Today we mourn that passing os State Senator Andy Hill.  Sen. Hill repeatedly stepped up in a big way for our community in his years at the legislature. He listened, he engaged and most importantly, he reached out and worked with our community to help resolve critical problems.

Sen. Hill authored and passed the Vulnerable Individuals Priority (VIP) Act – Providing services to 5000 children and adults with developmental disabilities on waiting lists at no additional cost to the state.

For his work on the VIP Act, Senator Hill has received the Blizzard Award for Extraordinary Commitment from the Parent Coalition for Developmental Disabilities as well as the Big Time Daddy Award from the Washington State Fathers Network.  The Community Employment Alliance selected Hill as their “Legislator of the Year”.

Sen. Hills budget funded the bright futures guidelines of screening for autism when a child 36 months of age or younger is suspected of having autism, supporting timely access to a formal diagnostic evaluation and referral for evidence-based treatment.

500,000 is the number of students our para-educators teach in schools across this state, and 52% [over half] is the percentage of those who are students with disabilities.

FIRST – in the nation – we are as a state – to provide Paraeducators a career ladder under a plan sponsored by Sen. Hill. Previously, paraeducators received little training from school districts with limited state hiring standards.

And so we say THANK YOU Senator Hill – thank you for your leadership, your hard work, and most of all – thank you for your compassion and understanding of the challenges our community has faced over the years.

A memorial service will be held on Friday, November 11, in Redmond. Additional details will be available in the coming days. In lieu of flowers please make a donation in Senator Hill's name to Cancer Pathways, Global Resource for Advancing Cancer Education (GRACE), or Dr. Jed Gorden’s outreach to underserved communities through Swedish Medical Center.

Please also take a moment to share any memories of Senator Hill or messages to the family by emailing RememberAndyHill@gmail.com.