March 11, 2023 Hello Friends and Neighbors, All session long, I and other Senate Republicans have made the police-pursuit issue one of our public-safety priorities. I co-sponsored not one but two bills that would reform Washington’s law on pursuits, to make it less criminal-friendly. Why, then, did I vote against...

OLYMPIA… Sen. Lynda Wilson, R-Vancouver and a member of the Senate Law and Justice Committee, said legislation passed by the Senate today would not do enough to fix the problems with the state law restricting police pursuits of suspected criminals. Although Senate Bill 5352 was passed with a 26-23 vote,...

March 4, 2023 Hello Friends and Neighbors, We spent all this week on the “floor” of the Senate chamber, working until very late last night on legislation that not only came through the policy and fiscal committees. It was a good week for the bills I’ve prime-sponsored: four made it...

Feb. 24, 2023 Hello Friends and Neighbors, I’m glad to be the Republican leader on the Senate Ways and Means Committee, but also glad this week is over. Please keep reading for why. A quick update on the police-pursuit issue from a week ago: it was good to see The...

Feb. 17, 2023 Hello Friends and Neighbors, Today brought the first deadline or “cutoff” of the 2023 legislative session. We’ll hit six more deadlines during the 65 days remaining in the session, with the final one being the day we adjourn. That should be April 23. The cutoffs force policy...

Feb. 11, 2023 Hello Friends and Neighbors, You may not have heard the term “silver tsunami.” It refers to the growing number of people in our state and nation who are reaching the age where they need specialized care at home – so many people that the caregiving industry could...

How a WA bill could help caregiver shortage ahead of ‘silver tsunami’ Feb. 4, 2023 at 6:00 am By Paige Cornwell  Seattle Times staff reporter To become certified, prospective home care workers in Washington must be tested on what they’ve learned in their 75 required hours of training. But many...

After Clark County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jeremy Brown was murdered while on duty in July 2021, there was reason to connect his killing with what were then the new state restrictions on police pursuits. The people arrested for Sgt. Brown’s killing reportedly were suspects in a burglary the day before, but...

[[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...

OLYMPIA… It appears Democrats in the state Senate have already decided to keep protecting the ability of Washington’s governor to unilaterally take control of residents’ lives for an indefinite period. Sen. Lynda Wilson, R-Vancouver, said she was informed yesterday – day two of Washington’s 2023 legislative session – that bipartisan...