OLYMPIA… Washington state’s fast-rising rate of opioid addiction and overdose deaths are targeted by a pair of bills that emerged from the state Senate this week, sponsored by Sens. John Braun, R-Centralia and Lynda Wilson, R-Vancouver. Both measures passed the Senate 49-0 and now move to the House. The bills...

At this point in the 2024 session the Senate’s work is focused on the policy committees, which have through next Wednesday to act on Senate bills. This is from our Law & Justice meeting yesterday, where the list of bills we considered included legislation to help communities rebuild their law-enforcement...

OLYMPIA… Sen. Lynda Wilson’s effort to protect children from being harmed by fentanyl exposure has sailed through the state Senate for a second straight year. Senate Bill 5010 is one of two Wilson bills passed today, as senators near the one-third mark of the 60-day legislative session. It would expand...

Click here for video of TVW coverage of news conference OLYMPIA… Senate Republicans are calling for a stronger response to Washington’s opioid crisis with a package of bills aimed at preventing overdoses, coordinating state efforts to promote treatment and recovery, and restoring funding for multijurisdictional law enforcement drug task forces. The...

Sen. Nikki Torres of Pasco is among the Republicans co-sponsoring my bills to criminalize the injury of children by fentanyl exposure and create a “One Pill Kills” anti-opioid campaign. Hello Friends and Neighbors, Most of the action in the Senate this week was again at the committee level, although we...

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...

November 23, 2023 Hello Friends and Neighbors, While the next legislative session won’t begin until January 8, the prep work is already under way. Earlier this month several members of our Clark County legislative delegation visited the Fort Vancouver clinic operated by Fresenius Medical Care, where we talked with staff and...

OLYMPIA… Sen. Lynda Wilson is viewing 2023’s final quarterly forecast of state-government revenue as yet another reason to take a firm line against tax increases in 2024. “There’s no budget deficit on the horizon. It was confirmed today that government has more than enough revenue to maintain services and programs....

Wright Gazaway with Portland’s KATU-TV recently interviewed me about my work on domestic-violence issues, with a particular focus on the implementation of the Tiffany Hill Act. Click on the link to view his report, which aired November 15: https://katu.com/news/katu-investigates/wa-lawmakers-discuss-ways-to-make-restraining-orders-more-than-just-a-piece-of-paper#    

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...