OLYMPIA… The budget leader for Senate Republicans says a sharp decline in the amount of state capital-gains tax being collected is behind the largest negative state-revenue forecast since the COVID-19 pandemic. Sen. Lynda Wilson, R-Vancouver, is concerned the drop-off in income-tax revenue may prompt an effort from legislative Democrats to...

SEATTLE… Republican state senators who have been out front on increasing access to behavioral-health treatment and fighting the state’s opioid epidemic are marking today’s opening of a major new facility that combines treatment with training: the Center For Behavioral Health and Learning, on the University of Washington campus in Seattle....

Hello Friends and Neighbors, My 10th and final session as a state legislator (the video of my announcement is here) ended on time Thursday – several hours ahead of the midnight deadline, in fact. It was also free of the drama I’ve seen in other years as legislators try desperately...

As a supporter of the six initiatives submitted to the Legislature this year, I appreciated being able to say a few words Friday to a crowd of others who rallied on the Capitol steps because they feel the same way! February 25, 2024 Hello Friends and Neighbors, Tomorrow is Day...

OLYMPIA… By a strongly bipartisan 45-4 vote, the Senate today adopted a supplemental operating budget that would make important investments in K-12 education and public safety without requiring any tax increases. Sen. Lynda Wilson, R-Vancouver and Senate Republican budget leader, offered these comments about the $71.6 billion plan, which revises...

OLYMPIA… The Senate supplemental operating budget proposed today would address a host of public-safety priorities while maintaining essential services and balancing without new taxes, according to Sen. Lynda Wilson, Senate Republican budget leader. Between the attention to Washington’s drug-overdose crisis, the smallest policy-related spending increase in a supplemental budget since...

  February 16, 2024 Hello Friends and Neighbors, As of today there are 20 days left in this year’s session. With the exception of budget updates, we’re through with moving Senate bills across to the House of Representatives, and are back to meeting as committees – this time to consider...

OLYMPIA… Sen. Lynda Wilson says the latest state revenue forecast confirms the wisdom of keeping a firm grip on spending in the supplemental operating budget that must be adopted before lawmakers adjourn March 7. Wilson, R-Vancouver, chairs the state Economic and Revenue Forecast Council. It met this morning to adopt...

OLYMPIA… One way or another the fate of Washington’s tax on capital-gains income will be decided this year, predicts Sen. Lynda Wilson, R-Vancouver and budget leader for the state Senate’s Republican caucus. She offered this reaction today after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the Washington Supreme Court’s 2023...

When I and other budget leaders met with news reporters to preview our session I spoke about the need to be conservative about appropriating the billions of dollars collectively generated by the capital-gains income tax, the long-term care payroll tax and the cap-and-trade law, because those sources would go away...