Search Results for: town hall
Town halls give the people a chance to speak
Note: The following e-newsletter was sent to Sen. Wilson's subscribers Aug. 18, 2025. To subscribe to Sen. Wilson's e-newsletters, click here. Seventy people turned out in Long Beach July 19 as Reps. Jim Walsh, Joel McEntire and I held town hall meetings across the 19th Legislative District. Dear Friends and Neighbors, Summer is a time for vacations, backyard barbecues and long afternoons on the beach. For those of us who serve in the Legislature, it’s also a time for town hall meetings. In ...
Hospitals Are Being Set Up to Fail And Patients Will Pay the Price
Let me paint you a picture. Imagine you’ve opened the only restaurant in your small town. It’s not easy. Finding help is tough, margins are tight, but with a lot of heart and hard work, you make it work. Folks love the place, and you’re proud to serve your community. Then one day, the local government steps in with good intentions. They want to help folks who are struggling, so they partner with you to provide subsidized meals for lower-income families. It ...
Washington reparations program faces a much-deserved legal attack
Note: The following e-newsletter was distributed to Sen. Christian's subscribers on August 1, 2025. To subscribe to Sen. Christian's e-newsletters, click here. This 1964 Seattle protest illustrates the agitation that led Congress in 1968 to ban redlining, restrictive real estate covenants and other forms of racial discrimination in housing. Six decades later, a state reparations program purports to offer compensation by discriminating on the basis of race. Credit: CC-by-2.0/ Wikipedia Dear Friends and Neighbors, I think most of us would agree that racial ...
Want to feel inspired?
Joining me at the recent graduation ceremony at the state prison in Connell were, from left: Denise Kammers, the Dean of Corrections Education for Walla Walla Community College; Dante Leon, WWCC Vice President of Instruction; Dr. Chad Hickox, WWCC President; Ricardo Chavez, WWCC Director of Adult Basic Education for Corrections Education; Hanan Al-Zubaidy, Associate Director for Corrections Education from the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (front); Dr. Allen Sutton, WWCC Director of Connection and Belonging (back); Lauren Reed, ...
19th District lawmakers to hold town halls across SW Washington
Sen. Jeff Wilson, R-Longview, Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen, and Rep. Joel McEntire, R-Cathlamet. OLYMPIA – Lawmakers from Southwest Washington’s 19th Legislative District will hold town hall meetings over the coming weeks in Long Beach, Longview and Aberdeen. Sen. Jeff Wilson and Reps. Jim Walsh and Joel McEntire will meet with constituents to discuss the just-finished 2025 legislative session, as well as emerging issues that will be considered next year. The meetings are open to the public and offer an opportunity for Southwest ...
Join me for Town Halls!
Dear Friends and Neighbors, I want to personally invite you to a series of in-person town halls happening across the 31st Legislative District. These events are your opportunity to ask questions, share concerns, and hear directly from me about the latest from Olympia, on public safety, affordability, education, and more. Here are the details: Orting Date: Monday, June 23 Time: 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM Location: Orting Multi-Purpose Center 202 Washington Ave S, Orting, WA 98360 Buckley Date: Tuesday, June 24 Time: 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM Location: Buckley Hall 127 N River Rd #117, Buckley, WA 98321 Sumner Date: Wednesday, June ...
Town Hall
Dear Friends, The 2025 legislative session has officially ended, and sadly, it ended just as it was conducted behind closed doors and at the expense of Washington's working families. The $77.9 billion budget was negotiated in secret by a handful of Democrats for most of the month, only being released to the public, and Republicans, yesterday. It relies on a staggering $9.6 billion in new taxes, including a sales tax hike that will hit lower- and middle-income families the hardest. It ...
Good news from D.C. for defenders of Snake River dams
Around 100 people gave up part of a recent Saturday afternoon to attend a post-session town hall with the delegations from the neighboring 8th Legislative District and our 16th Legislative District. Keep reading for more details! Dear Neighbor, In a guest column published during this year’s legislative session I speculated that the administration changes in both Olympia and the District of Columbia would start to take the bullseye off the four federal dams on the lower Snake River. I really didn’t have to ...
AUDIO: Governor signs Goehner bill, opening the door to duplexes, townhomes in rural growth areas
Washington counties will soon be able to allow duplexes, townhomes, and cottage-style homes in more rural areas. Tracy Ellis explains. ...
Governor signs Goehner bill, opening the door to duplexes, townhomes in rural growth areas
Sen. Keith Goehner/R-Dryden/Credit: Washington State Senate OLYMPIA… Last week, the governor signed landmark legislation sponsored by Sen. Keith Goehner, which gives counties the option to allow middle housing, such as duplexes and townhomes, in unincorporated growth areas and rural communities already poised for responsible development. Goehner’s bill passed both chambers with overwhelming bipartisan support, reflecting a shared commitment to addressing Washington’s housing shortage while maintaining local control and respecting rural character. “This is about unlocking real housing solutions without heavy-handed mandates,” said Goehner, ...
Join us for a town hall meeting this Saturday!
Governor signs off on the largest tax increase in state history Dear Neighbor, Admittedly, the odds were not good that Governor Ferguson would buck his fellow Democrats in the state Legislature by vetoing any of the tax increases they approved in April, in support of the new state operating budget. Still, there was a chance Ferguson would stand by something he had said with little more than a week to go in our legislative session. In a television interview, he had declared that "the ...
12th district legislators to hold town hall in June
Rep. Brian Burnett, R-Wenatchee, Sen. Keith Goehner/R-Dryden and Rep. Mike Steele, R-Chelan/Credit: Washington State Senate OLYMPIA… Senator Keith Goehner, Representative Mike Steele, and Representative Brian Burnett invite community members to a legislative wrap-up and town hall on Wednesday, June 4, from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Cashmere Riverside Center, located at 201 Riverside Dr., Cashmere, WA 98815. The event will provide residents with a summary of the 2025 legislative session, updates on key issues affecting the 12th Legislative District, and an opportunity to ...
Lawmakers from the 8th and 16th legislative districts to host joint town hall in Pasco
Lawmakers representing the 8th and 16th legislative districts will hold a combined in-person town hall on Saturday, May 31, to hear from constituents, answer questions, and provide updates on the 2025 legislative session. WHAT: Joint Town Hall Meeting WHEN: Saturday, May 31 | 1-3 p.m. WHERE: Columbia Basin College Gjerde Center (H-Building, near the North H parking lot) 2600 N. 20th Ave., Pasco, WA 99301 WHO: Sen. Matt Boehnke, 8th District Rep. Stephanie Barnard, 8th District Rep. April Connors, 8th District Sen. Perry Dozier, 16th District ...
Brace yourself for the biggest tax increase in Washington history
Note: The following e-newsletter was sent to Sen. Jeff Wilson's subscribers May 9, 2025. To subscribe to Sen. Wilson's e-newsletters, click here. We adjourned our session April 27, and maybe the best thing we can say about it is that it is done. Now let's hope the governor calls us back for a do-over. Dear Friends and Neighbors, Our 2025 legislative session is over, but Washington state will be living with the consequences for years to come. This year our majority colleagues passed ...
Governor signs Boehnke’s bipartisan bill to strengthen Washington’s climate transparency
Front row, L to R: Sen. Matt Boehnke, R-Kennewick, Gov. Bob Ferguson, and Virginia Hall, SLA, Office of Sen. Boehnke. Back row, L to R: Dawn Boehnke, Derrek Wilson, Dept. of Ecology, Anthony “Tony” Abbot, Dept. of Ecology, Cameron Long, SRC Policy, WA State Senate, Ken Camp, Dept. of Ecology, Micheal Leone, Session Intern, Office of Sen. Boehnke, and Christina McNair, Session Aide, Office of Sen. Boehnke/Credit: Washington State Senate OLYMPIA… Friday, the governor signed legislation sponsored by Sen. Matt Boehnke ...
35th District lawmakers secure millions in capital, transportation investments
Following a months-long legislative session, 35th Legislative District lawmakers Sen. Drew MacEwen and Reps. Dan Griffey and Travis Couture announced they have secured millions in funding for local projects through the newly approved state capital and transportation budgets. The final capital budget includes millions for improvements in the 35th Legislative District, funding everything from public safety and infrastructure upgrades to environmental restoration and youth programs. In addition, critical investments were maintained in the final transportation budget, ensuring key projects like the ...
PFAS bill, local projects are among wins for 2025 session, Wilson says
OLYMPIA – A bill creating a testing program to measure forever-chemical contamination in Washington’s food supply heads the list of wins for Sen. Jeff Wilson, R-Longview in an otherwise-discouraging 2025 legislative session that ended Sunday, April 27. Despite passage of the largest tax increase in Washington history and legislation designed to force liberal urban perspectives on the entire state, Wilson was able to score a number of successes for the 19th Legislative District. Over the course of the session, Wilson passed ...
Legislature adjourns; here's a snapshot of what happened
It's normal for the new state budgets to be adopted on the final day of our regular legislative session, and this year was no different. This is how the operating budget looked as it sat on the "bar" at the front of the Senate chamber on Sunday. The stack contains the budget adopted by the Senate on March 29, the version approved by the House on March 31 and the compromise between the two chambers, which few people saw until ...
NEWSLETTER: An expensive end to the legislative session -- A $77.9 billion operating budget and billions in taxes
Watch my sine die interview with TVW's The Impact Dear Friends and Neighbors, The regular 2025 legislative session wrapped up yesterday, on schedule – although a “special” session can’t be ruled out if the governor takes issue with the new budget. At times, this session felt even longer than 105 days, especially when fighting against the majority's determination to approve bad policies that will negatively affect people across the state. Being in the minority, it's easy to get frustrated by the limits on our ...
Local senators say new state capital budget funds Odessa water project
The new two-year state capital budget passed unanimously by the Legislature today includes funding for key water-infrastructure projects throughout eastern Washington, including some benefiting the Columbia Basin, according to 9th District Sen. Mark Schoesler and 13th District Sen. Judy Warnick. The capital budget provides $69 million for the Columbia River Water Supply Development Program, of which $44 million is for the Odessa Groundwater Replacement Program, also known as the “EL 22.1 Project.” It aims to provide surface water to deep-well irrigators and ...