Like many of us in this community, I’ve had kids in the public school system and really value having high quality schools for my children. In following state politics for the last several years, I’m very impressed with the work that Andy Hill is doing in Olympia.

Education hasn’t been funded properly for some time, but for years no one actually offered solutions or did the work to prioritize the education budget. Andy Hill was appointed budget chair in 2013 and that same year he wrote and passed a budget that increased the education budget by $1 billion and actually reversed a decades-long trend of non-education outpacing education by 2-to-1. What’s more, it passed with almost 90 percent support of the Legislature. And no new taxes.

We have some great schools in our community because we have worked hard to provide that for our kids. It seems to me like Andy Hill is one of the few in Olympia who really understands what it takes to put our kids first like we do. That’s why I think we need him back to work for us.

Steve Reed, Redmond