OLYMPIA… Senate Republican Leader John Braun and Sen. Lynda Wilson, prime sponsor of two bipartisan bills to reform Washington’s emergency-powers law, offered this statement today following the passage of Senate Bill 5909. The measure received a 29-20 vote, after amendments offered by Wilson, R-Vancouver, and Braun, R-Centralia, were turned down...

OLYMPIA… A second bipartisan bill to reform Washington’s emergency-powers law has received the same icy reception from the Senate’s Democratic majority as the first proposal, according to Sen. Lynda Wilson, prime sponsor of both measures. Neither Senate Bill 5039 nor the BALANCE Act, SB 5943, will be considered Friday by...

OLYMPIA… The list of major tax-relief proposals before the Legislature this year no longer belongs solely to Republicans, now that a member of the Senate’s Democratic majority is proposing a one-point drop in the state sales tax. Sen. Lynda Wilson, Republican leader on the Senate Ways and Means Committee, and...

Jan. 14, 2022 Hello Friends and Neighbors, I hope this finds you and your family well. The first week of our 2022 session ends today. Being that it’s an even-numbered year, this is a 60-day “short” session; the shorter length (compared to the 105 days allotted by the constitution in...

OLYMPIA… Republicans in the state Senate have introduced a comprehensive plan to reduce homeowners’ property taxes and manufacturers’ business taxes while preventing a state income tax, and repealing the new payroll tax on Washington workers. The Tax Relief and Reform Act of 2022 (Senate Bill 5769) supports one of the...

VANCOUVER… Sen. Lynda Wilson, Republican leader on the Senate Ways and Means Committee, offered this statement regarding the 2021-23 supplemental operating budget Gov. Jay Inslee is submitting to the state Legislature: “In the past four years the governor has backed almost two dozen tax increases that will take billions from...

VANCOUVER… Despite the ongoing pandemic, Washington state government’s third-quarter revenue forecast indicates a gain of $927 million for the current two-year budget cycle and $931 million for the 2023-25 cycle. The forecast was adopted today by the state Economic Revenue and Forecast Council. When coupled with the increase projected in...

VANCOUVER… The state’s chief economist is predicting another significant jump in state-government revenue, as Washington’s economy continues to recover from pandemic-related restrictions. The year’s second quarterly revenue forecast, issued today, indicates a gain of $2.2 billion through the 2021-23 budget cycle and more than $3.5 billion over the state’s four-year...

Hello Friends and Neighbors, By the time the 2020 legislative session ended, the governor had already declared a state of emergency because of COVID-19. I and other legislators got so busy responding to his emergency proclamations that things didn’t slow down for months. When this year’s regular legislative session ended,...

Hello Friends and Neighbors, It’s Saturday morning, and at 8 a.m. our Senate Ways and Means Committee will begin public hearings on four pieces of legislation. Three of the bills have come over from the House of Representatives; the fourth is a Senate Democratic bill that responds to the state...