Last Saturday, over 120 people turned out for a standing room only town hall meeting at the Family Investment Center at Salishan in Tacoma. Every time I visit Salishan, I am proud of what an inviting housing development it is turning out to be! I was joined by my House counterparts, Rep. Jeannie Darneille and Rep. Dennis Flannigan. We were glad to have the chance to connect with constituents and speak with them about the economic crisis, our budget and ways they can get help now.

We first focused on an overview of the budget. As hard as it was, with 25 percent cuts to the budget looming, I expressed I can’t promise anything to a particular group, but will strive to preserve basic services to our constituents.

We then turned the mic over to specialists who could provide economic assistance info: Department of Social and Health Services, WorkSource, and Employment Security. When preparing for this town hall, it was clear to me that many of our neighbors could use this information.

For the rest of the meeting we fielded questions and concerns from the audience, from Cap & Trade to updating the Consumer Protection Act. However, the majority of questions were focused around education and healthcare. Many teachers and parents were concerned that early learning funding would be cut. A high school sophomore expressed concern over whether she would get to attend college at a competitive state school. Several people said that if Basic Health was cut, they wouldn’t have health insurance any longer.

The important thing is that we heard from everyone who wanted to ask a question or give us feedback, whether we agreed or not, and that’s really what our democracy is all about.