Dear Friends,
The 2016 legislative session is now
underway. We are scheduled to be in session for 60 days, until March 10. I am
hopeful that the Legislature’s primary focus this year will be on doing
whatever we can to encourage private-sector job growth, adopt innovative new
approaches to energy and improve public safety.
If you know anyone else who
would like to receive these weekly updates during the session, please have them
contact me at Sharon.Brown@leg.wa.gov. I’d be happy to get them signed up.
As always, if there is anything
I can do for you as your state senator, I hope you will call or send me an
e-mail. I also hope that if you are in Olympia you will stop by to say hello.
It’s always great to see people from home.
Sincerely,
 Sharon Brown
State Senator
8th District
 Click to watch my first video update of 2016.
 As you may remember, during this past session I introduced
a bill to study the siting and licensing of small modular reactors in our
state. The language in that bill was later included in the operating budget
lawmakers approved at the end of the 2015 session, along with $176,000 to pay
for the study.
Well, the results are in.
On Tuesday the Washington
Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council released a promising report
highlighting the potential for small modular nuclear reactors to play a
significant role in providing baseload, carbon-free power. The EFSEC
report also includes several recommendations on how to improve the licensing
process for SMRs.
This week I introduced legislation to act on the
report’s recommendations. Senate Bill 6224 will reduce the
number of mandatory hearings and help create a more expedited process. The bill
has been referred to the Senate Energy, Environment and Telecommunications
Committee.
You can read more about my bill and the new EFSEC report by clicking here.
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On April 2, 2015, Jason E. Smith’s
life was taken by a reckless driver in a hit-and-run incident in
Pasco. Jason, a 36-year-old Kennewick husband and
father, left behind a loving family, including two beautiful daughters,
Tri Star (15) and Mila (6).
This week the Senate Law and
Justice Committee unanimously approved my bill to strengthen the state’s
vehicular-homicide sentencing guidelines in Jason’s honor.
Under Senate Bill 6219, which
would be known as Jason’s Law, vehicular homicide while driving in a reckless
manner would increase from seriousness level VIII (with a sentencing range of
21-27 months) to level XI (with a range of 78-102 months), which is similar to
the current ranking for vehicular homicide while driving under the influence of
alcohol or drugs.
I’m really pleased that the
members of the committee listened to the testimony of Jason’s family and heeded
their call to increase the recommended penalty for vehicular homicide. It
should be clear to all that there is no excuse for recklessly endangering the
lives of others, and the state will hold accountable those responsible for
doing so.
SB 6219 now goes to
the Senate Ways and Means Committee for consideration of the bill’s potential
fiscal implications.
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I
recently talked with Tri-City Herald reporter Annette Cary about some of my
priorities for the session. If you missed her article, you can find it online
by clicking here.
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Fellow
Tri-Cities senator, and my good friend, Mike Hewitt announced earlier this month that he will not be seeking
re-election. Mike has represented Walla Walla County and parts of the
Tri-Cities for more than 15 years, and his leadership and dedication has
resulted in a number of great accomplishments in Olympia – including the
formation of the Majority Coalition Caucus. His mentorship and friendship will
be missed at the Capitol.
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The
Spokesman-Review recently editorialized in favor of my efforts to bring remote
testimony to citizens across this state. Sen. Mike Padden (R-Spokane Valley) and I have been
pushing this effort in the Senate, and a pilot program conducted last session
was a big success. The Senate is planning even wider use of remote testimony in
the weeks and months to come.
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During
the period following the 2015 session Sen. Judy Warnick (R-Moses Lake) and
I hosted the inaugural Farm Hall. Local farmers and members from the
community came out to the Reach Museum in Richland to address important issues
to the Washington agriculture community. You can read all about it here and here.
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KEPR-TV
has done a great job of helping bring attention to Jason’s Law. You can watch their coverage by
clicking the video link below:
 Click to watch KEPR-TV coverage of Jason's Law
As always, I value
hearing directly from you. I am here to be your voice and your feedback on bills
before the Senate is very important to me.
If you would like to contact me
please write, phone, e-mail, or stop by if you’re in the Olympia area.
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