Most Improved Legislators in 2006

In recent years, we’ve noticed that many legislators are showing more of an interest in working collaboratively with the environmental community. Each legislator certainly has their own motivations; perhaps they’ve learned more about a particular issue, or had other personal experiences that shape their views. Maybe the environmental community deserves some of the credit as well for being easier to work with. Perhaps it’s just politics. Whatever the reasons, there are a number of legislators whose improvement we would like to acknowledge.

First among them is Representative Skip Priest (R-30, Federal Way). Priest not only voted for the environment on each bill this year, he also worked hard behind the scenes to help advance the PBDE legislation. It’s this behind the scenes work that we appreciate the most. As the Republican co-sponsor of the bill, Representative Priest helped broaden support for the bill, from Democrats and Republicans alike. Although the bill didn’t pass this year, it’s well-positioned for next session and Rep. Priest is a key reason why.

Representative Priest and the other legislators with significant improvement from 2005 to 2006 are shown in the following list. We applaud their increased commitment to environmental issues.

• Representative Skip Priest (R-30, Federal Way) improved from C to A+.
• Representative Glenn Anderson (R-5, Issaquah) improved from C to A.
• Representative Jay Rodne (R-5, Issaquah) improved from C to A.
• Representative Lynn Kessler (D-24, Hoquium ) improved from C to A.
• Senator Jim Hargrove (D-24, Forks) improved from C to A .
• Senator Mark Doumit (D-19, Aberdeen) improved from C to A.
• Representative Janea Holmquist (R-13, Kittitas) improved from F to C.