Sen. Kohl-Welles announces re-election bid

By Joe Veyera

Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles of the 36th District has announced her bid for re-election to the state Senate, and will hold her campaign kick-off this Wednesday night in South Lake Union.

The kick-off and fundraiser at the South Lake Union Discovery Center (101 Westlake Ave N) starts at 5 p.m. and is open to the public. Co-hosted with Rep. Larry Seaquist of the 26th District, the event will also feature Gov. Jay Inslee, House Speaker Frank Chopp, and Senate Democratic Leader Sharon Nelson.

Kohl-Welles, who has represented the 36th District (which includes Ballard, Magnolia, Greenwood, Queen Anne, Interbay, Belltown, along with portions of Phinney Ridge and Fremont) since 1994, is Ranking Member of the Senate Higher Education Committee, and sits on the Senate Ways & Means, Rules, and Commerce and Labor committees. This past legislative session, Kohl-Welles saw several bills she co-sponsored signed into law by Gov. Inslee.

On February 26, Inslee signed SB 6523 into law, which allows the children of undocumented immigrants to apply for the State Need Grant. SB 6450, which expanded the definition of ‘floating on-water vessels’ to include houseboats, thereby granting houseboats the same protections as other vessels under the Shoreline Protection Act, was signed on March 19. SB 6436, which created a workgroup that will make recommendations to the legislature for the continued viability of the College Bound Scholarship Program, was signed on April 3. That program provides financial assistance to low-income students who wish to pursue a college education.

Several pieces of anti-human trafficking legislation that Kohl-Welles was involved with also passed, while legislation that would have aligned the medical and non-medical marijuana markets did not make it to the governor’s desk.