Andy Billig | |
---|---|
Majority Leader of the Washington Senate | |
Assumed office January 12, 2019 | |
Preceded by | Sharon Nelson |
Member of the Washington Senate from the 3rd district | |
Assumed office January 14,2013 | |
Preceded by | Lisa Brown |
Member of the WashingtonHouseofRepresentatives from the 3rd district | |
In office January 10,2011 –January 14,2013 | |
Preceded by | Alex Wood |
Succeeded by | Marcus Riccelli |
Personal details | |
Born | Andrew Swire Billig May 1,1968 New York,U.S. [1] |
Political party | Democratic |
Education | Georgetown University (BA) |
Website | State Senate website |
Andrew Swire Billig (born May 1,1968) is an American politician of the Democratic Party and co-owner of the Spokane Indians minor league baseball team. On November 6,2012,Billig was elected to the Washington State Senate,representing the 3rd Legislative District. [2] He currently serves as the Senate Majority Leader. [3]
Billig grew up in Chevy Chase,Maryland. He is of Jewish descent. Billig graduated cum laude from Georgetown University in 1990 with a degree in government. He has two children,Isabella "Bella" and Samuel,and is an active runner and triathlete,having completed the Coeur d’Alene Ironman Triathlon in 2004. [4]
Billig has supported bills that would improve primary education,including a bill that would lower the compulsory education age in Washington from 8 to 5. [5] He has also been active in expanding statewide voter access and campaign finance reform in addition to efforts to protect the Spokane River. [6] [7] In 2011,Billig received the Inter-Continental Smackdown Champion Award from Fuse Washington for his work against phosphorus pollution in Washington's lakes and rivers. [8] He has also expressed support for gun control,including a bill that would ban possession of high-capacity magazines. [9]
After he was elected to the House of Representatives in 2010,Billig immediately assumed a transportation leadership position in the House,serving as vice-chair of the House Transportation Committee. [10] In that role,he helped write the state's two-year transportation budget. [11] Billig also served on the Education,Environment,and Technology &Economic Development committees.
In 2012,Billig was elected to the Senate,where he was given a position of leadership as the Minority Whip. In 2015 he was chosen to represent the caucus as the Deputy Leader,and now serves as the Senate Majority Leader. During the 2018 legislative session,he served on the Early Learning &K-2 Education,Ways &Means,and Rules committees. One of his primary achievements of the 2018 session was the DISCLOSE Act, [12] which increases transparency of campaign contributions and closes campaign finance disclosure loopholes.
In 1992,Billig became general manager of the Spokane Indians Baseball Team.[ citation needed ] He later became president and co-owner of the team and remains active in management and ownership. [4] [13]
Billig has been recognized repeatedly for his leadership with the Spokane Indians,being voted Northwest League Executive of the Year in both 1994[ citation needed ] and 2004. He was also nominated for the Larry MacPhail Award for promotional excellence several times and won the Joe Martin Award for Service to Baseball and the Community in 2007. [13]
Thomas Stephen Foley was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 49th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1989 to 1995. A member of the Democratic Party,Foley represented Washington's fifth district for thirty years (1965–1995). He was the first Speaker of the House in over a century since Galusha Grow in 1862 to be defeated in a re-election campaign
Mike Haridopolos served in the Florida Senate (2003–2012) and was elected President of the Florida Senate from 2010 to 2012. He presided over the largest Republican Senate majority (28-12) since Reconstruction. He also served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2000 to 2003. He now operates MJH Consulting,a leading business and political consulting firm in Florida. He is also a regular news contributor for Fox 35 Orlando on political for both national and state political matters.
Lisa Jo Brown is an American politician and educator who is the current mayor of Spokane,Washington. She previously served as the director of the Washington State Department of Commerce. A member of the Democratic Party,Brown has served in both houses of the Washington State Legislature,including eight years as the first Democratic female majority leader of the Washington State Senate. She has also served as the chancellor of Washington State University Spokane,a position she stepped down from in order to mount an unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. House.
Jeanne Elizabeth Pearl Kohl-Welles is an American politician and academic. She was a member of the King County Council from the 4th district from 2016 to 2024. She previously served as a member of the Washington State Senate from 1994 to 2015 and the Washington House of Representatives from 1992 to 1994.
Christopher J. Marr was a state senator from Spokane,Washington,representing Washington's 6th Legislative District in the Washington State Legislature in Olympia. He was defeated in the November 2010 general election by Michael Baumgartner,after one term in office. The election battle between Marr and Baumgartner was considered the most expensive legislative race in Washington State history. Marr's term effectively ended in January,2011.
Pamela Graboski Beidle is an American politician who has served as a member of the Maryland Senate from District 32 since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party,she previously represented the district in the Maryland House of Delegates from 2007 to 2019,and was a member of the Anne Arundel County Council from 1998 to 2006.
Paul G. Pinsky is an American educator,politician from Maryland. A member of the Democratic Party,he is currently the Director of the Maryland Energy Administration. He was previously a member of the Maryland Senate,representing District 22 in Prince George's County.
Craig A. Pridemore is an American politician. He is a former Democratic member of the Washington State Senate,representing the 49th district from 2005 until his retirement in 2013. He was a candidate for Washington State Auditor in 2012. He was a candidate for the United States House of Representatives for Washington's 3rd congressional district in the 2010 election to succeed retiring Congressman Brian Baird. He dropped out of the race before the Primary Election,which was won by Jaime Herrera Beutler.
Brendan W. Williams is an American politician who served in the Washington House of Representatives from 2005 to 2011,representing Washington's 22nd legislative district.
Kim Lee Ward is an American politician who served as acting lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania and currently serves as President pro tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate. She represents the 39th Senatorial District which covers the central portions of Westmoreland County,Pennsylvania. Following the resignation of Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman,Ward became acting lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania on January 3,2023,and served until January 17,2023. She is the first female president pro tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate. She was succeeded by Austin Davis as Lieutenant Governor.
Randi L. Becker is an American politician of the Republican Party. She served as a member of the Washington Senate,representing the 2nd Legislative District from 2009 to 2021. She was first elected to the State Senate in 2008. In March 2020,Becker announced that she would not seek reelection to an additional term in the state Senate.
Reuven Michael Carlyle is a founder of Earth Finance,a global climate strategy and investment firm. He is also an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the Washington legislature representing the Washington's 36th legislative district in the state house between 2009 and 2016 and in the state senate between 2016 and 2023.
Aaron Paul Bean is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Florida's 4th congressional district since 2023. A Republican,Bean represented the 4th district in the Florida Senate,which included all of Nassau County,Clay County and parts of Duval County,from 2012 to 2022. From 2000 to 2008,he represented the 12th district in the Florida House of Representatives.
Michael James Baumgartner is an American politician and diplomat serving as the 28th Spokane County Treasurer. A member of the Republican Party,he previously served as a member of the Washington State Senate,representing the 6th district from 2011 to 2019 and was his party's nominee in the 2012 election for the United States Senate,unsuccessfully challenging Democratic incumbent Maria Cantwell.
Fuse Washington is a progressive advocacy organization in Washington state. It is a member of the ProgressNow network. Fuse,a 501(c)(4) organization,along with its sister organization the Fuse Innovation Fund,a 501(c)(3) organization,claims to be the state's largest progressive organization because of its email list of more than 100,000 people.
Joseph Frederick Fain is an American attorney,businessman,and politician who served as a member of the Washington State Senate for the 47th district from 2011 to 2019. Fain was elected in 2010 and re-elected in 2014. Fain served as the Senate minority floor leader during the 2018 legislative session.
Donald Mark Benton is an American politician. Originally from Santa Clarita,California,he served as a member of the Washington House of Representatives from 1995 to 1996 and the Washington State Senate from 1996 to 2017,representing Washington's 17th legislative district. He served as campaign director for Donald Trump in Washington. In 2016,after Trump was elected,Benton was appointed as a senior White House advisor at the Environmental Protection Agency for a few weeks,but reportedly did not work well with newly appointed agency head Scott Pruitt. In April 2017,Benton was named by President Trump as the 13th Director of the Selective Service System. He served in that position until the inauguration of President Biden.
Kamyar Cyrus Habib is an American Jesuit,a former politician,a lawyer,and an educator who served as the 16th Lieutenant Governor of Washington from 2017 to 2021. He served as the state's Acting Governor for over six months,primarily in 2019 during the presidential campaign of Governor Jay Inslee. As of the time of his departure from office,he was the first and only Iranian American official to hold statewide elected office in the United States.
The Fifty-seventh Oklahoma Legislature was a meeting of the legislative branch of the government of Oklahoma,composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. It met in Oklahoma City,Oklahoma from January 3,2019,to January 3,2021,during the first two years of the first administration of Governor Kevin Stitt. The November 2018 elections maintained Republican control of both the House and Senate.
Emily Elissa Randall is an American politician and activist who is a member of the Washington State Senate from the 26th district. A member of the Democratic Party,she was elected in 2018.