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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
We are passing the one-third mark in our 105-day legislative session. I want to thank you for your continued involvement and input into your state government. I also want to invite you to our 9th Legislative District Virtual Town Hall Meeting on Thursday, March 20, from 7-8 p.m.
Pre-register for the town hall meeting by going to https://tinyurl.com/9thTownHall2025 or using the QR Code below.
Should agriculture land in Washington state be owned by foreign adversaries?
Did you know that Washington consistently ranks as one of the highest states in the nation for percentage of land owned by foreign entities? Much of that land is valuable and important agriculture land. This raises the concern that some of that land could be owned by entities deemed as “foreign adversaries” by the United States Department of Commerce. In cases of political unrest, trade negotiations, or outright confrontation, the ownership of this land could be used against us as a bargaining tool or to suppress our food supply. As is often said, “Food security is national security.”
I introduced legislation this week (House Bill 1999) to prohibit agriculture land from being owned by these foreign threats. You can read more about my bill here. You can listen to my interview with Glenn Vaagen from the Pacific Northwest Ag Network here. It is imperative that we protect our food supply and natural resources in times of peace and in times of conflict.
Potato Day!
Speaking of Agriculture, this week we celebrated Potato Day! This is an important reminder that Washington state is the second-largest producer of potatoes in the nation. As a former second-generation farmer, and representative for one of the state’s largest agriculture legislative districts, I am continually fighting to keep agriculture alive and well in our state! Including our way of life. The land we till is the land we love. And while much is out of our control when it comes to setting prices and making a profit, we shouldn’t be forced of our land and away from a lifestyle and career we love due to government regulations.
I had the pleasure of being on Spokane Public Radio this week with Doug Nadvornick. We discussed mostly health care issues like hospital financial viability, delivery of mental health services to rural areas, reimbursement rates of Medicare and Medicaid, staffing shortages and more. You can listen to that segment here.
Firearms update
While many bad firearms bills continue through the legislative process, it looks we have some good news. House Bill 1504, which would have required a $25,000 liability insurance policy on each firearm owned and to purchase any subsequent firearms, has NOT passed the policy committee deadline. I always remind folks that there is no such thing as a “truly dead” bill with the current ruling party in Olympia. But for now it looks to be dead. This bill was quickly recognized as a way to create a firearms registry of every gun owner and ever gun owned in our state!
It is illegal for a national gun registry. We shouldn’t be doing it here in our state. It will do nothing to prevent crime. Criminals don’t obey the laws and they’re certainly not going to go out and by insurance on their firearms. If this bill fails to go any further this year, we can consider that a win for Second Amendment rights in our state – a rare one at that.
As always, feel free to contact me with questions or concerns about state government. And if you’re going to make a trip to Olympia make sure you contact my office so I can make time for you. It’s always great to visit with constituents from back home!
Sincerely,
Joe Schmick
