Kitsap Peninsula families are paying some of the highest costs in the country for basic necessities. Washington has the nation’s third-highest gas prices, the sixth-highest grocery prices, and housing costs are so high that roughly 80% of families cannot afford a median-priced home.

Katy Cornell wants to:

• Provide gas rebates to Washington drivers using surplus carbon tax revenue.
• Support a new sales tax exemption on prepared food.
• Oppose costly new regulations that have made everything in Washington more expensive.

Despite paying the third-highest gas prices in the nation, Washington ranks as the second-worst state for drivers. And as we on the Kitsap Peninsula know all too well, ferry cancellations and fleet issues have severely disrupted daily commutes, tourism, and local economies.

Katy Cornell wants to:

• Authorize emergency procurement of non-hybrid ferries to speed up construction and fix immediate, critical service gaps.
• Direct a portion of the carbon tax paid by drivers towards improving the local highways and the Narrows Bridge and building new ferries.

Crime remains at record highs, and for the thirteenth year in a row Washington ranks dead last in police officers per capita. Understaffed departments here on the Kitsap Peninsula and weakened laws have made it harder to keep our communities safe and hold repeat offenders accountable.

Katy Cornell wants to:

• Provide recruitment and retention bonuses to help local law enforcement hire and keep officers.
• Reform criminal laws so officers can stop shoplifting, repeat theft, and other property crimes.

Homeless encampments have spread across our communities and Washington now has the nation’s fourth-largest homeless population. Despite spending billions of taxpayer dollars, the our region has little to show for it.

Katy Cornell wants to:

• Give cities and counties tools to remove and prohibit encampments near schools, parks, playgrounds and transit centers.
• Create a public dashboard that tracks spending and results for encampment removals, addiction treatment, and transitions into permanent housing.

Washington is spending more on education than ever before, yet student scores continue to fall, including here on the Kitsap Peninsula. Today, 60% of students are not meeting math standards, and half are not meeting reading standards, with the biggest setbacks affecting low-income and other disadvantaged students.

Katy Cornell wants to:

• Expand structured literacy programs and place more paraeducators and tutors where they’re needed most.
• Direct additional resources to students and schools serving low-income and disadvantaged students.

Layers of regulation have made childcare both scarce and staggeringly expensive. One year of childcare now costs more than a year of college tuition in many parts of the Kitsap Peninsula.

Katy Cornell wants to:

• Incentivize employers to offer childcare assistance for working families.
• Reduce barriers so more childcare providers can open where families need them most.