News from the Caucus

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...

              Learn more about what the Legislature is working on to deal with student learning loss and the needs of special education students.

Click to watch Sen. John Braun’s latest update on the 2023 Legislative Session, including the progress of police pursuit reform. Read Sen. Braun’s statement on the passage of Senate Bill 5352.

Note: The following op-ed appeared in the Tri-City Herald March 5, 2023.   As the Washington Legislature debated the catalytic converter bill last session, someone parked this car across the street from my house in Longview. Within days, thieves had it up on blocks, the wheels were stripped and the catalytic converter was lopped off...

OLYMPIA… Senate Republican Leader John Braun today offered this statement following the Senate’s narrow passage of legislation that would let law-enforcement officers engage in vehicular pursuits in more situations than Washington law has allowed since 2021. Senate Bill 5352 was passed with a 26-23 vote on the final day of this session for the Senate...

Today the state Senate passed Sen. Nikki Torres’ measure implementing the recommendations of the Washington state Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People task force. The bill is part of the Legislature’s efforts to identify the root causes of the shockingly large number of Native Americans who have turned up missing or murdered in Washington....

Senate Bill 5599 removes parents from health and mental health care decision-making process OLYMPIA…Senate Republican Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, made the following remarks after the state Senate’s majority Democrats passed legislation that would give youth-related facilities a troubling new excuse for withholding the whereabouts of runaway children from their parents. Under Senate Bill 5599, those...

  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.

A bill from 4th District Sen. Mike Padden that could keep repeat property offenders behind bars longer was approved today by the Senate Law and Justice Committee. Senate Bill 5056 would require that someone who is found to be a habitual property offender to be sentenced to an additional 24 months in total confinement for...

In Washington, voters get an opportunity to weigh in on taxes that were passed by the Legislature without their direct approval. This opportunity is called “Advisory Votes” and it is often the only time voters hear of a new tax. Since 2012, advisory votes on 38 tax increases have appeared on the ballot. But today,...

The Senate Law and Justice Committee held a public hearing today on a bill introduced by 4th District Sen. Mike Padden that aims to reverse the alarming trend in fentanyl use and fentanyl-related deaths in Washington. Padden’s measure, Senate Bill 5035, would make possession or use of illegal drugs like fentanyl, methamphetamine and heroin a...

Today the Senate voted 48-0 to approve Sen. Keith Wagoner’s measure designating January as Americans of Chinese Descent Month.   “They say the third time’s a charm, and I hope in this case it’s true,” said Wagoner, R-Sedro-Woolley, who has been working on the issue since 2020.   “I want to thank everyone in this...