Accountability - Senate Republican Caucus

Government accountability proved the central issue of the 2016 legislative session. Deadly prisoner releases at the Department of Corrections headed a long list of management failures in state government, all of which surfaced just before the session started in January. Others included the deep problems at the the Department of Transportation that led the Senate to deny confirmation to Secretary Lynn Peterson, an enormous shortfall at the state Health Care Authority and gross mismanagement at Western State Hospital.

The Majority Coalition Caucus put these agencies under a microscope, called the executive branch to account for its failures to fulfill the expectations of the citizens of Washington, and searched for ways to make these agencies more effective.

In these pages you will find much material about the Senate’s efforts this year. The Department of Corrections issues was serious enough that it warranted an independent legislative investigation — and as might be expected, it proved far more comprehensive and far more balanced than a parallel investigation commissioned by the governor. You can read more about it here.

The Senate’s efforts to understand and correct other executive-branch failures are described in the links below:

Senate Accountability & Reform Committee

Accountability Chair targets lapses in government accountability

Department of Transportation

Letters from Chair of the Transportation Committee to Sec. Lynn Peterson

Sen. King’s responds to governor’s ‘scurrilous’ accusation

Senate Majority Leader’s statement

Sen. Rivers: Plenty of evidence to back refusal to confirm Peterson

Transportation secretary fails to win Senate confirmation, loses job

Sen. Baumgartner: Being nice ain’t enough

Department of Corrections

The links below offer a quick summary of the Senate’s investigation into the Department of Corrections’ early-release scandal. For a more complete account, click here.

Final Report and Press Kit Materials

Senate Corrections investigation turns to Warner

More witnesses dispute governor’s report on Department of Corrections

Padden: Governor’s report incomplete

Sen. Miloscia’s response to governor’s DOC investigation report

Senate begins formal hearings on Corrections fiasco, releases thousands of documents

Sen. Miloscia’s accountability plan passes Senate

Rivers’ corrections-partnership bill a ‘game changer’ for law enforcement