HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 2024-4697

HR 4697

ByRepresentatives Jinkins, Stokesbary, Abbarno, Alvarado, Barkis, Barnard, Bateman, Berg, Bergquist, Berry, Bronoske, Caldier, Callan, Chambers, Chandler, Chapman, Cheney, Chopp, Christian, Connors, Corry, Cortes, Couture, Davis, Dent, Doglio, Donaghy, Duerr, Dye, Entenman, Eslick, Farivar, Fey, Fitzgibbon, Fosse, Goehner, Goodman, Graham, Gregerson, Griffey, Hackney, Harris, Hutchins, Jacobsen, Klicker, Kloba, Kretz, Leavitt, Lekanoff, Low, Macri, Maycumber, McClintock, McEntire, Mena, Morgan, Mosbrucker, Nance, Orcutt, Ormsby, Ortiz-Self, Orwall, Paul, Peterson, Pollet, Ramel, Ramos, Reed, Reeves, Riccelli, Robertson, Rude, Rule, Ryu, Sandlin, Santos, Schmick, Schmidt, Senn, Shavers, Simmons, Slatter, Springer, Stearns, Steele, Stonier, Street, Taylor, Thai, Tharinger, Timmons, Volz, Walen, Walsh, Waters, Wilcox, Wylie, and Ybarra

WHEREAS, Isaac I. Stevens was the first governor of what was then the Washington Territory, and he designated Olympia as the capital in 1853 since he was already staying at the Courtyard by Marriott so it was pretty convenient and would be even more so once I-5 was built, and he was tired of traipsing around the state looking for capitals; and

WHEREAS, Olympia continued to serve as the capital after Washington became the 42nd and, if we're being honest, best state in our union in 1889; and

WHEREAS, The House of Representatives would meet to debate policy and pass laws, but everyone noticed that not a lot of work was really getting done out in the chamber, so they decided that what they needed was a room where that work could get done, and someone said, "Hey, we should just call it the Workroom," so that's what they did; and

WHEREAS, Many decades later, while all her schoolmates were dreaming of going to the moon or becoming president, a young Maureen Mueller, set her sights even higher, deciding that she would leave her native Orange County, California, and become the supervisor of that Workroom; and

WHEREAS, Everyone discouraged Maureen from her dream of being in that Workroom because everyone knew that the hours were crazy and the coffee was terrible, but Maureen knew that they could not see past the chaos of Session into the splendor of Interim; and

WHEREAS, After first working in software in San Francisco, she moved to Washington and came to work in the House, beginning first as session Committee Legislative Assistant for the Office of Program Research in December 1995 for the 1996 and 1997 sessions; after which OPR wisely hired her on a permanent basis in 1999; but even then she knew that was not her true calling and she could see firsthand that the Workroom was in need of some major, well, work; and

WHEREAS, In 2010, Maureen finally fulfilled her destiny of working in the Workroom as Workroom Coordinator, promoting to Workroom Supervisor in 2016 and immediately setting to work sorting everything out and spending extra time on what are legally known as "the fiddly bits" of legislative paperwork that you probably never paid attention to but, oh boy, you'd sure notice in a hurry if she wasn't there making that stuff work out; and

WHEREAS, This is as good a time as any to remark that no one here really calls her Maureen because she is affectionately known as Moe, which is why you could be forgiven if you didn't know who Maureen is because you were thinking of a Moe who did all those crucial things for the House; and

WHEREAS, Not a lot is known about Maureen's home life, as no one even thought to check if she even ever leaves the Workroom until we started putting this resolution together, but in all seriousness, as well as devoting substantial time and energy to the House, she and her husband Warren raised two children, Malorie (Malley) and Aleksei (Alex); are loving grandparents to their grandson Robert (Bertie); and find time to restore historic homes and travel the world, including Thailand, Morocco, China, Egypt, Greece, Germany, Cambodia, and France. Further, she clearly never sleeps because she routinely prepares amazing cuisine and treats to sustain the Workroom and rostrum staff through 20-hour floor sessions; and

WHEREAS, Moe has bizarrely decided to leave her beloved Workroom and retire to another beloved place in France, which is probably a lot like the Workroom only with everything in French and less rainy; and

WHEREAS, Everyone should be very happy for Moe's retirement, and we would be, except there's still the matter of all those fiddly bits in the Workroom that she handles, and that stuff is still going to need to get done while she's off galivanting around in France;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives hereby direct the Chief Clerk to look into Moe's paperwork and take such steps as may be necessary or advisable to deny her retirement; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That whatever must be done to prevail upon Moe to stay on in her Workroom for just a couple more decades be done, including maybe getting her some Yoplait or something so it feels a little like France in there; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That if Moe cannot be made to stay on, then we reluctantly wish her the best and urge everyone to join with us to celebrate and honor the life, legacy, work, service, and general awesomeness of Maureen Mueller.