An effort of the Attorney General’s I support: Pageant competitor returns home to advocate new protections for victims of chronic batterers She was crowned Miss Washington in 2007. A year later, the young woman from Wapato, Wash., placed third in the 2008 Miss America Pageant. Yet, Elyse Umemoto...
Senate Democrats Blog
Debbie Regala
Former Miss Washington – victim of past abuse – speaks publicly
Tuesday, October 20 2009 - Debbie Regala | Permalink
Salishan: from high crime to an award winning affordable housing development
Wednesday, August 12 2009 - Debbie Regala | Permalink
Salishan is a story of success. Today, I gathered with a diverse crowd to celebrate the strength of this community. Not only do residents find affordable housing, but access to healthcare, education and parks. It is also a great model for walk able, livable communities. Salishan is the largest residential...
Ribbon cutting remarks from a mother that represent Salishan
Wednesday, August 12 2009 - Debbie Regala | Permalink
When I attended the Salishan Phase II Ribbon Cutting, I was particularly inspired by the remarks of Lisa Miller, Salishan resident, single mother and board member of the Eastside Neighborhood Advisory Council. Stories like hers continue to inspire me to work for affordable housing funding in the state...
Update on Zina Linnik park project and resulting sex offender laws
Tuesday, August 11 2009 - Debbie Regala | Permalink
Here is a great video that captures the strength of students at McCarver Elementary School in their journey to help the revitalization project of Wright and McCarver Parks. As many are aware in 2007 local child, Zina Linnik, was murdered in our district. There have been many moving efforts to honor and...
Option given back to the people to sustain their city’s public services
Tuesday, May 05 2009 - Debbie Regala | Permalink
In this unprecedented economic crisis, cities and counties are struggling financially just like state government. I introduced SB 5433 to provide them with more flexibility to maintain public safety, mental health, and other public services. Current law requires that new taxes for these purposes must...
Survivors of victims and corrections personnel training bills signed into law
Tuesday, April 21 2009 - Debbie Regala | Permalink
At the end of session, there are many controversial or more complicated bills in flux either waiting to be heard on the floor or in concurrence as I described in my earlier blog. Equally important, there are non controversial bills that are small, often straight forward revisions to state law that improve...
The home stretch: How the concurrence process works
Sunday, April 19 2009 - Debbie Regala | Permalink
We are now a week away from the end of session, April 26. Friday, April 17, at 5 p.m., was the last day to consider bills from the opposite body. This means that for the last few weeks the Senate has been debating House bills and the House has been debating Senate bills. Each body receives their bills...
Regala’s sex offender notification and registration system signed into law
Monday, April 13 2009 - Debbie Regala | Permalink
Here is a sneak peek of the bill signing with the governor: I am proud to say my sex offender notification and registration bill (SONAR) was signed into law by Governor Gregoire. With the help of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC), 33 counties are already online with the...
Sen. Regala’s thoughts on the Senate and House budget proposals
Monday, April 06 2009 - Debbie Regala | Permalink
Last Monday’s Senate Operating Budget offers specific cuts that are painful, but necessary to build a budget in face of an unprecedented deficit, now around a $9 billion gap. The Senate’s task is to balance spending against available revenues. I realize these cuts may be unacceptable to many...
Blog: K-12 Education funding, the twists of difficult decisions
Monday, March 23 2009 - Debbie Regala | Permalink
Sen. Regala at a recent visit to a 27th District school Our difficult budget situation has created a challenge for me when it comes to K–12 Education. I strongly believe that a strong education is critical to a child’s success in life. That is even more true as we progress into a global,...