Press release:

Washington Conservation Voters, the political voice for the environment, just named State Representative Zack Hudgins (D-11, Tukwila) its 2012 “Legislator of the Year” for his outstanding leadership during the legislative session.
 
“Rep. Zack Hudgins demonstrated exceptional leadership on several critical issues affecting the environment during the 2012 session," said Washington Conservation Voters’ Executive Director Brendon Cechovic. “Rep. Hudgins’ commitment to defending basic environmental laws, protecting Washingtonians from toxic chemicals, and creating a clean energy economy was unparalleled this past year.”
 
Representative Hudgins has been an effective  advocate for healthy communities during his nearly ten-years of serving in the legislature. He championed the environment in a number of ways during the 2012 state legislative session,. As chair of a critical budget committee, Rep. Hudgins resisted pressure to gut environmental funding. When special interests tried to take advantage of current economic times to roll-back environmental protections, he helped lead the effort in the House to successfully fend them off. He worked to ensure I-937, the Citizen’s Clean Energy Initiative, was not weakened. He fought to strengthen the Toxic-Free Kids Act, a bill aimed at removing toxic chemicals from the products we use every day.
 
Upon hearing the announcement, Rep. Hudgins thanked WCV and said, “My constituents in Seattle, Tukwila, Burien, and Renton need and deserve clean air, clean water and the potential jobs created by a clean energy economy.  With Washington Conservation Voters, I know I have a partner in cleaning up the Duwamish River, addressing the problem of rising asthma rates in my district, and creating clean energy jobs for all Washingtonians.”
 

Legislator of the Year is WCV’s highest honor, awarded to one state legislator each year. Representative Zack Hudgins will be featured at Washington Conservation Voters’ annual breakfast on September 28th.