Jeanne Elizabeth Pearl Kohl-Welles (née Jean Elizabeth Pearl Kohl; October 19, 1942) is an American politician and academic. Since January 2016 she has served as a member of the
King County Council
The Metropolitan King County Council, the legislative body of King County, Washington, consists of nine members elected by district. The Council adopts laws, sets policy, and holds final approval over the budget. Its current name and structure i ...
from the 4th district. She previously served as a member of the
Washington State Senate
The Washington State Senate is the upper house of the Washington State Legislature. The body consists of 49 members, each representing a district with a population of nearly 160,000. The State Senate meets at the Legislative Building in Olympi ...
from 1994 to 2015 and the
Washington House of Representatives
The Washington House of Representatives is the lower house of the Washington State Legislature, and along with the Washington State Senate makes up the legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is composed of 98 Representatives from 49 ...
from 1992 to 1994.
Early life and education
Kohl-Welles was born in
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...
. She earned a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in education from the
California State University, Northridge
California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge) is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. With a total enrollment of 38,551 students (as of Fall 2021), it has the second largest un ...
, followed by a Master of Arts and PhD in sociology from the
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
.
Career
Kohl-Welles was a teacher in the
Los Angeles Unified School District
Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is a public school district in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the largest public school system in California in terms of number of students and the 2nd largest public school district in ...
. She has also worked as a lecturer at
Chapman College
Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California. It encompasses ten schools and colleges, including Fowler School of Engineering, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Fowler School of Law, and Schmid College of Scien ...
;
University of California, Irvine
The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and pr ...
;
California State University, Long Beach
California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universities i ...
; and
California State University, Fullerton
California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) ...
. She was a program manager for the
United States Department of Education
The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department ...
and later worked as a visiting professor at
Pacific Lutheran University
Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) is a private Lutheran university in Parkland, Washington. It was founded by Norwegian Lutheran immigrants in 1890. PLU is sponsored by the 580 congregations of Region I of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ame ...
.
Outside of academics, Kohl-Welles has provided expert testimony in
Title IX
Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other educat ...
lawsuits.
A member of the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
, from 1994 to 2016 she represented the 39th district in the
Washington State Senate
The Washington State Senate is the upper house of the Washington State Legislature. The body consists of 49 members, each representing a district with a population of nearly 160,000. The State Senate meets at the Legislative Building in Olympi ...
, which includes
Ballard,
Belltown,
Blue Ridge,
Crown Hill,
Greenwood,
Magnolia
''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendro ...
, and
Queen Anne Hill neighborhoods of
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
as well as the north half of
Downtown Seattle
Downtown is the central business district of Seattle, Washington. It is fairly compact compared with other city centers on the U.S. West Coast due to its geographical situation, being hemmed in on the north and east by hills, on the west by ...
. The district also takes the western half of
Lake Union
Lake Union is a freshwater lake located entirely within the city limits of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is a major part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, which carries fresh water from the much larger Lake Washington on the east to ...
. Jeanne Kohl-Welles was appointed to the
State Senate
A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...
in 1994.
From 1992 to 1994, she was a member of the
Washington House of Representatives
The Washington House of Representatives is the lower house of the Washington State Legislature, and along with the Washington State Senate makes up the legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is composed of 98 Representatives from 49 ...
.
Awards and honors
Kohl-Welles was a recipient of the 2009 Fuse "Sizzle" Awards Committee Chair of the Year Award. The award recognized Kohl-Welles work on predatory lending reforms, updates to strengthen and simplify Washington State's Consumer Protection Act, and good government reforms to prevent trade associations from diverting workers compensation funds into political campaigns.
Criticism
Using data and projections compiled by the Washington State Office of Financial Management,
Freedom Foundation aggregated bills introduced in the 2008 legislative session in order to determine the total increased taxes and fees proposed by each individual legislator, as primary or co-sponsor, would bring to taxpayers over a ten-year period. Kohl-Welles topped the list of legislators. Her bills have been predicted to bring total of $214,327,749,698 of increases in taxes and fees to Washington taxpayers.
References
External links
Biographyat
HistoryLink
HistoryLink is an online encyclopedia of Washington state history. The site has more than 8,100 entries and attracts 5,000 daily visitors. It has 500 biographies and more than 14,000 images.
The non-profit historical organization History Ink prod ...
Sen. Kohl-Welles bio Senate Democratic Caucus, Washington State
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kohl-Welles, Jeanne
1942 births
Living people
Democratic Party Washington (state) state senators
Pacific Lutheran University faculty
University of California, Los Angeles alumni
Women state legislators in Washington (state)
King County Councillors
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American women politicians
American women academics
Democratic Party members of the Washington House of Representatives