washington business
What is one of your biggest frustrations from your time in the Legislature ?
I ’ m really proud of what we ’ ve accomplished , particularly the last six years in the time that I ’ ve been majority leader . But I wish we could have done more , particularly on child care and early learning . We need to take another step forward in funding to get that system to really help people in the middle class . Another frustration is really more about communications . Somehow there ’ s this idea that Democrats don ’ t support public safety , and nothing could be further from the truth . In the six years that I ’ ve been majority leader , and even longer , Democrats have increased support for public safety . This idea of “ defund the police ” is so frustrating , because really , since Democrats have been the majority , we ’ ve done the opposite , which is to fund police , to fund public safety . We funded more training , we funded the State Patrol , which is the police agency that we have direct responsibility for . I wish we had done a better job of how we communicated about that , and we could also do a better job of additional investments .
What ’ s something you ’ ll always look back on with satisfaction from your time in the Legislature ?
In the last six years , we have modernized the Senate . Sen . Padden and I as Eastern Washington legislators worked together to start remote testimony . That actually helped us be ready for remote testimony and legislation during Covid . Having a respectful workplace policy , adding to our transparency rules in terms of having budgets sit on the bar . We ’ ve taken all these steps to make the Senate more efficient , more transparent and a more welcoming place to work , and I ’ m really proud of that .
On the policy side , Washington is a leader in so many areas that just makes me feel so good . So much of it we ’ ve done in a bipartisan way . We have the number one state need grant to help kids go to college . We ’ re leaders in our work on climate action . We ’ re leaders in gun violence prevention , which is also public safety . We ’ re leaders in economic development and our innovative economy . We ’ re leaders in a four-year balanced budget . We have big reserves and responsible budgets . You look at Washington state government and Washington state as a whole , and we ’ re leading the nation in so many ways . I ’ m really proud of the work we have done together . andy billig at a glance
State Sen . Andy Billig , 56 , was elected to the Legislature in 2010 representing the 3rd district . He was part of the same freshman class that included Speaker of the House Laurie Jinkins and former House Minority Leader J . T . Wilcox . He was elected to the Senate in 2012 and was selected as Senate majority leader in 2018 .
Born in Maryland , Billig earned a bachelor ’ s degree in government from Georgetown University before settling in Spokane . In 1992 he joined Brett Sports & Entertainment , where he is CEO and co-owner . The company operates four minor league sports franchises , including the Spokane Indians and Tri-City Dust Devils baseball teams and the Spokane Chiefs hockey team .
As one of the few Eastern Washington Democrats in the Legislature , what do you think are some ways to bridge the cascade curtain , as some call it , dividing Washington in half ?
I think there ’ s so much that brings us together rather than pulls us apart . And I think about all the things that I ’ ve worked on in the Spokane area with my Republican colleagues from the WSU medical school to the North Spokane Corridor funding . We joked that when we ’ re doing those things , we ’ re not Republicans or Democrats , we ’ re the party of Spokane . I think that we can always find things to work on together . I don ’ t think there ’ s much of a divide . When I talk to people from Eastern Washington , they want the same things that people in Western Washington want . They want opportunity and prosperity . They want
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