During the past several years, we have found that working as a team of state representatives from the 41st District is the most efficient and effective approach in Olympia. As always, we worked together on your priorities, focusing on education and transportation. And this year, we also worked to move plans to replace the SR 520 floating bridge to the top of everyone’s priority list.

We were both thrilled to hear Gov. Chris Gregoire announce that the new SR 520 bridge will be completed in 2014 — a full four years earlier — and that it will be $100 million to $200 million cheaper. This additional savings and quicker schedule will help keep the price of any tolling proposal affordable and will start relieving congestion sooner.

We also passed legislation (HB 3096) declaring that the new SR 520 bridge will be a six-lane bridge, made up of four general purpose lanes and two HOV/transit lanes. This legislation reflects the successful negotiations that have taken place between communities on both sides of the lake and keeps the project moving forward.

Improving highway safety around the state was also a focal point of the session. Case in point, U.S. Highway 2 — one of the state’s more dangerous stretches of road. This year, we approved $4 million worth of immediate safety improvements, hired six new state troopers to patrol the highway, and set aside $10 million for the US Highway 2 Safety Coalition and Department of Transportation put toward an additional project.

Higher education is another important issue where we made good progress. Our state’s colleges and universities are vital to the state’s overall economic health. Ever-tightening budgets and increasing enrollment demand requires us to look at new ways of planning and to take on new initiatives to make sure we are meeting future workplace demands.

Currently, the state uses a two-year timeframe to plan for our higher education system. It has always seemed that a longer period would allow for better planning and funding of higher education, and after six years of work we were able to pass new legislation (HB 2641) to start longer-term planning. This legislation establishes a six-year agreement between the state and four-year colleges and universities to ensure that goals, priorities and outcomes set by the legislature, and expected by taxpayers, are being met.

Advances were also made in the constant quest to improve education at the K-12 level. Last year, we created a legislative task force (on which Rep. Jarrett serves as an alternate delegate) to revise the formulas that allocate K-12 funding. This year, we passed legislation (SB 6879) to direct the task force to report its findings and recommendations by the end of the year to the entire legislature. We will work next year to act on those findings.

We voted to take immediate steps to improve overall learning, especially in mathematics. Revising the math standards to ensure they align with the skills and knowledge students need in today’s complex world (SB 6534); beginning the process for adoption of an online math curriculum for grades K-12 (HB 2598); and modifying the WASL to save funds that will be better used in the classroom (HB 3166).

Next year will bring new issues and new challenges. We will put together a tolling plan to help pay for the SR 520 bridge, and we will look at new ways to improve education at all levels. And next year, like this year, we work as a team, efficiently and effectively. We appreciate you affording the opportunity to serve as your legislative team in Olympia.

Island residents, Reps. Fred Jarrett and Judy Clibborn represent the 41st District, which includes a portion of Issaquah, in the Washington State Legislature.