By Mary Welander
State Rep., D-114
Mary Welander
When our kids were younger, we picked up a habit from family friends of using part of our family dinnertime to talk about our days and share the good parts (the roses) and the not-so-great parts (the thorns). It was a simple way to teach them that it was okay to acknowledge things that bother us and to find even one small positive thing in every day.
The legislative sessions move so quickly that it is easy to lose track of some of the roses and lose sight of the lessons behind the thorns, so I thought I would share some that you may know about, and some you might not.
Rose: Supporting the mental and behavioral health services for our children and families. Last year I created legislation that evaluated the areas across the state where student access to mental health services was lacking. That report came out this year, and we were able to allocate over half a million dollars to those schools identified as very high needs to get school based mental health clinics into those districts. Additionally, I was part of a small bipartisan working group behind HB5001, which created the most comprehensive children’s mental health legislation in the country.
Thorn: While the need for supports across the state was identified as urgent, we were not able to include funding for as many schools as we would like, and we were not able to expand some existing programs as much as we wanted due to the lack of specific providers. However, identifying those roles will help us as we work to attract and retain those providers in the future.
Rose: Creating a task force to identify the areas and methods causing children to be abused and exploited online as well as the reasons why some cases are not pursued – such as lack of law enforcement personnel. Identifying these points will allow for future funds to be directed at hiring police and data specialists to fill these gaps and stop the predators targeting our children earlier.
Thorn: Seeing the bill I wrote that created a new misdemeanor aimed at prosecuting those predators not called in the Senate despite going through unanimously in the House. However, if given the opportunity at another term, I will bring this back and look at expanding the language to make sure our kids are protected as much as possible.
Rose: Having more of this session be in-person and developing stronger working relationships and friendships with colleagues on both sides of the aisle.
Thorn: Having many of those colleagues retire this year, such as Rep. Cathy Abercrombie and Rep. Bill (Doc) Pettit. Their contributions to our state are innumerable and both will be missed very much, along with many other honorable public servants. However, I know that I can always call them with any question. I am grateful for the assistance, support and kindness they both showed me these past two years.