News from the Caucus
Schoesler says Democrats’ passage of anti-firearm bills won’t deter criminals
State Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, issued this statement after Democratic majorities in the Legislature passed House Bill 1240, which would ban the sale of semi-automatic weapons in Washington, and House Bill 1143, which would prohibit someone from buying a firearm from a dealer unless the buyer has passed a background check and has completed a...
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Bill to expand standard for vehicular pursuit “simply not enough,” says Senate Republican Leader
OLYMPIA… Senate Republican Leader John Braun today provided the following comments after the Senate’s narrow passage of legislation that is a half-step toward letting law-enforcement officers engage in vehicular pursuits in more situations than Washington law has allowed since 2021. Senate Bill 5352 was passed with a 26-22 vote, representing the mixed feelings about the bill on...
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Democrats ‘gaslight’ those calling for police pursuit reform
Members of Legislature’s majority blame police, alleged ‘misinformation’ from Republicans for interest in rolling policy back to ‘reasonable suspicion’ standard OLYMPIA…Senate Republican Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, shared the following comments in response to accusations by a House Democrat that the public’s interest in reforming the current police pursuit law is a result of lies...
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Sen. John Braun’s weekly leadership update – week 6
Watch: Police pursuit and drug possession remain top concerns for Senate Republicans as we try to convince Legislative Democrats to grant hearings for the bills that would remedy some of these issues.
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Shorter sentence for man convicted in brutal car crash is terrible result of war on public safety, senators say
Robert Jackson was among 3,000 prisoners released in earlier Department of Corrections fiasco OLYMPIA – Resentencing of a man who got life without parole after he killed his girlfriend in a bloody 2015 car crash is a travesty that illustrates the terrible human consequences when the Legislature goes “soft on crime,” Republican senators say. Robert...
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Where is the ‘equity’ for victims of crime?
— August 8, 2022 It was apparent then, and is even more apparent today: The 2021 legislative session really pushed our state in the wrong direction. Governor Inslee and others who longed for a state income tax finally got their way. Hard drugs were essentially legalized. Even worse, it was done in a way that...
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Schoesler statement on announcement of West Coast governors’ pact
OLYMPIA… Senate Republican Leader Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, issued this statement in response to Monday’s announcement by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and California Gov. Gavin Newsom that they have an agreement on a shared vision for reopening their states’ economies and controlling COVID-19 into the future. “If Washington shares a vision with...
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