The Class of 2025 spent Saturday, February 15, and Sunday, February 16, in Vancouver and Olympia, connecting with organizations, local and state elected officials on topics including the state budget, education and infrastructure.
Our rainy Saturday in Vancouver started off the weekend with fellows learning about the culture and political climate of Southwest Washington from Tanisha Harris, Southwest Washington Outreach Director for U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell. Fellows also heard from Brian Dunlap at the Vancouver Education Association about the importance of local school levies and connected with Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle to learn more about her career in public service.
In the afternoon, WAIDF fellows participated in a tour of the I-5 Vancouver/Portland Interstate Bridge, where we learned about the I-5 Bridge Replacement Program, walked along the bridge and explored its aging infrastructure. The day culminated with a tour of union-run Morel Ink in Portland where we spent time learning about the process of creating campaign mailers and related materials before driving to Olympia to spend the next two days focused on state government.
On Sunday, the class convened at the WFSE office for a packed day of learning. Rachel and Nikki gave us the basics of ‘How a Bill Becomes a Law (or Doesn’t)’ at the state level to begin the day. Superintendent of the Office of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal, joined the class to continue the conversation on the state of education in Washington State, and the support the OSPI provides to school districts. The class talked about threats to funding in public education, setting fellows up perfectly for a briefing on the state budget and progressive revenue from alumni at the Washington Budget and Policy Center and the Office of Financial Management. The rest of the day consisted of two separate panels exploring the experiences and careers of current legislative staff and lobbyists.
Fellows spent Presidents’ Day on Olympia’s Capitol Campus. It began with a half day of shadowing various state representatives, senators and lobbyists to get a taste of what their jobs look like during the height of the legislative session. The class was also able to observe House Floor speeches from the House Gallery, and were invited by House Democratic leadership to briefly attend a meeting with the entire House Democratic Caucus. Following caucus, fellows said goodbye to their shadows and joined back together for visits with Washington State Treasurer Mike Pellicciotti, Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck, and Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove. Our final meeting was a briefing and tour of TVW where we learned that their programming goes beyond what happens during the legislative session. We ended the day with a legislative reception at Mercato’s that was well attended by both fellows and WAIDF alumni.
