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2025 Banner

Dear Friends and Neighbors –

Last month, I had the privilege of hosting a town hall with my seatmates. Thank you to the community members who joined us at the Together Center for this well attended event!

During these challenging times, we know it's important to come together to discuss the topics weighing on all of us. We discussed a wide range of topics including education, healthcare, behavioral health, affordable housing, basic needs, public safety, progressive revenue, and balancing our budget.

Town hall pic

Every two years, legislators must pass three budgets — operating, transportation, and capital. These budgets fund government operations and authorize state agencies’ spending. The operating budget pays for government operations, schools, human services and more. The transportation budget funds roads, bridges, bike lanes, and public transportation. The capital budget funds local community projects such as parks, housing, and other infrastructure.

The Senate and House passed their budgets, and now the Senate and the House are working together in the coming weeks to pass a joint budget. This year has been a difficult budget year for our state for many reasons. A balanced budget must be responsible, include targeted cuts with strategic investments, and maintain funding for core services and programs. In the Senate budget, we prioritized funding education, the state’s behavioral health system, public safety and more. Here’s a snapshot of several key areas of funding:


* Education: The Senate budget includes $1 billion for special education services and $175 million for school materials, supplies and operating costs. Overall, K-12 represents more than 80% of the net new investments across the broader five-year budget outlook, showing our state’s commitment to improving public education and prioritizing students.
* Behavioral Health: The budget makes investments in the state’s behavioral health system by allocating $40 million to the University of Washington Behavioral Health Teaching Facility.
* Public Safety: The budget sustains funding for essential services such as allocating $25 million to expand resources for crime victims.
* Food Assistance: The budget also includes $93 million for emergency food assistance organizations and $28 million for the state Senior Nutrition Program.

Last Saturday, the Senate passed our capital budget. I advocated to secure our fair share of funding for projects at home in the 48th. Some of those projects include:


* Providing homes for low- to moderate-income families in Redmond.
* Remodeling a group home for adults with developmental disabilities in Bellevue.
* Childcare expansion in Redmond.
* Marymoor Cricket Community Park / sports facility.
* Supporting nonprofits offering housing, health, cultural and educational services to diverse communities across the district.

I’ve also worked to secure funding in the Senate transportation budget that would make critical safety improvements to I-405 and create pedestrian and bike crossings that connect to light rail and new affordable housing.

cell phone pic

*Right to Repair*

In addition, the legislature is working to pass important legislation that focuses on your right to repair certain products. At a time when we have affordability challenges, this is common sense legislation. You shouldn’t have to throw away an expensive phone or another electronic item you own and buy a new one just because you don’t have the resources to repair it yourself. That’s where the Fair Repair Act comes in, which passed the House and is now moving through the Senate. This bill supports the servicing and right to repair of certain products with digital electronics.

I was also proud to support SB 5680 [ [link removed] ], which establishes a right to repair for mobility equipment for people with physical disabilities, like wheelchairs. It’s important we have the information we need from manufacturers to fix items we own, especially expensive products such as electronics and mobility equipment.

Slatter on floor

The budget process and legislative session is far from over! We still have until April 27 to finalize the budget before it is sent over to governor’s desk for him to sign into law. Have questions about the budget? Please feel free to reach out to our office by calling 360-786-7694 or emailing [email protected].

I am excited to host another coffee chat at 9:30 a.m. this Sunday, April 13, at Victor’s Celtic Coffee & Roasters in Redmond. Please join us for a conversation about the budget, an update on our progress this session, and other issues that matter to our district. Here are the details:

Lattes with Slatter
Sunday, April 13
9:30–10:30 a.m.
Victor’s Celtic Coffee & Roasters
7993 Gilman St
Redmond, WA 98052

Learning more about your experience and perspective is critical to my work and helps me better represent you as your state senator. I know these are challenging and uncertain times, but it’s more important than ever we come together as a community to support our neighbors and problem solve. That’s why I hope you will join me this Sunday, April 13, for a latte or your morning beverage of choice!

Thank you for the opportunity to serve the 48th Legislative District. Stay tuned for more updates from our office as we enter the legislative session’s final few weeks.

Sincerely,

Sen. Vandana Slatter

Lattes with Slatter 2 




 

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*Sen. Vandana Slatter*
"State Senator, 48""th Legislative District"

*Email
*[email protected]

*Website*
[link removed]

*Find me on Facebook*
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*Phone*
360.786.7694
1.800.562.6000 (Toll free)
1.800.833.6388 (TTY)

*Olympia Office*

213 John A. Cherberg Building, PO Box 40448, Olympia, WA 98504

 

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