Thank
you for 22 great years!
2008 Corn Feed Photos 2008 Kickoff Photos
Straight Talk, Hard Work, Common Sense
Senator Rasmussen is no stranger to hard work.
Marilyn is a farmer, a mother of 7 and a grandmother of 19. She has
lived on
the farm for 47 years in rural Pierce County near
Eatonville. All of her children were involved in 4H and Future
Farmers of America (FFA). Between milking cows, being a 4H leader
and being on the local school board, Marilyn found time to take her
interest in kids and cows to the legislature in 1986. Education and
agriculture were, and still are, her top priorities.
Marilyn was first elected in 1986, and served on
Education, Agriculture (Kids & Cows), Trade and Economic
Development, and the Capital Budget Committees. US Senator Maria
Cantwell was a colleague and chaired the Trade & ED Committee.
While as a state representative Marilyn also worked
on veterans issues and prime sponsored the minor in possession bill.
Washington State was the first state in the nation to have such
legislation. The MIP law takes away the license of minors who are
found in possession of drugs and/or alcohol. "quote from Workman -
TNT" Other highlights of her work in the House working on issues
for Seniors, the beginnings of the Birth-6 program and levy
equalization.
Rasmussen was elected to the Senate in 1992. She
continued her service to agriculture as chair of the Agriculture and
Rural Economic Development Committee. The top priority of the Ag
Committee was food safety, preserving the family farm and preserving
our agriculture lands.
Reforming education was the highlight of '92. As a strong supporter
of public education, and education for ALL of our students, Marilyn
focused on children with special needs, ECAP, birth - three, smaller
class size, and the construction budget to help communities make the
necessary improvements in our schools.
Marilyn has two daughters who are teachers. Heidi is a middle school
teacher at Maryknoll. She was the 2004 teacher of the year for the
state of Hawaii and Donna is a Special Education teacher at
Shinning Mountain in the Bethel School District.
Health care continues to be a priority and no one
knows more about this than Marilyn. One of her daughters, Dr. Linda
Rasmussen, is an orthopedic surgeon and heads the Medical
Association in Hawaii. Her daughter Mary is a critical care
Registered Nurse at Tacoma General. 
As the Senate Chair of Agriculture and serving on the
Education Committee, Marilyn also serves on the Ways and Means and
Veterans and Military Affairs Committees. Her son Michael is a
retired 22 year Air Force Reservist, having served with the 446th
Airlift at McChord.
Veterans and military
issues have always been a concern for Marilyn with Ft. Lewis,
McChord and the Orting Soldiers home as part of the second district.
Recently Marilyn received an award for her work on behalf of
military organizations from the Tacoma Pierce County Chamber of
Commerce for her legislation regarding realignments and base
closures.
Keeping our community safe by strengthening our
penalties for sex predators and giving law enforcement the tools
they need to eradicate methamphetamine production, dealers and
users. We must have zero tolerance for not only sex predators and
methamphetamines, but also for those who drive under the influence
of alcohol.
We need protect our
community from those who commit identity theft. Protecting citizens
across the state from the scourge of crime.
Working with the developmentally disabled community
has and is always of great importance to Marilyn. Mainstreaming our
children in our public schools, we need to support families, our
school personnel and most importantly, our children. Currently one
out of every 150 children is born with autism. Marilyn created the
Autism Task Force in 2006 which continues to work, not just for
children and adults with autism, but also look at the needs for
training, education, home health and respite care. A major issue
coming up will be insuring children who have neurological behavioral
disorders which currently are not covered by health insurance. All
of our children deserve access to health care. Her grandson Caleb was diagnosed 2002.
Senator Rasmussen is a friendly neighbor, a tough advocate, and she is and will always be there for you.
You can count on Marilyn, she's always there for you.
Thank you for allowing me to serve you for the past 22 years.
