E-Newsletter: Red Alert! Vote on income-tax bill likely tomorrow! 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... Read More...

E-Newsletter: Let’s get schools open… and where is Phase 3? 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... Read More...

E-Newsletter: A state income tax is not an emergency… I promise. Hello Friends and Neighbors, I receive many emails, but one stood out this past week. It was in response to my February 12 report. “Your divisiveness is really frustrating,” the constituent wrote. The email also referred to a “continual need to divide and conquer rather than to work in a... Read More...

E-Newsletter: Washington… WE HAVE A BUDGET! Hello Friends and Neighbors, In odd-numbered years like this, one of the Legislature’s highest priorities is to adopt three new state budgets. The operating budget covers the cost of running most state agencies, along with the services and programs they offer, and is by far the largest of the three.... Read More...

E-Newsletter: Fairness for Clark County! Hello Friends and Neighbors, My office recently received a voice mail from a constituent asking that I schedule a particular bill for a public hearing. It was a friendly and heartfelt message, but I couldn’t honor the request – because only the chairs of committees get to make that decision,... Read More...

E-Newsletter: When is ‘quiet’ not a good thing? It was quiet at the Capitol this week, including on Inauguration Day. That was the same day as the Senate committee hearing on Senate Bill 5114, the bipartisan “safely reopen Washington” bill I’m co-sponsoring. The calm was not necessarily a good thing, however, and here’s why. One day in 2019,... Read More...

E-Newsletter: 2021 session begins… and it looks very different January 15, 2021 Hello Friends and Neighbors, I’m glad to be able to report to you again about actions taking place at the state Capitol. Let’s catch up on a couple of important changes that happened ahead of the 2021 legislative session, which started Monday, then I’ll touch on some... Read More...

Wilson becomes Republican leader on Senate budget committee OLYMPIA… Sen. Lynda Wilson has been tapped to serve as lead Republican on the Senate Ways and Means Committee for the next two years. She succeeds Sen. John Braun, who became Senate Republican leader last week, and is the first female budget leader for the Senate Republican Caucus. Wilson, R-Vancouver,... Read More...

E-Newsletter: The pandemic and the state budget Hello Friends and Neighbors, There comes a point where legislators who are up for re-election are subject to certain limits on official communications, and it’s now right around the corner – so because I’ll be on the ballot in November, this will be my final e-newsletter until after the general... Read More...

STATEMENT: Republican senators disappointed by abrupt end to business-recovery task force OLYMPIA…Sen. Lynda Wilson and Sen. John Braun made this comment today after Gov. Jay Inslee’s office abruptly disbanded the Business Recovery Legislative Task Force after only five meetings since April 17. The group comprised two legislators from each of the Legislature’s four caucuses. “The sudden demise of the Legislative Task... Read More...