The vast majority of policymakers really do work hard at
increasing public participation in the legislative process. Take the Telephone
Town Hall staged the other night for many thousands of Snohomish County people.
True, not every single one of the 28,086
Tulalip, Marysville and Everett citizens who received a telephone call from their three
state legislators actually got a chance to get their two cents in. But 5,152
folks answered the phone. And then they stayed
on the line long enough to take in at least part of this second in an ongoing
series of 38th
Legislative District Telephone Town Halls. State Reps. John McCoy
and Mike
Sells, and state Sen. Nick
Harper sponsored the tele-forum to emphasize more public participation for
their 38th District constituents. The legislators are always on the lookout for
ways to get more people more engaged in the state-government process. They held
their first tele-forum a year ago, and they'll very likely do another one
sometime after the 2012 session finishes up in March.
Some people who "attended" the January 31
teleforum asked questions of their lawmakers. More than a few had a desire to
give them a piece of their mind. And others decided they wanted to do both.
People talked about everything from the marriage-equality legislation, to
funding for schools and social services, to tax reform, to government waste, to
-- well, you name it.
McCoy, Sells, Harper and their 144 legislative colleagues
just recently cleared the third-of-the-way mark in the 2012 Legislature. They're endeavoring
to close the Olympia books by the 12 midnight, March 8, deadline for this
year's 60-day legislative get-together.
To read this story in Spanish, click here.
To read this story in Spanish, click here.
