September 26, 2023

STATEMENT: Senate budget leader sees mixed signals in new state revenue forecast

VANCOUVER… While the state revenue forecast adopted today keeps government’s revenue picture comfortably on the plus side, Sen. Lynda Wilson is keeping an eye on a growth projection that is noticeably lower than any time outside of the Great Recession earlier this century. Wilson, R-Vancouver, is Senate Republican budget leader...
Read More
September 14, 2023

E-News: The ‘gaslighting’ about high gas prices continues

Sept. 14, 2023 Hello Friends and Neighbors, Earlier this week the gas-prices webpage from AAA had this headline: “Gas Prices Slump Slightly as Summer’s End Approaches.” Maybe in other states, but not ours. When I last checked in with you, it was mid-July and gas in Skamania County was $5.22...
Read More
July 20, 2023

STATEMENT: Credit for high gas prices belongs to governor’s climate policies, says Republican budget leader

VANCOUVER… The governor and Democratic lawmakers should be stepping forward and taking credit for Washington’s nation-leading gas prices instead of denying responsibility, says Sen. Lynda Wilson, R-Vancouver. Wilson, budget leader for Senate Republicans, responded to claims made today by Gov. Jay Inslee and high-ranking Democratic state lawmakers that they will...
Read More
July 15, 2023

E-News: Nation’s highest gas prices, new tax on workers make WA affordability crisis worse

July 15, 2023 Hello Friends and Neighbors, Like many of you, my husband Tracy and I have friends and family in other states, which is why we were in the Idaho panhandle for the Fourth of July. Having seen gas prices climb steadily in our state all year long, it...
Read More
June 27, 2023

STATEMENT: State’s latest revenue forecast overshadowed by affordability concerns, says budget leader

VANCOUVER… The budget leader for Senate Republicans says today’s positive news about state revenue growth is offset by the continued rise in Washington gas prices and the added pain many Washington workers are about to feel from the state’s new payroll tax. Sen. Lynda Wilson, R-Vancouver, is chair of the...
Read More
April 27, 2023

E-News: 2023 session concludes with major public-safety issue unresolved

  Part of the job of Senate Republican budget leader is standing in the Senate chamber to speak about whether to vote for or against the budget being debated. That’s what is happening in this photo from Sunday afternoon, hours before this year’s regular legislative session ended. April 27, 2023...
Read More
April 17, 2023

E-News: Who thinks property taxes are too low? A majority of Democratic senators…

  With Senate Republican Caucus Chair Judy Warnick of Moses Lake during a break in voting this past week. April 17, 2023 Hello Friends and Neighbors, Tomorrow is “tax day” in America – as April 15 fell on a weekend and today is a holiday in Washington, D.C. – and...
Read More
April 12, 2023

STATEMENT: Republican leaders call foul on Democrats’ late-session bid to raise property taxes

OLYMPIA… In what amounts to the ninth inning of the 2023 legislative session, more than two-thirds of the state Senate’s majority Democrats have slid an extreme tax-increase proposal into the lineup of bills still in play. Senate Bill 5770 would raise the limit on increases in state and local property...
Read More
April 10, 2023

E-News: Going after law-abiding people won’t make Washington safer

At the edge of the Senate chamber on Saturday with Sen. Nikki Torres of Pasco, left, and Sen. Perry Dozier of Waitsburg, shortly before one of the longer debates of this session — on the Democratic majority’s bill to ban a specific group of firearms. April 10, 2023 Hello Friends...
Read More
March 31, 2023

E-News: Senate passes better budget for our state

  March 31, 2023 Hello Friends and Neighbors, For the second Friday in a row, the Senate Ways and Means Committee is working the late shift. A week ago we were handling bills related to the Senate budget proposal. This time it’s because of the 2023 session calendar: Wednesday was...
Read More