Andy Billig

Opening Day of the Legislature! I am excited to be back in Olympia representing Spokane. Here's an interview I gave earlier today that touches on a lot of the top issues we'll be considering this session.

The Impact 2024 Opening Day Special Edition - TVW - Impact host Mike McClanahan interviews Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig (D-Spokane) about what to expect from the 2024 Legislative Session.

Lisa Brown was just sworn in as the next Mayor Spokane. Go Lisa and Go Spokane!

It’s a great day to vote!
Very pleased to cast my ballot for Lisa Brown, Council Member Betsy Wilkerson, Paul Dillon & Mike Wiser!

It has taken me a few days to find the words to properly express my sadness and anger about the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians.

A few points on which I want to be clear. The actions by Hamas to kill and kidnap civilians to terrorize the people of Israel should be unequivocally and universally condemned.

Hamas’ ultimate goal is to wipe the State of Israel off the face of the Earth. There is no way to negotiate a peaceful resolution to this conflict with Hamas, and Israel has the right and responsibility to respond and to neutralize Hamas.

It is important to differentiate between civilians in Gaza and the fighters, supporters and leadership of Hamas. I hope that any action against Hamas will avoid or minimize the impacts on civilians living in Gaza who want and deserve peace, just as the people of Israel do.

We often say "never again" when speaking of the horrors of the Holocaust. Israel and the rest of the world's reaction to the Hamas attacks must honor this pledge and never allow the Jewish people to be systematically targeted again.

Big turnout for our Bike Town Hall this afternoon! Thanks to everyone who attended and thank you to City Councilmember Zack Zappone for co-hosting the event with me. We had a very pleasant ride and productive conversations about recent successes and future opportunities for bike infrastructure investments as we work toward the goal of making biking safe, accessible and enjoyable throughout Spokane.

I appreciated The Spokesman-Review's coverage of the misinformation video put out by Larry Stone related to the Division BRT project. The article helps to debunk some of the lies and exaggerations in the video.

A key point is that the North Spokane Corridor will take a lot of the truck traffic off Division. There were studies to predict that diversion of freight traffic as the NSC was designed and it was one of the main justifications for the NSC. In fact, the NSC and Division project are directly linked and funding for the NSC would be at risk if Larry Stone got his way and we halted the Division project.

Division over Division Street: New video from Larry Stone sounds alarm that some call 'absurd' Developer Larry Stone’s newest “film to help Spokane,” released earlier this week, opens to melancholic piano music and a junkyard filled with broken cars, followed by two sedans pressed by a hydraulic crusher .

What an honor today to participate with the Spokane Tribe and Inland Northwest Land Conservancy as we released salmon into the Little Spokane River!

The event also celebrated the pending purchase of the Glen Tana Farm, a 1,000 acre property, by a partnership of the Inland Northwest Land Conservancy and the Spokane Tribe. Most of this land will eventually be returned to public use as an extension of Riverside State Park. The purchase was supported by $3 million of state capital budget funding, which was made possible by the strong leadership of Rep. Marcus Riccelli.

Just heartbroken with what we are seeing and hearing from Maui. I lived on Maui before I moved to Spokane 31 years ago. The people and place of Maui are just so special. Please consider supporting a non-profit helping with recovery work there. I will post a group I have donated to in the comments below.
Maui no ka oi

3rd Legislative District Mobile Office tomorrow (Thursday) at the Garland Summer Market, 4:30 to 7:30pm.
This is a great opportunity to chat one-on-one with your state legislators. Hope to see you there!

Garland Summer Market| Garland Business District The Garland Summer Market is every Thursday, 3:30-7:30pm. May 25th-Aug 31st, 2023

It’s a great day to vote!
I was excited to vote for Lisa Brown, Betsy Wilkerson, Paul Dillon, and Mike Wiser for School Board.

Congratulations Spokane! First day of City Line BRT!

Please join me for a Town Hall Meeting this Saturday at 10:30am in the Spokane Central Library. We will provide an update from the current Legislative session and have lots of time to answer your questions. Hope to see you there!

Town Hall Meeting Saturday - Sen. Andy Billig Dear friends and neighbors, Your input is essential for us to do our job of representing you effectively. To continue our on-going dialogue with our constituents, my seatmates, Representatives Riccelli, Ormsby, and I, will be hosting a Town Hall Meeting at the Spokane Central Library on Saturday Mar...

This view on my walk to work never gets old.

Opening Day in the Legislature! Here's my Opening Day interview with TVW.

The Impact 2023 Opening Day Special Edition - TVW Impact host Mike McClanahan interviews Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig (D-Spokane) about what to expect from the 2023 Legislative Session.

My op-ed from today's Seattle Times:

"By returning every single Democratic incumbent and even growing the majorities in both state legislative chambers, voters sent a clear message on a range of issues. They voted for expanded access to quality, affordable child care. They want leaders who will act on climate change, and they appreciate sending their kids to the nation’s best public schools. They recognized that their communities are safer when we prioritize investments in police training, behavioral health and gun violence prevention, and when we work on real solutions to issues like homelessness, rather than playing politics with it. "

Voters sent clear message to WA leaders for 2023 Legislative session In the next legislative session, Democrats will continue to work on public safety issues, gun violence prevention and help folks with drug addiction challenges.

The 2023 Legislative session begins on January 9th. As we prepare for session, I want to hear from you. What issues would you most like to see addressed?

I spent part of last week in Olympia for our Committee Assembly Days and was glad to get some time with Senators David Frockt and Reuven Carlyle who are both retiring from the Senate. They leave behind an impressive legacy of leadership and policy accomplishments for their constituents and our entire state. I grateful to them for their friendship & collaboration and will miss working with them in the Senate.

I had such an enjoyable and inspirational time last night at the Spokane NAACP 101st Annual Freedom Fund Banquet. Congratulations to Kiantha Duncan and the rest of her team for putting together a terrific event!

Billig re-elected Senate Majority Leader; Hasegawa again selected Caucus Chair - Washington Senate Democrats Sen. Andy Billig (D-Spokane) was re-elected Senate Majority Leader on Friday, a position he has held since first being selected by his colleagues for the post in November 2018. Sen. Bob Hasegawa (D-Seattle) was selected Caucus Chair for the second time. Both were elected by acclamation. Billig begin...

I just attended the Veterans Day flag raising ceremony at the Spokane Arena. As the flags of each military branch, the POW/MIA flag and the American flag were raised, I reflected on the dedication and service of so many veterans from the Spokane community and across the country. Thank you to all veterans and a special recognition to all the Gold Star Families, some of whom were at the ceremony today.

I am excited about the election results in Spokane and throughout the state.
Here was my statement on the State Senate results, which show Democrats continuing to hold a strong majority:
"The first drop of results looks promising for the Senate Democratic caucus and the people of Washington State,” said Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig. “These results are a strong endorsement of the results Senate Democrats have delivered for the people of this state and I am excited to add Sharon Shewmake, Claudia Kauffman, Javier Valdez, and Noel Frame to our caucus. They will be strong voices for their communities in Olympia. We will continue to protect abortion rights, create jobs, invest in public safety, and expand access to affordable child care and health care.”

I hope everyone in my FB feed is voting for:
-Access to reproductive health services
-Climate action
-Access and affordability of child care
-LGBTQ+ rights
-Jobs
-Student loan debt relief
-Public safety
-Affordable housing
-Support for small businesses
-Gun violence prevention
-Infrastructure
-Democracy
In other words, voting for Democrats!
So, the only question is...did you, your family, and your friends all get their ballots in. You have until 8pm today to get your ballot to an official ballot drop box. Please vote!

Please VOTE! If you have not dropped off your ballot yet, please take it with you this morning and get it in a mailbox or ballot drop box. There is so much at stake this election and many races may be decided by just a few votes. If you have any questions about anything on the ballot or voter registration or anything else, please ask me.
Post addition: Young voter registration is especially low right now. If you're young, please check to make sure your friends are voting. If you're old, like me, please make sure your adult children voted.

Here's my latest Legislative newsletter...

Busy Interim Continues Busy Interim Continues Washington Senate Democratic Caucus sent this bulletin at 11/04/2022 12:23 PM PDT Life-Saving 988 Hotline Goes Live in Washington State Photo: Sen. Dhingra, Sen. Billig, and Rep. Tina Orwall at the local 988 call center I recently toured Frontier Behavior Health's 988 crisis h...

Interesting article from Tacoma. Violent crime is flat in Spokane compared to last year and down compared to pre-pandemic levels but, still, any violent crime is a concern and we should keep trying to do better. This Tacoma program looks promising as a violent crime reduction strategy. I forwarded the article to Chief Meidl to ask if this has been/can be considered for Spokane.

Tacoma police implemented a violent crime plan 90 days ago. Is crime starting to decrease? The plan started with hot-spot policing, which focused on officers having high visibility in violence-prone locations.

This is important. It's always a good time to honor a hero from our community but especially important to put a spotlight on Carla and her courage & heroism during the Holocaust at this moment in time when we are unfortunately seeing a rise in anti-semitism. Kudos to Spokane Public Schools and to Carla Peperzak!

Today is a great day to vote! I just filled out my ballot. There are many important races in this election. If I had to highlight one race for Spokane County voters, it would be to vote for Vicky Dalton for County Auditor, which is the office that administers our elections. Vicky is an elections professional running against a far-right extremist opponent who promotes unfounded election conspiracies.

By the way, it is not too late to register to vote. You can register online at the link below until tomorrow and in person up to election day.

Voter Portal

I enthusiastically endorse Amber Waldref for Spokane County Commissioner! I have worked with Amber in many different capacities and always seen the same qualities....She is smart, hard working, compassionate, and dedicated to helping increase prosperity, improve quality of life, and create opportunities for the people Spokane. Please join me in supporting Amber!

Thank you, WA State Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig for your endorsement! I look forward to working with you to keep our community safe, healthy, and affordable. As State and local partners, we can work together to support strong business development, good-paying jobs, and affordable housing in our region!