Bill to help underfunded schools isn’t moving forward, but I’m not giving up| Opinion, SEN. DEB KRISHNADASAN

Kitsap Sun

Three months ago I joined the Washington State Senate. Unlike most of my colleagues, I have no experience as a partisan elected official. I’m not a career politician, so for the first time I have seen the good and the bad of Olympia as I work for more funding for schools and students, lower sales taxes, stabilizing the ferry system, and protecting reproductive freedom.

I was appointed to replace Congresswoman Emily Randall in the 26th Legislative District. She left big shoes to fill, and I’ve been building upon her legacy in my first legislative session. This fall, I plan on running in the special election to fill the remainder of her term.

I decided to seek appointment to the State Senate because I believe I can be a positive force in the state capitol to fight for our communities in Bremerton, Gig Harbor, Key Peninsula and Port Orchard. I’ve spent over a decade advocating every day for public schools. I founded the organization Stand Up for Peninsula Schools (SUP) and led five successful levy and bond campaigns, and served two terms on the Peninsula School Board, including two years as board president.

When I arrived in Olympia in January, one of my first actions was introducing legislation that would provide school districts across the state a fair chance to pass construction bonds. Right now, a 60% supermajority is required for bonds to pass — even if a clear majority supports a bond, it will fail if it doesn’t reach 60%.

For nearly 20 years, the Peninsula School District struggled to pass a bond, failing four times as our schools grew increasingly overcrowded and outdated. Each delay in construction only made building new schools more expensive for our community. But failure wasn’t an option; our students still needed safe, modern schools. I stepped up to lead a renewed effort in 2019, and together with our community, we passed the bond with 67% support. That victory allowed the district to build four new elementary schools and modernize two middle schools, finally giving our students the learning environments they deserve.

As we saw for decades in the Peninsula School District, the 60% supermajority requirement has made it incredibly difficult for communities across Washington to pass school bonds, even when a clear majority supported them. That’s why I sponsored Senate Bill 5186 to lower the threshold for passing school bonds to a simple majority (50% +1), aligning Washington with most other states. The bill also proposed eliminating builder and developer impact fees for schools — reducing construction costs and encouraging more affordable housing development.

While the bill passed out of committee with strong Democratic support, we did not have the two-thirds vote required to take a constitutional amendment to the floor. Despite its broad coalition of support, and the fact that voters would get to weigh in this fall if it passed, we did not have the Republican votes.

Even though SB 5186 didn’t pass this year, I’m not giving up. If voters return me to the Senate, I will continue to put my energy and passion into passing this critical legislation. For now, I’m still working hard on other priorities for the 26th District. I am the lead sponsor on legislation to lower the sales tax for all Washingtonians, which would be our state’s first sales tax reduction in more than 40 years. I’m continuing to work with my colleagues on making sure the operating budget and the transportation budget are working for our peninsula communities, and we are on watch to protect Washington from any attacks on our reproductive freedoms.

The past few months have taught me that sometimes good ideas don’t move forward for reasons beyond their control. But like the spring, or baseball season, there’s always next year, and if voters return me, I will be working hard in 2026 and beyond to improve our schools, reduce the cost of living, and advocate for all. 

Sen. Deb Krishnadasan represents the 26th Legislative District. She lives in Gig Harbor.