Author Archives: Laudan

Muzzall bill to save farm internship program signed by governor

In a televised, private ceremony due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Gov. Inslee signed legislation sponsored by state Sen. Ron Muzzall, R-Oak Harbor this past Friday. The new law revives a popular and effective farm internship program administered by the state Dept. of Labor and Industries that recently expired.

“Restarting this successful and innovative program is needed given the current state of farming, it’s one that will hopefully provide options in our current economic situation,” Muzzall said. “We know that the program can be a significant help to support smaller farming operations around the state. Keeping the program gives an opportunity for people to explore more career options and a chance for younger generations to be exposed to farming.”

Muzzall’s bill removes regulatory barriers to employ interns generally on small farms. Participants will receive training and other benefits, such as housing, while they may be starting their own farming operations under the pilot program. Begun in 2010, it’s been active in 20 of Washington’s 39 counties before it expired at the end of 2019.

“The future of family farming is at stake nationally and here in Washington. That is a big problem for us since agriculture is such a significant driver of our economy,” Muzzall said. “As a fourth-generation family farmer, I know firsthand that we have to get creative. This program will be extremely helpful to develop a sustainable workforce needed in agriculture.”

The law goes into effect immediately with a sunset date at the end of 2025. It requires a comprehensive report to the Legislature due the year prior to its expiration.

COVID-19 – Resources for our Community

Dear Friends,

I’m back home in district now that the legislative session has concluded. I’ll be sure to send an update on our work in Olympia later, but I’d like to focus this newsletter on resources and assurances on what’s happening with the Coronavirus (COVID-19) response in our state. This new virus is posing a serious threat to the daily routines, physical and economic health of communities around our state. Please be patient and do your part to prevent the spread to vulnerable members of our community.

In the final days of session, the Legislature approved House Bill 2965, which provides $175 million in emergency funding from the rainy-day fund (like our savings account) for the COVID-19 response at the state level. Any unused funds will go back to that account. Those funds will be used to support our fellow Washingtonians affected by the virus, including expanded unemployment benefits for workers and nursing home payments.

While government is stepping in to provide the resources from what it’s taken, it’s up to us to be good neighbors and take care of one another. We have an obligation to come together during this time. In so doing, we’ll weather the storm and be stronger on the other side. One of the recent executive orders from the governor has prohibited dining in, but restaurants are still able to provide take-out orders. In an industry with low-margins, closures for a couple weeks could be devastating, so there’s an opportunity to support our neighbors. It’s also a good chance to check in on those that might need help with getting groceries, planning for childcare, or are dealing with anxiety from the turmoil we face. We’re stronger together, and we’ll beat this together

Below are links to resources that you may find useful.

You can find additional resources and updates by visiting the governor’s COVID-19 website. Click here for details.

Please, take care and don’t hesitate to reach out to my office with any questions you may have. Our Senate offices will be closed for a while as the facilities department does a deep clean, so it may take us some time to get back to you. Email will be the best way to get in contact. It is an honor to serve you.

Sincerely,

Ron Muzzall,

Your 10th District State Senator

Legislature approves Muzzall bill to save farm internship program

The House of Representatives gave its unanimous approval Wednesday to legislation sponsored by state Sen. Ron Muzzall, R-Oak Harbor, to extend a valuable farm internship program. Clearing its final hurdle, Senate Bill 6421 now heads to the governor’s desk for his signature.

“I’m pleased that we’ve been able to revive this successful and innovative program. Given the current state of farming, it’s one that is desperately needed,” Muzzall said. “Keeping this program alive provides more career options and opportunities to get a younger generation engaged in farming. It will also be a significant help to support smaller farming operations around the state.”

The pilot project, which is primarily geared toward supporting small farms, would remove regulatory barriers to employ interns who will receive training and other benefits such as housing while they may be starting their own farming operations. The state Department of Labor and Industries, which oversees the program that began in 2010 and has involved 20 of Washington’s 39 counties, can now re-establish the program that expired in 2019.

“Farms across the country are facing challenges recruiting the next generation of farmers. That is a big problem for our state since agriculture is such a driver of Washington’s economy,” Muzzall said. “We have to get creative to ensure that agriculture has the workforce needed to be sustainable. This legislation is a positive step in that direction.”

The program, which would go into effect immediately, is set to expire at the end of 2025 with a report to the Legislature due the year prior.

Listening to You – Town Hall Follow-up

Greetings from Olympia,

The 2020 legislative session is scheduled to conclude March 12. Things are really picking up. We are now looking at legislation that the House has approved. Those bills will have to go through the committee process here in the Senate and then taken up on the floor. The process is really designed so that not a lot of legislation makes it to the governor’s desk, which may or may not be a good thing, depending on your particular interest.

We’ve covered a lot of subjects from open government issues, to elections, to health care and gun rights. During all this, the budget is being worked on. We had some great news last week that should hopefully tamp down efforts to raise additional taxes. The revenue forecast projects the state will take in $1.4 billion more than we expected since adopting the budget last year!

I’m baffled at the way budgets are done in Olympia. There was simply no reason for the majority to ram through a billion-dollar tax bill on small business, including doctors, mental health providers and nursing homes.

Health care challenges

We have a big challenge in our state and country concerning rising health care costs and a lot of things we are doing in Olympia aren’t helping. I did vote for legislation that caps the out of pocket costs of insulin at $100 for a 30 day supply. We heard very compelling testimony in the Health Care Committee about the impacts that skyrocketing costs for this lifesaving drug are having and we needed to act. I did not support another somewhat related bill that would have created another government agency to “fix” our state’s problems. We need an honest accounting of what’s driving costs as opposed to rushing bills to put out fires.

You can watch an interview I did recently with the chair of the health care committee by clicking here. It’s a complex problem that we have a lot of bipartisan agreement on, the challenge is how we get there and are we actually just making the problem worse.

It’s all about balance

I was honest with you when I stepped up to represent you in the Senate that my job was to listen. I’m not an expert on every policy that comes before me, but I make every effort to learn, understand and vote my constituents and my conscience. The state absolutely needs to help those that can’t help themselves, but we also need to be pragmatic in our approaches. That’s something innate to me as farmer.

You may have heard about efforts to restore voting rights for felons. The debate in the Senate got fairly contentious. I did not support that legislation because I did not think it was fair. Let me be clear, if you’ve served your debt to society, I’m in favor of restoring of voting rights. But the bill we were considering allowed folks who had not completed all the terms of their sentences to have those restored – people out on parole or now called community custody or who haven’t made restitution. I’m tired of the slippery slope and we need to send a message about fairness for victims. Pay the full debt to society and rejoin the community – no sooner.

Another example of balancing the rights and privileges that government gets involved with concerns housing and property rights. It’s no secret that finding affordable housing is a challenge. Rents are growing often faster than incomes and sometimes people are facing evictions. The state does provide resources for people in that situation, but we took up legislation that tried to fix legal issues or imbalances that might exist that could lead to evictions and increased homelessness.

The challenge here is the need for people to be housed and the rights of property owners who provide rental housing. For big property companies, some of these rules and regulations aren’t that big a deal. I’m concerned about the impacts these laws have on small operations, people that have a few units they’re renting. People don’t often consider that a big reason why housing has become so unaffordable are the layers of costly rules government places on housing providers. This doesn’t even take into consideration the sheer lack of supply that drives up costs for everyone.

Town hall follow up

Thanks to everyone who took part in our two 10th District town halls this past weekend. The meetings were very well attended, and my House seatmates and I covered a lot of ground on issues ranging from government transparency, education, and homelessness, to Second Amendment rights and more. Listening is one of the most important things I can do when working to represent our district, so these meetings were particularly valuable.

As we near the end of the 2020 legislative session, don’t hesitate to reach out with your thoughts on legislation. I take your comments to heart and will do my best to represent your views.

It is an honor to serve you. Please reach out to my office with any questions or concerns you may have about your state government.

Sincerely,

Ron Muzzall,

Your 10th District State Senator

Update from Olympia – Halfway There

Greetings from Olympia,

The 60-day legislative session is just over halfway finished. As a member of the Senate budget committee (Ways and Means), we worked late into the evening getting public input on bills that will have financial implications. The full Senate has begun working on approving (or voting against) legislation that started here in the Senate. Our deadline is Feb. 19. After that point, we’ll be looking at bills coming over from the House and giving them an honest assessment.

I am amazed at the number of bills that we have taken up. It is a never-ending stream of policies, from dictating what kinds of drinks can be on a kid’s menu in a restaurant to giving 17-year-olds the ability to vote.

Usually, the bills that make it all the way through the process get signed by the governor after the legislative session. However, there was one bill that was so important the governor signed it just the other day. To no one’s surprise, it was a $1 billion tax bill. Senate Bill 6492 was a “fix” to legislation approved last year that was so convoluted the state Department of Revenue was not sure it could collect the taxes. So, the majority got a do-over. Unfortunately, some of the same bad policies in the original bill remained.

I serve our district on the Senate Health and Long Term Care Committee. When we were holding public hearings on legislation, one thing was clear. We have a bit of a challenge on our hands keeping costs down, recruiting and retaining health-care providers and ensuring access across our state.

The tax “reform” bill, as they called it, does nothing to help the situation. In fact, it includes steep tax increases on nursing homes and health-care providers. Our state is legitimately facing a crisis when it comes to nursing-home closures because our state’s Medicaid reimbursement rates aren’t keeping up. Believe it or not, we are doing a worse job than Idaho and Oregon. Instead of having a frank conversation about where we are investing the extra $1 billion you sent Olympia to help keep nursing homes open, the majority has decided to tax them more.

The value of listening

When the session started, I authored an op-ed that appeared in the La Conner Weekly. It was titled “the value of listening.” Things like I discussed above are indicative of the problems we face here in Olympia. Please take a moment to read that by clicking here. Every day I see examples where we can do better for you by actually listening.

Here’s another good example. There has been a lot of discussion in transportation circles in your state Capitol about implementing what’s called a low carbon fuel standard. Sounds like a great idea to address climate change, but in practice it’s bad for our district and other rural parts of the state. It would add 57 cents to every gallon of gas and none of it would go back to improving roads. They tried this in California and the results have been clear. It is an expensive, regressive way to lower carbon emissions and one of the least effective.

Proponents are relegating fixing carbon onto the backs of the poor. Is that fair?

The first bill of my legislative career

Our district is heavily reliant on agriculture. We produce dozens of products that feed our state and the world. However, farms across the country and at home are facing challenges recruiting the next generation of farmers.

Under legislation I introduced that was approved unanimously just the other day by the state Senate, a pilot program would be revived to expose young workers to the agricultural industry through farm internships… read more.

Town Hall Weekend

We’ll have a bit of a break in the action down here in Olympia, and my seatmates and I will be hosting town halls in district. I encourage you to attend. See below for more information.

Saturday, Feb. 22, 2020

Mount Vernon WSU Extension Center

16650 WA-536, Mt Vernon, WA 98273

10:00 – 11 a.m.

Oak Harbor High School Student Union Building

1 Wildcat Way, Oak Harbor, WA 98277

1:30– 2:30 p.m.

Working with me in Olympia

You may have seen a Facebook post I did recently about some of the young men and women who work with me in Olympia. Jerry Coleman, Hailey Sarber and Rozzy Ware traveled from their homes in Stanwood and Mount Vernon to spend a week paging for the Washington State Senate at the Capitol in Olympia. They were three of the 20 students who served as Senate pages for the third week of the 2020 legislative session.

It was awesome having the opportunity to sponsor a group of friends. I hope this experience they had together is something they’ll remember fondly. It seemed that they all had a great time and learned a lot about the legislative process.

It is an honor to serve you. Please reach out to my office with any questions or concerns you may have about your state government.

Sincerely,

Ron Muzzall,

Your 10th District State Senator

Update from Olympia

Greetings from Olympia,

The value of listening

Proponents are relegating fixing carbon onto the backs of the poor. Is that fair?

The first bill of my legislative career

Town Hall Weekend

We’ll have a bit of a break in the action down here in Olympia, and my seatmates and I will be hosting town halls in district. I encourage you to attend. See below for more information.

Saturday, Feb. 22, 2020

Mount Vernon WSU Extension Center

16650 WA-536, Mt Vernon, WA 98273

10:00 – 11 a.m.

Oak Harbor High School Student Union Building

1 Wildcat Way, Oak Harbor, WA 98277

1:30– 2:30 p.m.

Working with me in Olympia

It is an honor to serve you. Please reach out to my office with any questions or concerns you may have about your state government.

Sincerely,

Ron Muzzall,

Your 10th District State Senator

Muzzall legislation would reestablish farm internship program

Farms across the country are facing challenges recruiting the next generation of farmers. Under legislation introduced by state Sen. Ron Muzzall, R-Oak Harbor and approved today by the state Senate, the state would revive a pilot program to expose young workers to the agricultural industry through farm internships.

“Young folks don’t always know the options they may have to learn a trade or find a career path,” said Muzzall. “My legislation will open up opportunities for young workers to explore a career in agriculture and, also importantly, support small farms in our state.”

Senate Bill 6421 would direct the state Department of Labor and Industries to reestablish a pilot project that began in 2010 and involved 20 of Washington’s 39 counties when it expired at the end of 2019. The project, which is primarily geared toward supporting small farms, would remove regulatory barriers to employ interns who will receive training and other benefits such as housing while they may be starting their own farming operations.

“This program has had a great deal of success and given the current state of farming, one that is desperately need,” Muzzall said.

“This farm internship program is a unique, innovative, educational opportunity for interns to receive training on small farms. Extending this program will preserve a safe, educational option for interested interns and farmers,” said Scott Dilley, Communications Director for the Washington State Dairy Federation. “We are thankful to Sen. Muzzall for his sponsorship of this bill and for the vote by senators today to move the bill forward.”

This was Muzzall’s first bill to be approved since recently joining the Senate and was approved unanimously. It now goes to the House of Representatives for consideration.

Three friends serve as pages

Jerry Coleman, Hailey Sarber, and Rozzy Ware traveled from their homes in Stanwood and Mount Vernon to spend a week paging for the Washington State Senate at the Capitol in Olympia. They were three of the 20 students who served as Senate pages for the third week of the 2020 legislative session.

Rozzy, 15, is the daughter of Kathy and Adam Ware and enjoys husbandry. “It’s a fun way to get involved,” she said. “The whole experience was really fun.”

The homeschooled tenth graders were sponsored by the 10th Legislative District Sen. Ron Muzzall, who serves Island County and parts of Skagit and Snohomish counties.

“It was awesome having the opportunity to sponsor a group of friends,” Muzzall said. “I hope this experience they had together is something they’ll remember fondly. It seemed that they all had a great time and learned a lot about the legislative process.”

Jerry, the son of Sarah and James Coleman, is 16 years old and enjoys riding the unicycle. “I loved every moment. Getting to know everyone on campus was really fun,” he said.

Hailey, 15, enjoys horseback riding and is the daughter of Craig and Linette Sarber. She explained, “I liked being on the floor. I was able to pick up on how the Senate operates.”

The Senate page program provides an opportunity for Washington students to spend a week working at the Legislature. Students transport documents between offices, as well as deliver messages and mail. Pages spend time in the Senate chamber and attend page school to learn about parliamentary procedure and the legislative process. Students also draft their own bills and engage in a mock session.

Students interested in the Senate Page Program are encouraged to visit: https://leg.wa.gov/Senate/Administration/PageProgram/

Update from Olympia

Greetings from Olympia,

We’re in the third week of the legislative session and the committees are working quickly to get public comment on legislation and voted out before the Feb. 7 deadline for policy committees. Things feel a bit frantic as the majority party doesn’t appear to have clear direction on what we need to be working on.

During my town halls, I was clear with you all about what I felt we needed to do in the session, and how we need to address the homelessness problem. To me, we must have a laser-like focus on mental health and drug addiction. In my meetings here in Olympia with folks working on this problem, they agree.

The problem won’t be solved by just throwing more money at building taxpayer-subsidized housing that takes years to come online. That’s the plan that the governor is proposing. He wants to raid the state’s rainy-day fund to the tune of $300 million. It’s an emergency fund in case of an economic downturn, not a piggy bank for ongoing expenses on something we should have been addressing with the record amount of tax dollars we already have.

We (the state government) spent about $625 million in the biennial budget on homelessness. I don’t feel like you are getting the results you deserve as taxpayers, and our neighbors stuck on the streets caught in drug addiction or struggling with mental illness aren’t getting the help they deserve, either. That’s a problem.

Some of my Senate Republican colleagues held a news conference recently to unveil a comprehensive plan to get at the root causes of homelessness, respond to immediate needs, and address larger systemic problems. You can watch that by clicking here. When reporters asked the Senator majority leader what they are doing, his response was shockingly, “We don’t have a final plan yet.”

Other unfinished business

An issue that is constantly being kicked around in Olympia is our state’s lax drunk-driving laws. For some unknown reason, bills to crack down on impaired driving are consistently blocked. As a former fireman of 20 years, I’ve seen firsthand the tragic outcomes of people getting behind the wheel while impaired. Too many lives are lost on our roadways that are preventable, particularly for repeat offenders.

My legislation, Senate Bill 6555, is a simple proposal to stiffen penalties for those who continue to put others on the road at risk. It would reduce the number of prior offenses necessary to elevate a driving-under-the-influence offense to a felony from three to two priors. It would also increase the window in which the two offenses must have been committed to amount to a felony from 10 years to 25 years.

It is an honor to serve you. Please reach out to my office with any questions or concerns you may have about your state government.

Sincerely,

Ron Muzzall,

Your 10th District State Senator