If you’ve had the chance to meet Andy Hill, you know how genuine a person he is. As our state senator, he’s been just as genuine in following through on the promises he made when he first ran four years ago.

Well before Andy Hill was thinking of running for office, he was volunteer youth soccer coaching and tutoring at Emily Dickinson Elementary in math and reading 12 years ago. Education has always been a top priority for him. As a local PTA dad, he ran for office promising to fight for a sustainable budget that prioritizes education. By 2013 he was the budget chair and passed a budget with historic levels of bipartisan support because it added $1 billion to the education budget and preserved the safety net without raising taxes.

That’s why it bothers me when I hear his opponents talk about him not prioritizing education. Putting kids first was what he first set out to do and what he has delivered results on. Do they want us to go back to the way it was before when our state’s budget had a deficit every year and education spending was only increasing at half the rate all other state spending was?

I hope not, but I’m going to make sure everyone I know supports Andy Hill so we don’t go back to the way things used to be.

Andy Hill has always put his community and needs of other first. He has fought for children’s needs and for his own life when he had Cancer. He is a winner and is an inspiration.

Andy’s helped change Olympia. And we need to keep him there working for us.

Michael Becker, Redmond