Our special guest speaker, Club Member and Past President on Friday, April 26th was State Representative & County Councilman Sam Low with an overview and update on the 2024 Legislative session. Representative Low commented that both serving as a state legislator and county councilman require a great deal of time away from Rotary, family but he hasn't missed any meetings of either since taking on both state and county responsibilities. He and his wife Mariah have provided a generous donation each year to the Club Scholarship fund.
Sam started as a member of the Lake Stevens City Council (3 years); County Council (8 years) and State Representative (First Term). Sam just concluded the 60 day Legislative Session. Over 1,600 legislative bills proposed this past session. Sam proposed 14 legislative bills with 10 being heard in committee while 7 passed the house and 5 voted in the Senate.
One of his big pushes this session was an Animal Cruelty bill which was passed and signed into law. The bill creates stricter penalties for animal cruelty in Washington. Another bill was cleaning up some of the issues in our election processes working with Secretary of State Steve Hobbs and local county auditors.
Sam serves on the House Transportation Committee where he is the assistant ranking member. He also serves on the Housing Committee, State Government & Tribal Relations Committee and the Rules Committee (another very important committee which dictates which bills proceed to the House Floor).
Some of Sam's key goals are replacing the Highway 2 Trestle, widening Highway 9, addressing housing affordability and supply.