News from the Caucus

 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...

20 Senate Democrats think your property taxes are too low, so they have sponsored Senate Bill 5770. It would triple the growth rate of state and local property taxes by increasing the cap from 1% to 3%. In just six  years, it would cost taxpayers $4.1 billion. FISCAL IMPACT Read the Department of Revenue’s fiscal...

Sen. Keith Wagoner’s measure designating January as Americans of Chinese Descent Month in Washington has nearly reached the end of a long journey into state law.   “This is an important day and a great victory,” said Wagoner, R-Sedro-Woolley, who has been working on the issue since 2020.   “This measure will provide our schools...

OLYMPIA… All members of the Senate Republican Caucus voted against a bill passed today by majority Democrats to ban a specific group of semi-automatic firearms in Washington. The legislation, approved on a 27-21 vote, would prohibit the sale, offer of sale, manufacture, import, and distribution of modern sporting rifles, which Democrats call “assault weapons.” House...

Senate Republican Leader John Braun shares how the 2023-25 Senate operating budget proposal invests in education.

Gov. Inslee proposed a $4 billion housing plan and he’s critical of the Senate operating budget proposal because it spends $400 million. The governor likes to use a clever tag line for his approach, saying, “We need to go big so people can go home.” What the governor doesn’t say is that the $4 billion...

Today state Sen. Nikki Torres, R-Pasco, released the following comments in response to reports that House Democrats are preparing to kill her bill to implement recommendations from the state’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People (MMIWP) task force. Torres’ bill is part of the Legislature’s efforts to identify the root causes of the shockingly...

Senate Republican Leader John Braun shares a few of the details in the Senate’s capital and operating budget proposals that with our top three priorities.  

Court’s ruling ignores overwhelming evidence capital gains tax is an income tax OLYMPIA…The Washington State Supreme Court today ruled that the income tax on capital gains passed last year by Democrats in Legislature is an excise tax, contrary to overwhelming evidence that it is a graduated income tax. Graduated income taxes are unconstitutional in Washington...

OLYMPIA… Sen. Lynda Wilson of Vancouver, budget leader for Senate Republicans, offered this reaction to the state Supreme Court’s ruling today that the tax on capital-gains income adopted by Democratic legislators in 2021 is constitutional. The 7-2 decision overturns a lower-court ruling issued in March 2022 by a Douglas County Superior Court judge in the...

Provides nearly $70 million for to address students’ learning loss, additional $800 million for special education OLYMPIA…The 2023-2025 Senate operating budget proposal released today includes nearly $70 million to help Washington’s students recover from learning loss resulting from remote learning and school closures during the pandemic. It also includes an additional $800 million over the...

OLYMPIA… Key Senate Republicans say there is much to appreciate about the 2023-25 operating-budget proposed by the state Senate majority today, starting with a lack of new taxes and a much lower spending increase than in recent years – and how it responds to Republican concerns, especially regarding K-12 education. The $69.2 billion Senate proposal...