On Monday, January 16th, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, some of the marketers from the team made the trip down to Olympia with mentor Bill Davis to speak to their Washington State legislators to seek an increase of state funding for FIRST Washington. Joined by members from 41 other Washington teams, representatives from Spartronics partnered with FIRST Washington and appealed to Washington State legislators for increased funding of FIRST Robotics programs all around the state. Currently, FIRST Washington receives $700,000 in annual funding through the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, but with the STEM program constantly expanding to new and more challenging frontiers, increased funding will be more important than ever. After an inspiring welcoming speech from Governor (and Bainbridge Islander) Jay Inslee, the 42 teams contacted and met with Washington State Representatives to discuss increasing the amount of funding to $1.5 million. Spartronics team members personally meet and spoke with our State Representative, Drew Hansen, about the FIRST Robotics programs in Washington, and also briefed Linda Owens, Legislative Assistant for State Senator (and Bainbridge Islander) Christine Rolfes.