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Each year, members of Washington Farm Bureau (WFB) select a State Senator and a State Representative to receive their Legislator of the Year award. To receive this award, a legislator must have led efforts, during the previous legislative session, on at least one issue of great importance to agriculture. In addition to serving as the “go to” individual for legislative work on particular issues, a legislator must have received special recognition during the session for their work. This year, WFB is proud to recognize Senator Mark Mullet and Representative Mike Chapman as the recipients of their 2023 Legislator of the Year award. 

Senator Mullet represents the 5th District which covers much of central King County. Senator Mullet serves as the Vice Chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee where he also serves as the leader of the Senate Capital Budget team. In that role, Senator Mullet was crucial in ensuring that funding for the voluntary riparian grant program was included in the state’s Capital Budget. Additionally, he has remained steadfast in his support of Washington’s farmers by pursuing a seasonality provision to address the ongoing problem that agriculture faces regarding labor availability and costs related to the state’s overtime legislation. Finally, Senator Mullet served as a strong advocate for agriculture as he attempted a legislative fix to address the carbon price being applied to agricultural-exempt fuels.

In the opposite chamber, Representative Mike Chapman is being honored as WFB’s Legislator of the Year for a second year in a row. Representative Chapman represents the 24th District covering much of the Olympic Peninsula. Representative Chapman serves as the Chair of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. Throughout the past legislative session, he has been regularly praised for his collaborative and bipartisan leadership. Representative Chapman worked to bring diverse voices to the table as stakeholders negotiated a fully voluntary, regionally focused, riparian grant program. He championed this work and saw it through to its inclusion in the state’s Capital Budget. WFB's First Vice President and Chair of the WFB Legislative Committee, Bridget Coon, remarked, “Representative Chapman set a precedent of bipartisanship and collaboration that we do not often encounter in Olympia anymore. He gave Washington’s farmers and ranchers a platform to elevate our most important issues.”

Reflecting on the two legislators awarded the 2023 Legislator of the Year award, WFB Vice President Coon stated, “These awards are reserved for legislators who go above and beyond. On multiple occasions during the legislative session, these two lawmakers stepped up to do what was right for Washington agriculture. They faced political pressure and criticism for their actions, but they worked with us anyway.” 

WFB is honored to recognize these two individuals and looks forward to continuing to work with them for a stronger Washington state agriculture.