OLYMPIA… Sen. Lynda Wilson says she couldn’t support the Senate Democrats’ “cap-and-tax” bill Thursday evening because it doesn’t offer a measurable return on the massive cost it represents to Washington’s families and economy. Senate Bill 5126 passed with the minimum 25 votes, all from Democrats. “There’s no question that this...

Hello Friends and Neighbors, The 2021 session crossed the three-quarters mark this week, and the big news is the Senate’s passage of two budgets… budgets that could hardly be more different, as I’ll explain. Today brings another of the session’s major deadlines. A week ago it was for Senate policy...

Hello Friends and Neighbors, My report a week ago outlined how it’s “raining money” in Olympia, between the March 17 state revenue forecast and money from the American Rescue Act approved March 11. So why would my Senate Democrat colleagues need to drain the state rainy-day fund AND bank on...

Hello Friends and Neighbors, The budget Governor Inslee submitted to the Legislature in December included the income-tax proposal that became Senate Bill 5096. When the Senate Democrats bring out their proposed operating budget this Thursday, will it incorporate the income tax somehow? Even though no revenue from the tax could...

OLYMPIA… The first state-revenue forecast for 2021 indicates a surprisingly large increase of $3.3 billion for the current two-year budget cycle and $5.2 billion over the next four years. Sen. Lynda Wilson, Republican leader on the Senate Ways and Means Committee and a member of the state Economic Revenue and...

OLYMPIA… Leaders in the Senate Republican Caucus released the following remarks in response to Gov. Jay Inslee’s announcement today that all K-12 public schools in Washington will be required by executive order to provide safe in-person and remote learning options for students by mid-April. Senate Republican Leader John Braun, R-Centralia:...

Hello Friends and Neighbors, I’ll start this report with one more call to sign up for our “virtual” town hall, which will be from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. this coming Monday. I’m confident Rep. Harris and Rep. Kraft will have plenty to report; I certainly will, especially about the state’s...

OLYMPIA… Sen. Lynda Wilson, R-Vancouver, offered this statement following Gov. Jay Inslee’s announcement that all of Washington will move to a Phase 3 of 50% capacity on March 22. On March 4, Wilson and other Republican leaders in the Legislature had proposed their  “Open Safe, Open Now” plan, which may...

Hello Friends and Neighbors, Since 1934, the voters of Washington have been asked 10 times to create some sort of state income tax. They’ve emphatically said “no” each time, most recently in 2010 – by a landslide 64% majority. I bring this up because on Wednesday, the latest income-tax proposal...

Hello Friends and Neighbors, As the halfway point of our scheduled 105-day session approaches, we’re spending our days on the “floor” of the Senate chamber debating and voting on legislation that cleared the necessary committee hurdles. The bills we’ve passed this week have been sent over to the House of...