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...

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...

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...

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...

  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...

  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...

OLYMPIA… Key Senate Republicans say there is much to appreciate about the 2023-25 operating-budget proposed by the state Senate majority today, starting with a lack of new taxes and a much lower spending increase than in recent years – and how it responds to Republican concerns, especially regarding K-12 education....

March 17, 2023 Hello Friends and Neighbors, There aren’t many things the Legislature must do, but in odd-numbered years like this, approving new budgets is one of them. There are three state budgets: operating, capital and transportation. They cover a two-year period that begins July 1 in odd-numbered years. The...

[[VIEW_THIS]]  Jan. 20, 2023 Hello Friends and Neighbors, Week two of the legislative session ended today. Our work so far is happening almost exclusively at the committee level, and mostly in the form of public hearings on bills. That’s where we hear public testimony, which is typically for or against...