This story was originally published in Vol. 34, Issue 6 (March 2024)
On Feb. 17, WSU Vancouver hosted a public town hall meeting for Congress members of Washington state’s 18th Legislative District, covering a range of topics from voting rights to firearm legislation, property taxes and healthcare financing. Republicans Sen. Ann Rivers and Rep. Greg Cheney solicited questions, concerns and feedback from attendees of the town hall, held in the Dengerink Administration Building.
Most of the attendees were elderly, and no students were present. Rivers and Cheney opened the forum by describing their duties in the state legislature and experiences on committees. Rivers detailed serving on the Senate Health and Long Term Care committee and the Ways and Means committee, as she works on the state’s monetary agenda. Cheney, on the other hand, serves on the House Capital Budget committee, House Civil Rights and Judiciary committee, House Regulated Substances and Gaming Committee and the House State Government and Tribal Relations committee.
“Diversity of opinions has to be respected,” said Rivers, before opening the town hall to public comment.
A concern raised by one audience member was that 17-year-olds are permitted to register to vote before turning 18 in Washington state, with suggestions that election integrity might be compromised as a result. Rivers and Cheney refuted this claim, explaining that this law has been in effect since their youth.
“No one’s ever brought this to me,” said Rivers. “Never once have I had a concern about this.”
Another audience member expressed concern about gun control. Rivers and Cheney said they did not want to restrict firearm access for self-defense or hunting purposes. Rivers said that gun control would not prevent the use of illegal guns, claiming that the Department of Justice under former President Obama found that 95% of firearm crimes are committed with illegal firearms.
Several citizens shared concerns over raising property taxes, gasoline prices and people receiving unemployment insurance instead of working. One bill of concern that appears to be dead for now would raise property taxes, but according to Rivers, the bill did not get past the senate, although its defeat is not yet assured. Cheney also expressed opposition to lowering punishment for persons who bring firearms or drugs in school zones.
“We are getting off-kilter in criminal justice, sentence reductions for bringing drugs and guns in school zones,” said Cheney.
He explained that reductions in punishment for driving under the influence of alcohol or other intoxicating substances had been passed, noting that persons who drive under the influence have less of an incentive to quit due to lower stakes of punishment.
Rivers then discussed concerns over financing healthcare for Washingtonians due to increased medical tourism taking place in the state. As the Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that the constitution does not protect a right to abortion, states can and are restricting women’s access to reproductive healthcare and abortion. A bill proposed by Senator Rivers was shot down because of women having no choice but to leave red states to get reproductive healthcare.
According to Rivers, the demand for medical charity and free or low-income healthcare services for non- Washington residents is a threat to the state’s finances for such operations and could result in difficulty funding healthcare.
“People are coming into the state expecting services, [resulting in funding for healthcare] coming out of the state’s healthcare budget,” said Rivers.