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SPORTS | Redmond High’s Carpenter nets 35 points against Issaquah [8] CRIME ALERT | Redmond Police Blotter [3]
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2014
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FEATURE | Shay’s second book is on the way in The Elected Series trilogy. [5]
Sen. Hill is ready to tackle challenges in his second term SAMANTHA PAK spak@redmond-reporter.com
Sen. Andy Hill of Redmond meets with representatives from parent-teacher-student associations in the 45th Legislative District. Hill will begin his second term in office at the beginning of 2015. Courtesy Photo
After running in the most expensive legislative race in the state’s history — and coming out victorious — Sen. Andy Hill of the 45th Legislative District is returning for a second term humbled, heartened and ready to work. During the campaign trail, Hill (R-Redmond) raised almost $1 million for his campaign and his opponent, Matt Isenhower, brought in about $500,000. In addition, outside groups contributed more than $1.4 million to the race. Despite the big numbers, Hill said one thing he learned from his experience this past election is that, “you can’t buy elections.” Hill has also learned a few things from his first four years in office, the biggest takeaway being that the easiest thing to do is to say “no.” Whereas, getting to a “yes” is a much more dif-
ficult task. Part of that difficulty is working across the aisle to get to a solution everyone can agree on without sacrificing their principles. This bipartisan work has been something Hill has focused on as he said he heard that people like it when legislators come up with bipartisan results. And as his second term in office is set to begin, Hill is prepared to continue that work. One way he plans to do that is as chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee and chief Senate budget writer — for which he has been reappointed. This is a role Hill takes seriously because he is working with taxpayers’ dollars. “It’s their money,” he said. “It’s not my money.” While Gov. Jay Inslee released a two-year budget of $39 billion on Dec. 18, Hill said he is looking at closer to $37 billion as that $2 billion or so difference [ more HILL page 3 ]
Rep. Springer elected to deputy majority leader in state House State Rep. Larry Springer, DKirkland of the 45th District, has been elected deputy majority leader of the Democratic Caucus in the state House, which will focus on business outreach and engagement. As part of caucus leadership, Springer said he will help determine what legislation goes forward and whether a specific bill will be pursued by his party, as well as build relations with business leaders in the state, including Redmond. The main topics that concern businesses, Springer said, are
taxation, land use and regulations. “If you are a business person (in the district), if you own a particular business and you have concerns about transportation or health care or taxation, I’m the person that would be probably be handling it,” he said. As a small business owner, having run The Grape Choice in downtown Kirkland for 25 years with his wife Penny Sweet, Springer said his experience allows him to see how legislation directly affects business owners. “I understand probably
better than most of my colleagues the struggles that small business owners face, the day-to-day struggle of keeping your business open and paying employees and dealing with the recession that we’re recovering from,” he said. “That is experience I think that has led to me be a fiscally conservative Democrat because that’s important to the business community. Some of the major issues that the business community is interested in in this area is transportation, getting the transportation package passed so we can finish the 520 [ more SPRINGER page 2 ]
Rep. Larry Springer speaks at last month’s OneRedmond 2014 Legislative Reception. Also pictured is Sen. Cyrus Habib. ANDY NYSTROM, Redmond Reporter
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