Hello, Friends and Neighbors! I’ll start by thanking the hundreds who have already completed my survey about replacing the I-5 bridge over the Columbia. If you haven’t done so yet, please click on this link and have a look at the questions, which will help me get a sense of...

Hello, Friends and Neighbors! It’s one week down and 14 weeks to go in the new legislative session. The state Senate and House of Representatives were called to order at noon Monday. Our 2018 session had ended more than 10 months ago, so it was nice to see familiar faces...

November 20, 2018 Hello, Although next year’s legislative session doesn’t start until January 14, members of the state Senate got together at the Capitol last week. This traditional gathering is called “Assembly Days” because the various committees assemble for some pre-session planning. Sometimes the agenda includes looking at whether new...

Local lawmakers who believe deregulation along Chelatchie Prairie Railroad is key to new economic possibilities hop onboard to observe locations first hand Two local lawmakers got a chance to be a train engineer during an Aug. 8 excursion on the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad where the economic opportunities along the short...

Hello, Here in the first part of August, we’re approximately midway through the “interim” period between the end of this year’s legislative session and the January start of the 2019 session. But although we’re not in session, the meetings and appointments on my calendar still include plenty of legislative business....

Published in the Columbia Basin Herald, Moses Lake; click here to link directly to the newspaper website Moses Lake man crusading to save fish runs from sea lions June 12, 2018 at 5:00 am | By Richard Byrd MOSES LAKE — With 55 years of experience fishing the Columbia River...

Dear Friends and Neighbors, Let me start by thanking the dozens of people who attended our town-hall meeting earlier this spring. We covered a broad range of issues, and the questions and comments from constituents were very informative. Considering the level of partisanship I’d seen at the Capitol during this...

    OLYMPIA…Sen. Lynda Wilson’s legislation to help domestic-violence victims who need legal assistance was signed today by Gov. Jay Inslee. Under Washington’s constitution, the law created by Senate Bill 5213 will become effective June 7. “I had looked forward to seeing both of my bills to support domestic-violence victims...

March 10, 2018 Dear Friends and Neighbors, This year’s legislative session ended late Thursday night, and I was glad to head home to the 17th District yesterday afternoon. On the way I finally had time to reflect on our 60 days at the Capitol, and the story line is pretty...

Dear Friends and Neighbors, Today we reached another important milestone in the 2018 session – the final day for action on bills from the “opposite house.” That means we have finished voting on bills passed by the House of Representatives, and the House is through voting on Senate bills for...