Tag Archives: 14th Legislative District

14th District lawmakers invite residents to virtual town hall Feb. 22

As the Legislature nears the midpoint of the short 60-day 2024 session, 14th District lawmakers are inviting residents to join them for an upcoming virtual town hall.

Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, Rep. Gina Mosbrucker, R-Goldendale, and Rep. Chris Corry, R-Yakima, will provide a legislative update during the virtual town hall and provide constituents the opportunity to ask questions or share their concerns and ideas.

“As I say every session, getting the opportunity to have these conversations with our communities is incredibly important to the work we do in Olympia on their behalf,” said King. “I look forward to hearing their thoughts on our progress and learning what more we can do. I encourage people to hear our update and learn how they can get involved to help us pass bills that will improve their lives and stop bad ones that will hurt the district and the state.”

“I am grateful for the honor to serve our citizens across the 14th District. For us to do the job well, it’s important we hear from the people back home and get their input during and after the legislative session,” said Mosbrucker. “I hope everyone can join us so we can work to fix the crises facing our communities and create a better Washington state for all.”

“There is so much happening during a short session it can be challenging to keep up, so I look forward to providing an update during the virtual town hall on our efforts to improve public safety and combat the drug crisis, block new taxes, and increase access to affordable child care , said Corry. “But we also need to hear from the people of the 14th District as often as possible to inform our efforts in Olympia and this will provide that opportunity.”

Residents of the 14th Legislative District are invited to join the virtual town hall on Thursday, Feb. 22 from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Pre-register by going to http://tinyurl.com/14th-LD-TownHall.

The 60-day legislative session is scheduled to end March 7.

Sen. Curtis King’s Olympia Update – Join us at 14th District Virtual Town Hall February 19

In this update, I cover the first few weeks of the 2022 legislative session and preview the 14th District virtual town hall on February 19. You can read the entire e-newsletter here.

Unconscionable: WSDOT refuses help to clear snow from roads in Kittitas County

Central Washington Sens. Judy Warnick and Curtis King issued this statement regarding the state Department of Transportation’s refusal to let Kittitas County road crews help clear snow on state highways in the county after a major snowstorm last week:

“We are shocked and very disappointed that the state Department of Transportation refused Kittitas County’s offer to help clear snow off key highways because county employees are not required to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The state, especially the governor, is putting political ideology and an inflexible desire to enforce vaccine mandates above public safety. This is wrong and foolish.

“A snowplow has just one person in the vehicle, so it shouldn’t matter whether the snowplow driver is vaccinated. Most people rightly are more concerned that our highways and roads are kept clear of snow this winter than the vaccination status of snowplow drivers and other winter road crew employees, who typically work in isolation.

“After the snowstorm hit last week, Interstate 90 and U.S. Highway 97 through Kittitas County were closed for three days, making travel nearly impossible for county residents and others relying on these highways, keeping people from attending medical appointments or other important meetings on the west side of the Cascades, and delaying freight deliveries. WSDOT’s winter road crews have been working around the clock to try to keep our highways clear, but they are very understaffed – and exhausted – due to job losses caused by Governor Inslee’s COVID vaccine mandates. Kittitas County generously offered to have its road crews help clear the snow, but WSDOT leaders refused. And then WSDOT hired a private contractor to help clear highways in the county. Is WSDOT requiring that contractor to be vaccinated?

“We feared the vaccine mandate would hurt drivers and truckers this winter. Sadly, our fears have been realized. This is on the governor, not those WSDOT workers who lost their jobs.”

Warnick, R-Moses Lake, serves the 13^th Legislative District, which includes Kittitas County. King, R-Yakima, serves the 14^th Legislative District and is ranking Republican on the Senate Transportation Committee.

King was interviewed about this issue today on KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson Show.

The Senate Transportation Committee is scheduled to hold a work session today at 4 p.m. on the state of transportation in Washington. WSDOT officials, including state Transportation Secretary Roger Millar, are expected to attend. King says he will ask WSDOT pointed questions about its refusal to accept Kittitas County’s offer to help plow highways in that county. The committee meeting can be viewed here.

Sen. Curtis King’s Olympia Update: Make sure to take part in 2020 census!

In this update, I discuss why it is important for residents in the 14th District and other parts of central and eastern Washington to complete the census. You can read the entire e-newsletter by clicking here.

King to hold telephone town hall Feb. 20 on legislative session

Residents of the 14th Legislative District will have a chance to learn more about issues before the 2020 Legislature by taking part in a one-hour telephone town hall meeting Thursday, Feb. 20, hosted by Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima.

During the town hall, which begins at 6 p.m., King will discuss key issues before the Legislature, as well as bills he is sponsoring.

“Telephone town hall meetings provide a convenient way for people in our district to find out what’s happening this legislative session, ask me questions and offer input,” King said. “It also lets me stay in touch with constituents even though I’m in Olympia, and it gives people a chance to hear from me about the session just by picking up the phone.”

Residents in the 14th District are encouraged to ask questions during the telephone town hall meeting, but they may also submit them in advance by emailing King at curtis.king@leg.wa.gov.

While thousands of district residents will receive a phone call just before the telephone town hall meeting to encourage them to participate, residents may also take part by dialing 509-408-1571.

The 60-day 2020 legislative session is scheduled to end March 12.

King pleased to see many 14th District projects in final state capital budget

Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, is applauding the new two-year state capital budget approved by the Legislature over the weekend, for including many projects in the 14^th Legislative District.

“We are very pleased with the appropriations that have been given to our district in the capital budget,” said King. “These projects will help our district for years to come.”

The $4.9 billion capital budget funds the construction and maintenance of state buildings, public schools, higher education facilities, public lands, parks and other assets throughout Washington.

The Senate voted 48-0 to pass the final version of the capital budget (Substitute House Bill 1102) Saturday night. The House approved it 97-1 on Sunday.

King said he and his district seatmates, Reps. Gina Mosbrucker, R-Goldendale, and Chris Corry, R-Yakima, sat down at the start of the legislative session to discuss the district’s needs.

“We took the capital-budget requests that we received from groups or individuals in our district and then divided them up so we didn’t ask for the same projects,” explained King. “We tried to maximize our leverage in getting the projects we wanted in the final version of this budget, and this approach worked well.”

King praised 15^th District Sen. Jim Honeyford, R-Sunnyside, for his work as the lead Senate Republican in the crafting of the new two-year capital budget.

Here are the 14^th District local and community projects funded in the new capital budget:

Centerville Fire Department – $216,000
Centerville Grange – $90,000
Skyline Hospital in White Salmon (funded under Expanding on Excellence Capital Campaign) – $500,000
Goldendale Airport – $550,000
Innovative Health Care Learning Center Phase 1 at Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences in Yakima – $500,000
Klickitat County Sheriff Office Training Building in Goldendale – $335,000
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Memorial in Toppenish – $49,000
Mount Adams Community Forest, Klickitat Canyon Rim Purchase in Glenwood – $400,000
Naches Fire and Rescue, Yakima County No. 3 – $200,000
Skamania County Courthouse Plaza in Stevenson – $150,000
SOZO Sports Indoor Arena in Yakima – $600,000

The capital budget also funds several district projects through Washington Wildlife Recreation Grants, including:

Cowiche Watershed – $4 million
Mount Adams Klickitat Canyon Phase 3 – $3 million
Columbia Hills grassland restoration – $91,000
Rock Creek Cleman Ridge forest restoration – $296,000
Trout Lake Natural Area Preserve Forest and Meadow restoration – $106,000
Wenas watershed enhancements – $231,000
Inholdings and adjacent properties – $1 million

Four district projects are funded in the capital budget through the Behavioral Health Capacity Grant program:

Virginia Mason Acute Stabilization ($2.2 million)
Yakima Neighborhood Health Services ($488,000)
Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic ($309,000)
YVFWC Children’s Village ($1 million)

The capital budget funds two projects under the state Department of Ecology that will enable a company called Floodplains by Design to remove dams and divert water elsewhere:

Cowiche/Naches – $531,000
Yakima Gap to Gap – $8.072 million

The capital budget also funds two 15^th District projects that are located very close to the 14^th District and are beneficial to people in the Yakima area:

Larson Gallery renovation in Yakima – $875,000
Mount Adams School District athletic fields in Harrah – $242,000

The 105-day legislative session ended Sunday night.

IN THE NEWS: New Benton City roundabout celebrated today, officials joined WSDOT in ribbon-cutting event

BENTON CITY – State Sen. Curtis King, Acting Secretary of Transportation Roger Millar and Benton City Mayor Linda Lehman celebrated with residents today, Monday, June 13, the opening of a new roundabout along Interstate 82 in Benton City.

The roundabout is the first of many Connecting Washington projects to be completed, bringing safety, economic, environmental and mobility improvements to local areas and throughout the state.

“I was here a few months ago breaking ground and I’m honored to be back as the project comes full circle and we celebrate completion,” said Sen. Curtis King. “The 2015 Connecting Washington transportation package helps every corner of the state.”

Hosted by the Washington State Department of Transportation, the ceremony marked a milestone with the opening of the new roundabout; this is the first of two construction phases for the Red Mountain Interchange Improvements. The project will be complete at the end of June. A small amount of paving, striping and landscaping remains.

Adjacent to I-82, this first phase of planned improvements replaced the State Route 224/State Route 225 intersection with a roundabout, relocated a park and ride lot and improved street lighting and sidewalks in the area. The new roundabout reduces congestion and improves access to Benton City and the Red Mountain area, which is vital to expanding the economic vitality of the region.

Contractor crews began work in December 2015. The total budget for the Red Mountain Interchange Improvements is $30 million, with $4.3 million allocated for this first phase roundabout project.

Sen. Curtis King’s Olympia Update – Post-session Edition

In my report following the end of the legislative session, I discuss the governor’s decision to veto sections of the bipartisan budget update and the ceremony I attended to honor Klickitat County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael J. McNabb, who was killed in the line of duty 30 years ago on State Route 14.

Read my entire update here.

Sen. Curtis King’s Olympia Update – Sine Die Edition

It took an additional 20 days for the Democrats in the House of Representatives to drop their pursuit of new taxes and agree to an operating-budget update that was restrained in its spending, contained no new taxes and balanced over four years, as state law requires.

In my latest update from Olympia I cover the highlights of the 2016 legislative session. You can read the entire e-newsletter here.