Couture: 'I was proud to be your voice'

It has been the honor and privilege of my life to serve you and to be your voice in the House of Representatives. In my freshman year there was a certain level of uncertainty going into session. However, I was absolutely blessed to be surrounded by Rep. Dan Griffey and Sen. Drew MacEwen. They made me feel comfortable and supported throughout the entire session, and their experience was invaluable as I navigated those rocky waters. Although in many ways the session was a disappointment regarding statewide policy, my seatmates and I worked as a team to accomplish great things for our district, including historic investments into our rural area that will absolutely lift up our community. I promised when I came to Olympia I would fight for rural communities, public safety, quality education, a vibrant economy, and your constitutional rights. I kept those promises, and I was proud to be your voice and stand up for our values.

For transportation, you spoke and we listened. It was unacceptable for the governor to attempt to push the construction of the State Route 3 Freight Corridor (Belfair Bypass) to the 2030's. However, we fought back and secured funding to purchase land and begin construction at the end of this year and early next year, respectively. This was an enormous win for the 35th.

We reprioritized capital budget funding to finish the final phase of the Oakland Bay Restoration. That project is important to Shelton, our local tribes, salmon recovery, and will create new jobs. We secured critical funding for infrastructure with PUD 1 that will help us build housing, and to help fix aging infrastructure like the dock in Allyn. We even secured funds to build more shelter for Mason County children who are homeless, and funds to begin building a new child care center for Turning Pointe. One investment I am proud of is funding for a new Mason County jail of the future, which we envision will have increased capacity and an attached 23-hour crisis receiving center. With over $32 million secured in the capital budget, these are just a few examples of the historic results we delivered for the 35th.

The operating budget was passed on partisan lines. It will spend over $70 billion ($6 billion increase over current spending) leaving $2.1 billion in the rainy-day fund by the end of the four-year outlook period, which is less than the state treasurer's minimum target of 10% of annual revenues. Unfortunately, it provides no tax relief for working families. Once again, the Democratic majority has failed to properly prioritize state spending. Amendments to the budget to fund police, clean up homeless encampments, properly fund special education, address learning loss and record low test scores in schools were denied. I fought for taxpayers against reckless taxes and spending in our budget that has more than doubled in 10 years while our incomes at home have not.

One of the themes of my efforts this session was protecting kids and families. As a dad of kids with special needs, I fought for special education and for people with developmental disabilities. I also passed my first bill to protect children under CPS supervision who are being abused and malnourished, and fought to increase access to and lower the cost of childcare.

Going into the session, we collectively knew we had to address a shortage in housing statewide, severe workforce shortages, a failed drug possession law established after the Blake decision, and fix the police pursuit laws that have led to a substantial increase in crime and cost many their lives. It was frustrating to see that these critical issues were not prioritized by the Democratic majority, and as they ultimately control what is passed on the House floor, they own the failure of not fixing these devastating problems for Washingtonians.

A modification to police pursuit was passed, which added a few additional crimes where police can chase suspects with reasonable suspicion, however those additions are not enough - not even close. Although it is minor progress over current law, I fear that police still won't have most of the tools they need to stop crime. We spoke to all three 35th District sheriffs, and they supported our decisions on that bill.

In housing, we passed policy that would enable more growth and development. Stunningly, the Democrat majority passed follow-on laws that substantially increase the cost of that same housing we need to desperately build, such as the banning of natural gas and adding more requirements to the growth management act.

The legislature tried to curb the workforce shortages we see in every sector; however, it was not enough. Ultimately, the legislature must look in the mirror to see who created the bulk of the workforce shortage situation. Failed pandemic polices as well as bad economic and social policy have people migrating en masse out of Washington, taking their career experience and spending power with them.

SB 5599 passed and allows the state and shelters to hide children from their parents if a child as young as 13 years old wants to seek society's most controversial care. Now the government and shelters can illegally harbor a youth from their parents for gender transitions or abortions. Additionally, three anti-gun bills were passed, including one that bans semiautomatic rifles. These anti-gun laws do not save lives, they just harm law-abiding citizens and restrict their rights, while criminals ignore those laws and find ways to circumvent them to the detriment of public safety. Amazingly, the Democrat majority passed soft-on-crime bills that would give less punishment to those who commit crimes with firearms, while fast-tracking their release from prison. These laws are wrong and unconstitutional, and I hope federal courts soon strike them down.

Finally, the last bill of the session was a fix to the Blake decision. It failed on the House floor in the final hours of the session, which is very rare. Republicans like myself thought the bill was completely detached from the sad reality we witness on our streets every day. It would've stripped local control for counties and cities, established state-wide drug paraphernalia programs like free needles and crack pipes, and it would've also allowed safe injection sites - even for kids - across our state. It failed to deliver the resources needed to help the addicted. When it would divert people to treatment, recent drug users would be co-located with people struggling to maintain sobriety. I voted "no", because I will not assign my name to something that continues to allow the slow-motion death in our streets. We have to get these people the help they need, but we also cannot continue to be soft and embolden this activity further.

On Tuesday, a special session is scheduled to try again at fixing the drug possession law, and I hope we can strike a better deal than the one that recently failed. However, at this point Republicans have not been invited to negotiate the bill despite erroneous reports otherwise. We have to solve it; it's a matter of life or death.

■ Travis Couture, R-Allyn, is a representative in the 35th Legislative District.