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January 18, 2013

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Thank you for trusting me to once again serve as one of your state representatives in 47^th Legislative District. Like last year, I will be sending out these periodic e-mail updates to keep you informed on what is happening in Olympia that may impact you, your business or your family. I hope you find these informative. Please feel free to share them with friends and family – they can sign up here to receive them as well.

I always welcome your feedback on any and all issues before the Legislature, so please, keep the calls, e-mails and letters coming! To that end, please mark your calendar to participate in my telephone town hall on Thursday, February 7, at 6:30 p.m. Constituents can call in toll-free at 1-877-229-8493 and enter PIN 17556. The call will last one hour.

If you plan to be in Olympia and would like to meet with me, please contact my office so we can set a time. Also, if there is a specific bill or issue you would like to discuss with me at our meeting, please let me know so I am prepared to efficiently assist you. My contact information is below.

Again, thank you for putting your faith in me to represent you in the Legislature. I work for you and look forward to a successful 2013.

My committee assignments:

Once again this year, I was assigned to committees I requested and that fit the priorities of the 47^th District. Here are my committee assignments with a brief description of which issues they consider.

• Transportation, assistant ranking member: This committee considers the transportation budget, revenue sources for transportation project funding, and issues relating to transportation policy and transportation agencies, including the Department of Transportation and the Washington State Patrol.
• Education: This committee considers policies relating to kindergarten through twelfth grade (K-12) education.
• Higher education: This committee considers policies relating to the state’s public and independent baccalaureate colleges and universities, public community and technical colleges, and private career schools. Issues include governance and coordination of higher education, financial aid, tuition, distance learning, and the licensing of private colleges and career schools.

Telephone town hall on February 7:

Please mark your calendar to participate in my hour-long telephone town hall on Thursday, February 7, at 6:30 p.m. Constituents can call in toll-free 1-877-229-8493 and enter PIN 17556. This is a good time to ask questions, share your thoughts and give me feedback on the state issues most important to you. The best part of these calls is that constituents don’t need to leave their homes to participate in their government.

I am looking forward to hearing your feedback on the call, but please always send an e-mail, letter or call me if you need information or would like to share your thoughts at any time!

My contact information:

My legislative aide is Roy Atwood. He staffs my office Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and occasionally later and weekends as we work additional hours to finish our business. Please always feel free to call with questions or comments. We can also help constituents with working with state agencies or finding state services. I can be reached as follows:

E-mail me:
Mark.Hargrove@leg.wa.gov

Call me:
Office: (360) 786-7918
Toll-free: (800) 562-6000
Personal Cell: (253) 632-0736

Mail me:
Rep. Mark Hargrove
P.O. Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600

Visit me:
409 John L. O’Brien Building
Visit the Legislature and capitol campus

Issues I will be working on:

In my first term, we passed my bill that allows for local school districts to create innovation schools and zones. This education reform measure is about giving parents, teachers, administrators and students more freedom to do what works best to serve their diverse student populations. This year, I believe we can build on this effort by expanding the nature of these innovation schools and zones.

I will also be focused in my role as the assistant ranking Republican on the House Transportation Committee to find solutions that address our most important transportation problems. The Highway 405/Highway 167 interchange is the worst in the state! In addition, completing the south end of Highway 167 to join Interstate 5 and increasing capacity are essential. This will help shorten our drive times, and perhaps more importantly, better connect our ports to our valley warehouses to points east to facilitate creating more jobs. But in order to afford these necessary projects, we need significant reforms to bring down the construction costs to a realistic level.

On the Higher Education Committee, I’ll work for the reforms necessary to bring down post-secondary education costs, so our students from middle-class families can afford them, and not graduate with crushing debt.

I will keep you updated on these and other issues as we begin to see bills that may move through the process.

Sincerely,

Mark Hargrove