Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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The 2024 legislative session is now in the history books. After 60 days, in which 201 House bills and 180 Senate bills passed the Legislature, we can report a mix of great successes and disappointments. We fought hard for public hearings on all six citizens' initiatives to the Legislature. Closer to the end of the session, Democratic leaders in both the House and Senate reluctantly agreed to hear three of the measures but sent the other three initiatives to the November ballot. Public hearings...
It is with a mix of encouragement and disappointment that the Senate majority leader says four of the six citizen initiatives to the Legislature “might” have public hearings scheduled before the end of the 2024 session. But don’t hold your breath. We are now nearly two-thirds into a 60-day session, with only a handful of committee meetings remaining before adjournment March 8. Despite repeated efforts by Republicans asking for majority Democrats to hold hearings on the initiatives, we’ve...
When Washington’s voters adopted the state’s Public Records Act under Initiative 276 in 1972, they wanted to make sure that state, county, and city governments operate openly and are transparent to the people. They recognized the best way to ensure transparency and accountability to the citizens of Washington is to require that most government records are made available to the public. The PRA, however, was never intended to help some make money at the expense of governments or other Was...
House and Senate budget writers released their 2023-25 state operating budget proposals recently. It was a reminder that taxpayers have been very kind to the state’s coffers as revenue forecasts over the past few years have continued to increase. As a result of taxpayer largess and the majority party’s proclivity to spend every dime available, state spending has more than doubled over the past 10 years. Has our population doubled? No. According to the Washington State Office of Financial Man...
Various surveys conducted around the state over the last year continue to show that public safety is high on the list of concerns for the average Washingtonian. It doesn’t matter if it’s someone living in downtown Bellevue or someone residing in the 9th Legislative District. People are feeling less safe and less secure in their homes and communities. According to annual statistics compiled by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC), the numbers support this feeling of...
The 2022 legislative session has ended. Throughout the past 60 days, your voice has been heard as I try to represent our collective priorities as best I can. What follows is a quick recap of some of the larger issues of the session. 2nd Amendment Senate Bill 5078 – bans firearms magazines of more than 10 rounds. This new law goes into effect July 1. It bans the sale, transfer and import of so-called “high-capacity magazines,” although most of us gun owners know it really bans standard magaz...
The majority party in the House passed their supplemental operating budget proposal. It represents the largest spending plan in state history. Their supplemental budget is almost 10 times more expensive than any previous supplemental budget. As a reminder, our state operates on a two-year (biennial) budget that is adopted in odd-numbered years. During even-numbered years, the Legislature passes a supplemental budget to cover unforeseen expenditures or emergencies. With the supplemental budget...
The house of origin cutoff was this week, meaning all House bills not necessary to implement the budget must pass the House and be sent over to the Senate (and vice-versa) or else they are considered “dead” for the year. At this time of the session, it’s not unusual to spend long nights on the House floor debating amendments, procedures, and voting on bills. However, one floor fight that occurred on Feb. 21 is worth mentioning. This nine-hour floor session on House Bill 1837 began around 9 p.m...
We have been on the House floor all week with most legislators participating remotely. This is the time of session where long days and nights are spent briefing all House members on bills that have passed through their respective policy committees. We debate, draw up amendments, and vote on legislation that will have an impact on your life in some way or another. TRANSPORTATION This week, the majority party introduced their transportation plan. Here are a few key points: • It would begin in 2...
This House debated and voted on legislation impacting Washington state’s Long-Term Care Insurance and Payroll Tax, a plan created through House Bill 1087 during the 2019 legislative session. House Bill 1732 would delay implementation of the program by 18 months and delay the collection of premiums until July 1, 2023. House Bill 1733 would create four new voluntary exemptions from the program. I am grateful the governor and more legislators are starting to understand the many inherent problems wi...
The 2022 legislative session began this week much like the 2021 session. It will be a mostly-remote session with online committee meetings and floor votes and very few legislators or staff in attendance in Olympia. Because of the increase of COVID-19 cases statewide due to the Omicron variant, this is what the majority party in Olympia has decided. It may not be what I would want, but it is the reality in which we’re living at the moment. TOP 5 ISSUES 1. Repealing and replacing the long-term c...
The 2022 legislative session is just over a month away. The 60-day session will once again be a mostly remote session with online committee hearings. However, unlike last session, legislators will be allowed in their offices in Olympia only if they provide proof of vaccination status or submit to regular COVID testing. This is not how I nor many of my legislative colleagues envisioned the session playing out. However, the Democrat majority is making the rules at this time. We'll see if they allo...
Many of you have contacted my office expressing frustrations with the long-term care tax going into effect Jan. 1. I understand and share your concerns. When the Democrat majority in the Legislature passed HB 1087 back in 2019, many of us fought against this effort, pointing out the many flaws in the program: Lifetime benefit of $36,500 is much less than what may people will actually pay into the program over the course of their lives, and may only pay for a few months of services: • O...
During the 2021 legislative session, I spoke out against – and voted against – a slew of bills brought forward by the activist “Defund the Police movement. It was obvious at the time that these bills were vague, poorly written, and would have disastrous impacts on our local communities. I had hoped that the other side would take our amendments in committee or on the House floor, or work in a good-faith, bipartisan fashion to address the concerns of larger, urban areas without hampering our l...
Washington citizens will soon see less money in their monthly paychecks unless they opt-out of mandatory long-term care insurance foisted upon them by Democrats in Olympia. No, this is not hyperbole. Not one House Republican voted for the legislation that passed in 2019 and goes into effect in January of 2022. Beginning Jan. 1, 2022, workers in Washington State will pay $0.58 per $100 of their earnings to fund the Long-Term Services and Supports Trust Program. Those who pay into the trust progra...
In a previous update to you, I talked about the trifecta of proposals that could drastically increase the price we all pay at the pump. This could raise costs for those that can least afford it, including an increase in food costs. It’s frustrating to report back to you that two of those three bills have passed the Legislature. Gov. Jay Inslee’s “Cap-and-Tax” scheme in Senate Bill 5126 and the high-cost (low-carbon) fuel standard in House Bill 1091 both passed on near party lines. The Legisla...
The state House of Representatives passed a $58.2 billion 2021-23 operating budget that relies on an unnecessary, unpopular, and likely unconstitutional income tax on capital gains. As I've said before, state tax collections are now back to pre-pandemic levels. We also have billions coming into the state from the federal stimulus package. There is no legitimate reason to pass new taxes, especially a tax that voters in our state have rejected 10 times in the past. I have concerns that state...
A few years ago, I wrote an article outlining recent changes to the state’s Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) and how those changes would impact farmers, small businesses and local commerce. While there are no impending major changes at the state level for farm CDLs, recent legislation and new federal requirements have brought (and are bringing) about changes that you may need to be aware of. This session, the state Legislature passed Senate Bill 6423 which clarifies the current exemption far...
