Rep. Kristine Reeves

Another great morning full of listening, learning, and loving the community connections!

We were joined by Allison from The IDEA Project, who shared the inspirational work she is leading on anti-bullying & disability awareness trainings in public schools & community organizations! Learn more at theideaproject.org.

We met with Warren who shared frustrations about financial institutions, concerns about police treatment of people with disabilities, and the need for increased awareness of mobility issues on metro.

We also touched on why folks think government is broken, why the part-time legislature may be making the problem worse, and how to support “systems accountability” that centers people / taxpayers.

It was a robust discussion & while everyone who attended today isn’t in the picture, I am so grateful so many came out today to talk about what matters most to them and their families!

It’s a great morning for community connection!

We had a special guest in Jan Barber, who came to talk with us about the increased need for sharps containers and collection sites in South King County. Thanks to Federal Way City Council member Susan Honda and others, we are engaging with the Washington State Department of Health and King County, Washington - Government to learn more about how we can support our community in addressing this issue!

Mike & Ann shared information about a recent presentation from Allison at The IDEA Project to and got to hear amazing insights for our public education futures.

We also talked about small business needs, bikini barista rules, and public arts programs and how happy we were to have James Housel & Stéphanie Thill back!

As always, I am so grateful to get to listen to and learn from our community members about what matters most to them and their families! Everyone at this table connects with lots of our neighbors and shares what they are hearing or are concerned about and centers our community’s success, it makes for a great start to the day!

What an important discussion to start my morning meetings, talking with Federal Way Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Pfeiffer & her team about the impacts to the local district that state funding decisions on Local Effort Assistance (LEA) & Regionalization Factor are having.

We also talked about the rising cost of liability insurance, utility bills, and health insurance costs are having on the district.

As a mom with two kids in our public schools, I have introduced legislation to support both the Federal Way and Auburn Public Schools in their LEA funding (HB 2562 & HB 2580, 2026), as I see first-hand, the commitment of our public school educators to our kids’ futures, and this funding is critical to our communities’ success, so will keep working to support our districts in meeting all our students’ needs.

Honored to help host the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators for a Maritime conference here in WA this week! Having had the privilege of working with Joshua Berger at Washington State Department of Commerce when Maritime Blue was a bullet point in Gov. Jay Inslee’s sector economic development strategy (2013) to getting to tour the new Maritime Innovation Center at the Port of Seattle Fisherman's Terminal before it opens (2026), was a special opportunity to see public-private partnerships that can transform industry clusters into global innovation leaders!

Great “Coffee with Kristine” this morning! We welcomed new attendees, Rain and Justin, including their special guest Gryffin (service dog in training).

So many great conversations on a variety of issues:
• Costco Samples “strategy” and best times to visit Madeline Tam at work;
• What to do when you lose a loved one in an Adult Family Home & the system isn’t working for you, so we reached out to the Adult Family Home Council, Brent Williams-Ruth is a fierce advocate for his clients;
• Can corporations be wholesale partners to non-profits like March for Babies (Ann Sappington) who have been able to put over 180k baby diapers into our community in the last 5 months but need help to continue meeting the needs;
• what’s the best fountain pen ink to buy for everyday use, Stéphanie Thill, you were missed!
• Karen Bischoff-Brugato shared that Kiwanis’ Salmon Bake is happening soon, don’t miss it!
• Rain shared about the upcoming PRIDE celebration in August & invited folks to attend.

As always, the best part of these mornings are watching our neighbors connect with each other and show support or deep discussion that encourages us all to grow our understanding of what matters most to someone and their family and why!

As we come to understand the devestating impacts of the Upriver Fire in EWA this past week, I was able to join Washington State Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Dave Upthegrove & his team at the Washington State Fire Training Academy today, to see first-hand, how your tax dollars & the investments from HB 1168 (2021) are helping the wildland fire teams that deploy to our communities and protect us from wildfires, respond smarter, faster, and more strategically!

Grateful to . Melanie Morgan (HB 1016, 2021), and my legislative colleagues, who worked to make sure WA could celebrate the end of slavery in our country.

Let’s us continue to fight for a more perfect union and a future that includes us all!

Washington House Democrats
Washington State House Republicans
Washington House Democrats Members of Color Caucus

Great “Coffee with Kristine” this morning as we got to connect with a special guest from the Federal Way Mirror, Keelin Everly-Lang!

Our conversations this morning included:
• state law regarding community property & the need for change, Brent Williams-Ruth
• questions about the economic development vision for Federal Way & South King County,
• questions about foreign relations efforts included in the National Defense Authorization Act,
• feedback from neighbors on the ballot initiative, public input, and next steps regarding the millionaires tax,
• the upcoming Youth Mental Health Forum being hosted on 6/25 from 5:30-7:30 pm,

What an amazing plethora of interests & opportunities to learn more about what matters most to our neighbors!

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to join the Washington Rural Electric Cooperative Association for a conversation on wildfire mitigation & utility responsibility.

In 2026, I introduced HB 2275, proposing the creation of a utility liability fund to help ensure that consumers are made whole after a utility caused wildfire happens, similar to a model in California.

That bill did not pass, and since then, I’ve had the chance to listen and learn more about the potential solutions we could employ as public-private partnerships to address wildfire prevention, administration, and accountability.

As utility rates increase, wildfire risks rise, and impacts of these fires are more devestating than ever, we all play a role in protecting our communities and keeping our utilities from going bankrupt. I look forward to continuing to listen and learn as we work toward policy proposals for the 2027 session.