Now that the dust has settled on the historic 2021 virtual legislative session, I wanted to take just a moment to reflect on the role TVW, Washington’s Public Affairs Network, played in connecting citizens to their state government.

As the only point of access to the Legislature, state Supreme Court, and activities of the governor’s office during the 105-day legislative session, TVW produced more than 1,500 live events, and 1,045 of those were directly related to the work of the Legislature. We also covered 90 press availabilities with legislative leaders and the governor, all oral arguments before the Supreme Court and Washington’s three courts of appeals, as well as a variety of other government-related events. In all, viewers accessed just over 197,000 hours of content focused on the work of their state government — that’s more than 22-1/2 years (without bathroom breaks!).

As a private, non-profit organization, TVW has a contract with Washington state to provide this important service, but that contract only accounts for about 15 percent of TVW’s annual operating budget so it’s really the generous support of our programming sponsors and loyal viewers who keep our lights on and the cameras rolling. Thank you for your commitment to transparency in state government. We value your partnership and I encourage you to visit TVW.org to get a better understanding of all we do.

Renee Radcliff Sinclair

TVW President/CEO