I’m not a big watcher of the winter Olympic Games, which are upon us again, but I do know that most of the events are scored or judged in terms of more points and less time elapsed. Here at the winter Olympia Games, the Senate’s new majority hopes to score points by...
OLYMPIA…Marking the end of long and arduous negotiations, the Legislature today passed a bipartisan, bicameral solution to the Hirst water-rights decision, clearing the way for families to get permits to dig household wells and gain access to water. It also passed a...
Sen. Randi Becker, R-Pierce County, who serves as the Senate Republican Caucus Chair, and Senate Republican Leader Mark Schoesler offered their condolences to victims of the Amtrak train derailment. “We are praying for the victims, families and all those involved in...
The Senate Republican Caucus today announced its appointments to the 2018 Senate committees. “Our members are anxious to get the session started and will continue to serve everyone in Washington with dedication and integrity,” said Senate Republican Leader...
The Senate Majority Coalition Caucus today returned to being the Senate Republican Caucus, although it remains bipartisan. Five years ago the 23-member Senate Republican Caucus and two Democrat senators joined to take the majority in the Senate. They took the...
This must have been the week for calls from people who were transferred to my Senate office by “robo-calls”. One wave of callers seemed to be prompted by a robo-call about money for state lands and public-recreation projects. The funding is in the proposed capital...
Democrat lawmakers still are trying to convince anyone within earshot that our Senate majority is boycotting negotiations toward a new operating budget. For instance, the Senate’s minority-caucus chair recently wrote that Democrats are “ready to sit down at the...
All year long Democrat lawmakers have mentioned the "Connecting Washington" transportation package of 2015 when talking about reaching major agreements this year. For the longest time that didn’t make sense. There wouldn’t have been a 2015 package if Democrats hadn’t...
My bill advocates stricter oversight for 'unconscionable' agency actions The effectiveness of court-ordered drug and alcohol counseling for those convicted of driving under the influence has been compromised by the mismanagement of complaints and the settlement...
OLYMPIA – A bill prompted by deadly prisoner releases by the state Department of Corrections is set for a vote Thursday in the Senate Law and Justice Committee, a year after the agency revealed it had turned loose some 3,000 violent and dangerous prisoners ahead of...
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...
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...
