This guest column was published by The Weekly Standard Online, June 27, 2016. By Steve O’Ban, R-Pierce County In 2002, the Washington State Department of Corrections made a software programming error that wasn’t caught for a decade. Over this period, the error allowed thousands of prisoners to be released before their sentences were completed. In […]

This guest column was published in The Spokesman-Review, June 11, 2016. By Sen. Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley One of the most disturbing things about the deadly prison-release scandal at the Department of Corrections is the way top state officials keep telling us it wasn’t their fault. The governor’s investigators went to great lengths to blame […]

This guest column was published in the Eatonville Dispatch, June 8, 2016. By Sen. Randi Becker, R-Eatonville The state Legislature adjourned its 2016 session on March 29. Since that time, I’ve had a number of local school officials and constituents ask me about progress toward fully funding our public schools. I thought it might be […]

This guest column was published in The Inlander of Spokane, June 2, 2016. By Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley The admirable cause of civil rights is being misused by partisans in the progressive camp as a tool to bash Republicans. We saw it happen last month in the Inlander, in an opinion column headlined “Blockin’ the […]

This guest column was published in the Tri-Cities Business News, May 13, 2016. By Sen. Sharon Brown, R-Kennewick Economic growth in Washington rests, in part, on political oversight. Our state faces a number of infrastructure and trade opportunities that, if approved in a timely manner, can create more jobs and a stronger local economy.  Unfortunately, many […]

This guest column was published in The (Tacoma) News Tribune, May 8, 2016. By Sen. Pam Roach, R-Sumner Failure to prepare for a coming storm can lead to disaster. So can the failure of public officials to take action when an approaching crisis is at hand. We have seen proof of this in everything from […]

This guest column was published in The (Everett) Herald, May 1, 2016. By Sen. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake Recently, billboards have popped up in Western Washington that were sponsored by a campaign called “What’s Upstream?” They were paid for with taxpayer money via a grant from the federal Environmental Protection Agency. Their message: Agriculture is […]

This guest column was published in Building Insight, published by the Building Industry Association of Washington, in May 2016. By Sharon Brown, R-Kennewick Small businesses are the engine of growth, and ultimately, it is small business entrepreneurs and other employers who will create the jobs Washington’s economy so desperately needs. State government also has a […]

This guest column was published in the Seattle Times, April 28, 2016. By Sen. Andy Hill, R-Redmond, and Sen. Joe Fain, R-Auburn The Legislature spent months developing a state-budget update that was projected to balance for the current spending cycle as well as the next. We did so because thinking long term puts Washington in […]

This guest column was published in The (Tacoma) News Tribune April 9, 2016. After this column appeared, the Senate completed its investigation, revealing information about the conduct of the executive branch that was not mentioned in the governor’s report. By Sen. Steve O’Ban, R-Pierce County Action in Olympia is often scored like an athletic contest […]