As an honorably discharged Marine veteran, I like that the Washington state Legislature is taking some steps to help veterans through legislation that has been passed either overwhelmingly or unanimously by Republicans and Democrats. However, news organizations and responsible journalists of all people should be wary of reporting, without the underlying story, about partisan-conceived awards, such as “Legislator of the Year,” which was given to Kristine Reeves, and essentially produced, cast and managed by the party in power, namely the Democratic Party-controlled governor’s office, desperate to keep their party gains in the 30th District from the 2016 election.

The Mirror should be telling us whether or not Reeves independently conceived the ideas and wrote the preliminary drafts for the legislation that she is being awarded for or is she basically being handed goodies to pass out to veterans by party leaders anxious to keep control of the Legislature?

Mark Greene, Federal Way