During the 2023 legislative session, state Sen. Phil Fortunato proposed numerous bills to address substantial policy issues around homeless and housing, transportation, and environmental protection. The Auburn legislator has also taken to the Senate Floor to highlight exceptional aspects of the 31st District, sponsoring several resolutions that recognize local philanthropic organizations and a fallen Border Patrol hero with local ties.

Today, the state Senate adopted SR 8615, Recognizing the Blessing Movement. The nonprofit based in the Sumner-Bonney Lake area was founded in 2019 to help senior citizens, the disabled, people on fixed incomes, veterans or those facing terminal illness, with maintenance and up-keep projects at their homes.

This past Tuesday, Fortunato introduced SR 8621, which highlighted the work of The Market, a food security program of the Bonney Lake Food Bank. The organization operates much like a modern grocery store serving food-insecure residents. According to the organization, their innovation started during the COVID-19 pandemic when they saw a 700% increase in customers at a small and structurally unsound location.

In early March, the state Senate honored a fallen hero, United States Border Patrol Agent Donna Marie Doss with SR 8623. Doss was killed in the line of duty, struck by a vehicle while stationed in Texas in 2019. The federal government honored the Washington native, whose family resides in Enumclaw, in 2021 by renaming of the Rocksprings station as the Donna M. Doss Border Patrol Station.

“While we’re focused on big-ticket items like the homeless crisis or public safety fiasco, it’s good to take time to remember, honor, and recognize the people we serve back in district,” Fortunato said. “The resolutions are a positive way to focus on people and organizations doing the real work of helping our communities and I’m honored to have worked with these exceptional people who represent the best of our district.”

The state Legislature defines these Floor Resolutions as: “A written motion calling for action, which may be offered from the floor of either house. Floor resolutions are usually congratulatory, commendatory, or memorial.”