SEATTLE -- Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig (D-Spokane) and Senators Mike Padden, (R-Spokane Valley), Sharon Brown (R-Richland) and Guy Palumbo (D-Maltby) will receive Washington Policy Center’s (WPC’s) inaugural Summit Award for their successful efforts to strengthen the ability of citizens to participate in government via remote testimony.  Their work has given citizens from across the state better access to their elected representatives by incorporating the use of video conferencing technology into public hearings.

The award will be presented at Washington Policy Center’s (WPC’s) upcoming Solutions Summit policy conference which is being held at the Historic Davenport Hotel in Spokane next Tuesday.

“It’s time-consuming and often dangerous for citizens to travel across the state to Olympia to share just minutes worth of testimony on an issue of importance to them,” said Chris Cargill, WPC’s Eastern Washington Office Director. “This bipartisan group of lawmakers saw the benefit of remote testimony and championed the cause. They made citizen involvement easier and they deserve to be recognized for that work.”

Sen. Padden was the first to hold a remote testimony trial run out of Spokane in 2013 and in 2015, Sen. Brown worked with Columbia Basin College to set up a dedicated remote testimony room. As Chair of the Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee, Sen. Palumbo enthusiastically volunteered to be the first to offer remote testimony for every hearing during the 2019 legislative session. Senate Majority Leader Billig expanded the use of remote testimony to every Senate committee for the 2019 legislative session.

The Summit Award will be presented at the keynote lunch portion of WPC’s Solutions Summit next Tuesday, May 14. The Solutions Summit is one of the state’s largest policy conferences and attracts hundreds of lawmakers, business and community leaders and citizen-activists.

There is no charge for media to attend.

Coverage of the award presentation is encouraged.

What: Summit Award

Event:  Solutions Summit 2019

Date: 5/14/2019

Time: the full conference runs from 7:30 am to 5:00 pm

Award Presentation at noon during the Keynote Lunch in the Grand Pennington Ballroom

Where: Historic Davenport Hotel, Spokane

For Tickets and Complete Agenda: Washingtonpolicy.org/events