10th District Legislators Host Virtual Town Hall April 8 on 2026 Session

Senator Ron Muzzall says the 2026 legislative session covered "a lot of ground." For North Whidbey residents navigating ferry delays, a housing crunch stretching from Oak Harbor to Langley, and unresolved PFAS contamination questions near Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, finding out exactly what that means for their communities is why Wednesday's virtual town hall exists.

Muzzall, a Republican from Oak Harbor, will join Representatives Dave Paul and Clyde Shavers on Wednesday, April 8, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. via Zoom. Paul, a Democrat representing Oak Harbor, and Shavers, a Democrat from Clinton, complete the 10th District's three-lawmaker delegation. The bipartisan format is one of the few public forums where a Republican senator and two Democratic representatives sit together and answer for the same session outcomes.

Muzzall has framed the evening as "a chance to walk through what passed, what didn't, and what it means for our communities." The 2026 session produced some concrete results. Paul, who co-chairs the Ferry Caucus and serves on the Transportation Committee, helped secure $29 million in accelerated ferry construction funding and $750,000 for long-term planning on vessel replacement and system improvements. For an island community where the Keystone-Port Townsend and Clinton-Mukilteo routes are not optional, the sharper question is whether that investment produces schedule reliability in the near term, not just vessel capacity a decade from now.

The session budget also directed $266,000 to Habitat for Humanity of Island County for the Grace Landing Project in Langley and $342,000 toward a Veterans' Health Initiative. Both allocations land in a county where housing costs have pushed working families off Whidbey entirely while veterans face persistent service gaps. What the legislature left unaddressed on housing supply is as consequential as what it funded.

PFAS contamination linked to firefighting foam used at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island remains one of North Whidbey's most persistent public health concerns. The town hall is one of the few venues where constituents can question all three legislators simultaneously on whether the 2026 session advanced remediation funding or regulatory authority.

The meeting requires advance registration via Zoom. Constituents can also submit questions before Wednesday, which is the most direct route to ensuring a specific concern gets addressed rather than deferred to the end of a crowded agenda.

HOW TO BE HEARD

Specific questions produce specific answers. Rather than asking whether lawmakers support reliable ferry service, ask Paul to name the measurable reliability benchmarks the $29 million construction investment is designed to hit and by which routes and when. On housing, ask what legislation failed to advance this session that would have addressed Island County's supply shortage and what it would take to move it in 2027. On PFAS, ask which state agency holds enforcement authority near NAS Whidbey Island and whether any remediation dollars are now committed in the capital budget.

After April 8, watch whether the three legislators follow up in writing on questions they could not fully resolve in sixty minutes. A commitment made publicly on Zoom carries accountability. November has a way of sharpening those commitments.