Maycumber Begins 2023 Legislative Session With Broad Bipartisan Support For Her Local Education Apprenticeship Bill

' Regional apprenticeship programs give students another option to find a career locally,' says Maycumber

The 2023 legislative session has begun in Olympia. For the first time in nearly three years, the halls of the legislative offices and the legislative chambers themselves are filled with legislators, staff, and citizens.

Rep. Jacquelin Maycumber, R-Republic, was once again elected by her colleagues to serve as the House Republican Caucus Floor Leader where she will guide floor debate and organize floor amendments to legislation.

“I'm honored to lead our debates as floor leader as we highlight our priorities and our solutions to the many problems facing Washingtonians today,” said Maycumber.

One of her main priorities this session is making sure all children have equal access to education and successful careers.

“Too many of our children are getting left behind when it comes to our state K- 12 education system,” said Maycumber. “The state continues to throw money at the problem yet our children continue to fall behind.

“We rank first in the nation in teacher salary and compensation, fourth in starting teacher salary, and 15th in total government spending for education,” she continued. “Yet our overall student performance is 28th, our SAT scores are 30th, and our college- going rate is 45th. This is unacceptable. Our students deserves better.”

Maycumber said her focus on K- 12 education is centered around empowering the next generation and seeing the children in her community succeed and go on to successful and meaningful employment.

It is the reason, she says, that she decided to run for office and work for the people in her district.

“I'm tired of exporting our district's greatest resource – our children – to other parts of the state that have jobs and careers, said Maycumber. “We need to provide more pathways for family- wage jobs and successful careers for our students, especially those in rural and underserved areas.”

To help accomplish this, she is sponsoring legislation that would create regional education apprenticeship programs.

“Regional apprenticeship programs give students who are still in school another option to find a career locally,” said Maycumber. “They are an important tool that takes into account the unique characteristics of the local economy, local job market, and local employer needs. By offering regional apprenticeship programs, we can better match local employers and employees. This helps our regional employers and allows our children to find local career pathways that can support a family.”

Maycumber's proposal, House Bill 1013, will create a pilot program with two regional apprenticeships, one on the West side of the state and one on the East side of the state. Recognizing the unique challenges of rural schools and job opportunities, her proposal requires that one of the programs must be in a location that has a high percentage of small, rural school districts.

Her bill has an enormous amount of bipartisan support with 58 cosponsors almost evenly split between Democrat and Republican legislators.

“I've worked hard to explain the need for regional apprenticeships programs to my legislative colleagues on both sides of the aisle,” said Maycumber. “We need to make sure all students have equal access to quality education, with options to enter the workforce and career of their choosing. My bill will help be a part of this solution.”

The 105- day 2023 legislative session began on Monday, January 9.