Washington lawmakers convene 60-day legislative session

OLYMPIA — Washington state’s first female speaker of the House was sworn in Monday as lawmakers returned to the Capitol to convene a 60-day legislative session.

Democratic Rep. Laurie Jinkins of Tacoma is also the first gay lawmaker to take the role presiding over the chamber. She succeeds Frank Chopp, the state’s longest-serving speaker and the second-longest-serving speaker in the nation. Chopp, who is still a member of the Legislature, announced he was stepping down from his leadership position last year after serving in the role for more than two decades.

Jinkins and more than a dozen other lawmakers were wearing white in honor of the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage. She said that the fact a lesbian woman is now holding the House gavel is another broken barrier, “but it won’t be the last.”

“Today represents another step toward inclusion, toward more seats at the table,” she said.

https://www.heraldnet.com/northwest/washington-lawmakers-convene-60-day-legislative-session/