. This means that an individual can contribute $1600 and a couple $3200. Of course, I value contributions in any size, not just maximum checks. In fact, having a lot of small donations shows a lot of community support.

Thank you for your help with the most distasteful part of campaigning.

520 Bridge Design and Financing

After many hours of discussion, ranting, more discussion and many, many drawings we have reached agreement with most (but not all) members of the Westside delegation on the key design and financing elements of the 520 bridge. Reps Eddy, Goodman, Springer and I were very loud on this, and Sen. Tom pushed hard in the Senate. Without Reps Jarrett and Transportation Chair Judy Clibborn it would not have gotten done.

Governor Gregoire also put in many hours twisting arms on both sides of the lake and in the WSDOT to get language both in a bill and in a design standard letter from WSDOT that she commits to supporting.

The 520 bill passed both the House and Senate, and is waiting for the Governor’s signature.

Mid-Session update

Thank you for allowing me to serve as your representative in the Washington State House of Representatives. It's an honor and a privilege, and the most fun I've had in 20 years. As usual, this newsletter is prepared without the use of state resources.

The middle of last week was the deadline for all bills to pass out of their house of origin. Thousands of bills were introduced, and these were winnowed down to a few hundred that passed out of committee and out of the House. Since we are in a short session the pace is frenetic trying to get everything done that you want to get done. I personally don't think it's a very good way to make policy - Washington is complex enough that we should consider going to a year-round legislature with more time to carefully consider legislation. That's a project for another day.

Read the rest here. Bills, Ed Funding, Prescription Data Privacy, Flexcar, and even more!

http://www.rosshunter.net/pdf/uploaded/Feb%2025%202008%20Newsletter.pdf