This guest column was published in The (Tacoma) News Tribune, Dec. 28, 2015. Ultimately the Indeterminate Sentencing Review Board denied Timothy Pauley’s request for early release. The board instead noted the egregiousness of the crime, observed that Pauley’s...
This guest column was published in Crosscut, Oct. 21, 2015. In June 2016, the Inslee Administration released a new plan to impose carbon-cap regulations without a vote of the Legislature. By Sen. Tim Sheldon, D-Potlatch A couple of weeks ago, Gov. Jay Inslee announced...
This guest column was pubished in The (Spokane) Spokesman-Review, Oct. 4, 2015. During the 2016 legislative session, opportunities for remote testimony were expanded as the Senate added Skype capabilities to its communication apparatus. Further upgrades to switching...
This guest column was published in The (Tacoma) News Tribune, Aug. 13, 2015. In June 2016, the Inslee Administration released a new plan to impose carbon-cap regulations without a vote of the Legislature. By Sen. Sharon Brown, R-Kennewick, and Sen. Tim Sheldon,...
This guest column was published in The (Vancouver) Columbian, Aug. 8, 2015. As a result of Senate Bill 5974, the Legislature revisited the issue in 2016 and passed legislation (SB 6405) allowing supplemental veterans’ health insurance to be offered in the state of...
If ever there was a legislative session that proved Otto von Bismarck right, it is the one we just finished. Von Bismarck is the former German chancellor we always quote about legislating and sausage-making: “Laws are like sausages – it is better not to see them being...
I was reading the other day that this year’s Legislature raised taxes by $480 million. This was news to me and I think to just about everyone on my side of the aisle, mainly because it isn’t true. That hasn’t kept our Democratic colleagues from claiming it. The whole...
This post originally appeared in the leadership blog of the Majority Coalition Caucus, Exit 105. Before we wrap up our business for the year and start thinking about the long drive home, a drunk-driving bill awaits our action in the Legislature. Something we need to...
We keep hearing the strangest things about our tuition plan in the state Senate – our unprecedented, first-of-its-kind proposal to roll back college tuition at Washington colleges and universities. Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, and I have proposed the College...
As time runs out on our overtime session in Olympia, I think it’s a good moment to ask an important question. What on earth is keeping us here? Last week should have settled things. State economists told us we can count on another $400 million without raising taxes a...
What would you say if you were presented with an agreement over which you had no say, was negotiated in secret and cost you millions -- and the only thing you could do was turn thumbs-up or thumbs-down? Most likely what you would say would be unprintable....
When talk turns to the Voting Rights Act, that old black-and-white news footage starts running through our minds -- sit-ins, boycotts and the March on Washington. The federal law of 1965 was one of the most significant bills of the last century, fulfillment of the...
