Rep. Tina Orwall: From New Kid to Seasoned Lawmaker

Our guest today is state Representative Tina Orwall. Tina represents Washington’s 33rd legislative district, a South King County district that includes Sea-Tac, Des Moines, Normandy Park and large parts of both Burien and Kent. Before running for office in 2008, Tina focused her energy on strategic planning in health care and workforce development, affordable-housing efforts, advocacy for military veterans, developing public-private partnerships. In Olympia, she serves as assistant speaker pro tem of the House of Representatives, presiding over much of the floor action in that chamber. As a member of House leadership she’s got a seat on the Rules Committee, which decides which bills will make it to the House floor, and her policy committees include Early Learning and Human Services, Education Appropriations and Oversight, and Judiciary. And to make sure she doesn’t find herself with any spare time, she co-chairs the Joint Committee on Veterans’ and Military Affairs. If you’ve listened to Capitol Ideas for a while, you may remember Tina’s first visit in the summer of 2010.