News from the Caucus
Senate delivers on college-tuition cap, jobs and critical transportation reforms
OLYMPIA…Senate Majority Leader Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, offered this statement following today’s cutoff for voting on Senate bills, except for measures specifically tied to a new state operating budget: “The Senate continues to lead the way on this session’s most important and anticipated policy initiatives. We said we would deliver on job creation, college affordability and...
Read More
Padden bill protecting private-property rights approved by Senate
Today the Senate approved Senate Bill 5363, which would prohibit government’s use of its eminent-domain power for economic development. The measure, sponsored by Sen. Mike Padden, passed the Senate by a vote of 30-19 and now heads to the House of Representatives for its consideration. The term “eminent domain” refers to the power to take...
Read More
Distaste for debate is ominous message from House
This post originally appeared in the Majority Coalition Caucus leadership blog, Exit 105. Maybe this is the sort of thought that occurs when you’ve been at the statehouse for the last 23 sessions, like I have, and you’ve seen just about everything. But over the last week the state House and Senate have been rolling...
Read More
Padden measure to help neighborhoods deal with nuisances moves to House
Sen. Mike Padden’s bill to help cities and towns protect their taxpayers from the cost of nuisance abatement was passed by the Senate today by a vote of 40-9 and now heads to the House of Representatives. “In January, Spokane Valley City Manager Mike Jackson and City Attorney Cary Driskell came to Olympia to meet...
Read More
Senate unanimously passes Padden bill to simplify collection of forensic samples
On Monday the Senate unanimously approved a bill sponsored by Sen. Mike Padden aimed at making it easier for law enforcement to obtain blood samples for forensic testing in criminal investigations – especially those concerning DUI offenses. “In some jurisdictions there is up to a five-hour delay in acquiring an authorized blood sample,” said Padden,...
Read More
Community economic revitalization bill adopted by Senate
Sen. Judy Warnick has been working for two years to boost rural economic development with changes to the Community Economic Revitalization Board. Today the Senate passed Senate Bill 5442 which makes needed changes to the Board’s requirements to improve competitiveness and spur economic growth. The Board offers financing and grants to local jurisdictions but requires...
Read More
Senate delivers on transportation – can we avoid a political detour in the House?
It took three long years, but after bipartisan negotiations, public meetings in 10 cities, extensive study and much debate in Olympia, the state Senate delivered on its promise to reform Washington’s broken transportation system. With a bipartisan vote Monday we passed a statewide transportation package that creates 200,000 jobs, gets our economy moving, fixes our...
Read More
A lingering stink regarding judicial fairness
Last year there was a furor when it appeared the staff of the Office of Insurance Commissioner leaned on a judge in order to obtain favorable decisions. This rather troubling situation was possible because the judge in question, Patricia Petersen, was employed by the Insurance Commissioner’s office. But here’s the part I think ought to...
Read More
Senate approves Padden bill to increase judicial independence
Today the Senate approved a bill sponsored by Sen. Mike Padden aimed at increasing the independence of the state’s administrative-law judges by limiting the ability of state-agency heads to add undue pressure or retribution during administrative hearings. “I was a district court judge for 12 years,” said Padden, who chairs the Senate Law and Justice...
Read More
We said we would deliver and we did
Statement from Senate Majority Leader Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, on passage of the Senate transportation package. “We said we would deliver and we did. Today’s bipartisan vote on a statewide transportation package creates 200,000 jobs, gets our economy moving, fixes our crumbling highways and provides more accountability in the way we manage our transportation dollars. That’s a...
Read More
Senate budget committee backs Padden’s felony-DUI bill
Sen. Mike Padden’s bill to make a fourth DUI conviction in 10 years a felony is one step closer to Senate passage, after receiving a “do-pass” recommendation from the Senate’s Ways and Means committee today. “We heard from the family of Russell Bartlett, a wonderful man who volunteered at hospices, who was mowed down at...
Read More
TVW The Impact: ‘Is increasing state employee salaries the right priority?’
Read More