Republican Senator Keith Wagoner talks to Lars Larson about legislation that strengthens the hard drug possession law that passed in the state Senate during a special session.
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By Jerry Cornfield | Washington State Standard | May 15, 2023
State lawmakers announced an agreement Monday to toughen the penalty for drug possession and expand pathways into treatment and away from jail for those arrested.
The deal comes hours before legislators convene a special session and, barring another setback, will erase the threat that possession of illicit drugs becomes legal in July.
Late Monday, legislative leaders were still confirming that they had enough support among their members to pass the measure. A vote could come as soon as Tuesday.
“I won’t call what we have done a Blake ‘fix’ but it is certainly an ‘improvement’ and I believe it will save lives and make our communities safer for everyone. If I didn’t believe that, I would not be voting for it,” Sen. Keith Wagoner, R-Sedro Woolley, said in a text. Wagoner was the lead negotiator for his caucus.
KIRO TV
Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill into law Tuesday designating January as Americans of Chinese Descent Month, making Washington the first state in the country to honor Chinese Americans in such a way.
Senate Bill 5000 was sponsored by Sen. Keith Wagoner (R-Sedro Woolley) and was the first measure introduced in the Senate for the 2023 regular legislative session. The bill designates each January in Washington as Chinese American/Americans of Chinese Descent History Month.
“Today is the culmination of years of hard work by members of the Chinese-American community,” said Wagoner. “Linda Yang and Asians for Equality were joined by parents, schoolchildren, educators, small business owners and others who brought the measure to me, raised awareness – both inside and outside of their community – and worked diligently for years to see this historic day.”
By Jerry Cornfield | Everett Herald
This January, in public schools across Washington, students may spend time learning of the contributions of Chinese-Americans in this state’s history.
And achievements of Americans of Chinese descent as well.
A bill headed to the governor for signing would designate January as Chinese American/Americans of Chinese Descent History Month and encourage acknowledging of the state’s complicated history with the Chinese community.
The mission “is to provide our schools the tools, our students the education and our citizens the long overdue recognition they deserve,” said Sen. Keith Wagoner, R-Sedro-Woolley, prime sponsor of Senate Bill 5000.
It’s been an unexpectedly difficult journey for the legislation.
Wagoner introduced a bill the past three sessions. This year’s version was two paragraphs long. It sought to make it Americans of Chinese Descent History Month.
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 with the tools, our students with the education, and our citizens with the long, overdue recognition they deserve.”
Senate Bill 5000, the first measure introduced in the Senate for the 2023 legislative session, would designate each January as Americans of Chinese Descent/Chinese American History Month. The bill would also encourage public schools to designate time for appropriate activities in commemoration of the state’s complicated history with the Chinese community – the good and the bad – and to remember and honor the many contributions and achievements made by the Chinese Americans.
The measure is similar to Senate Bill 5264, which Wagoner introduced in 2021. That bill also passed the Senate unanimously in 2022, but the House failed to bring it up for a vote.
“This process has reaffirmed my great pride in serving in the Senate, because this body has supported me and the people we are trying to help one hundred percent of the way,” said Wagoner. “I thank each and every senator who voted this bill off the Senate floor twice unanimously. And I thank Asians for Equality, who trusted me for the last three years to carry the ball.”
Unless Gov. Jay Inslee vetoes SB 5000, the law it creates will take effect July 23.
By Sen. Keith Wagoner | Tri-City Herald | April 14, 2023
Click here to read full article.
On the Saturday before Easter, the state Senate’s majority Democrats passed what they call an “assault weapons ban.” In reality, the bill targets several of the most popular sporting and self-defense firearms in the country, including most modern sporting rifles and even some shotguns used for hunting and competition shooting.
My Republican colleagues and I debated the measure for nearly three hours, using the amendment process to try to point out the fallacies of their arguments and mitigate some of the damage the bill would do to the rights of Washingtonians and small business owners who work as legal firearms dealers.
As it turned out, I was the only one able to get an amendment accepted – one to support our military members and allow them to keep their firearms when they are ordered to move to Washington.
The proponents of this bill and I agree on one thing and one thing only. We are in a crisis in Washington. But it is a crisis of general lawlessness across our communities, one exacerbated by bad legislative decisions over the past several legislative sessions.
We have seen soft-on-crime policies, releasing criminals from incarceration; vilification of our law enforcement officers; toleration of life-destroying drug proliferation and use; failure to address mental health adequately; and poor decisions during the COVID lockdowns resulting in learning loss and depression among our youth. We need to focus on addressing the root causes leading to chaos and violence, not vilify firearm ownership.
Our nation has always had a history of gun ownership, and the Second Amendment to the U.S. constitution enshrines our naturally endowed right to defend ourselves and our families. But what we have not always seen – what is new to the moment – is the devastating loss of life we have witnessed due to crime, suicide, mass shootings and senseless violence.
House Bill 1240 declares the violent and inappropriate use of firearms ‘appeal[s] to troubled young men intent on becoming the next mass shooter.’ But where is the effort to help these troubled young males and heal whatever there is inside of them that is broken and leading to violence and rage?
Instead, this bill goes after the implement, and completely ignores the underlying root causes of the problems we see today.
The problems are not just reflected in deaths caused by a demented person with a firearm. We see it in the increase of drug-related deaths, teen suicides, wrong-way and drunk-driving assaults on our roads, and in the sunken eyes of lost souls we see roaming our streets with unattended-to mental-health and substance-abuse issues.
It is reflected in fatherless homes producing rudderless young men who feel hopeless and unsure of their place in this world. It is reflected in the general lawlessness we have seen explode across this state, thanks in large part to the failed policies of the Democrat majority in the Legislature and Governor Inslee.
Banning some of the most popular firearms kept and used by law-abiding citizens today will do nothing to address these problems. Absolutely zero.
Look no further than the City of Seattle. Despite Washington ranking in the Top 10 nationally for gun control for the past five years, we have seen the number of shootings – fatal or not – and ‘shots-fired events’ in our largest city hit an all-time high in 2022.
The fact of the matter is the law created by this bill will just be more of the same. Worse still, it will give the victims of these crimes and all Washingtonians a false sense of security that something is being done.
And let’s not forget that this ban is also blatantly unconstitutional, and likely to cost taxpayers crucial dollars that could be invested in mental health and public safety, but which will instead be used trying to unsuccessfully defend this law in the courts.
HB 1240 now goes back to the House to reconcile changes between the version that passed the Senate and the one that passed the House earlier this year. That means there is still time for lawmakers to do the right thing, put this bill down, and set their sights on real solutions.
— Sen. Keith Wagoner, R-Sedro-Woolley, serves as the Senate Republican Whip and is a member of the Senate Law and Justice Committee.
New law allows better record-sharing and transparency between DSHS and law enforcement
Today Gov. Jay Inslee signed a measure sponsored by Sen. Keith Wagoner, R-Sedro-Woolley, aimed at improving adult protective services. It requires the state Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) and law enforcement to share information contained in reports and findings of abandonment, abuse, financial exploitation, and neglect of vulnerable adults with each other.
The law created by Senate Bill 5370 also expands the number of mandated reporters to include employees of the Department of Children, Youth, and Families, a certified residential service, or a support agency.
“Helping to protect our state’s most vulnerable individuals is one of the core purposes of government,” said Wagoner. “Those who are not able to take care of themselves rely on the state to ensure that those who are responsible for their care and well-being are fulfilling their obligation to report any neglect, harm and exploitation. Those identified as ‘mandatory reporters’ are on the front line in this effort. This law will help make sure that they are aware of the critical role they play and the responsibilities that come with that job.”
The new law, which was passed by the Senate 47-0 and the House 96-0, will go into effect on July 23, 2023.
House unanimously approves bill to allowing better record-sharing and transparency between DSHS and law enforcement
On Friday the state House of Representatives voted unanimously to approve Senate Bill 5370, a measure sponsored by Sen. Keith Wagoner, R-Sedro-Woolley, that would improve adult protective services by requiring the state Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) and law enforcement to share information contained in reports and findings of abandonment, abuse, financial exploitation, and neglect of vulnerable adults with each other.
“This bill helps us protect our vulnerable adults,” said Wagoner. “Those who are responsible for vulnerable adults must understand their critical role in reporting neglect, harm and exploitation. Mandatory reporting is often our first insight into helping those who are vulnerable. It is very good news that this important measure is one step closer to becoming law.”
DSHS investigates the abandonment, abuse, financial exploitation, neglect, or self-neglect of vulnerable adults, which includes those 60 years old or older, who are unable to care for themselves; those with developmental disabilities; and those receiving services from a home health, hospice, or home care agency.
Current law requires DSHS to keep a database of people who have been implicated in proven cases of abandonment, abuse, exploitation, or neglect of a vulnerable adult, and prohibit those individuals from being hired for sensitive positions.
Wagoner’s bill expands the number of mandated reporters to include employees of the Department of Children, Youth, and Families, a certified residential service, or a support agency.
Confidential information could only be shared under certain circumstances, including when authorized by the Office of the Developmental Disabilities Ombuds.
The bill would also allow the DSHS secretary or a designee to examine and obtain copies of reports and records of autopsies or postmortems.
SB 5370, which passed the Senate 47-0 and the House 96-0, now goes to the governor’s desk for his consideration.
More than $31 million included for 39th District priorities
The bipartisan $7.9 billion capital construction budget proposal released today in the Senate includes major investments requested by Sen. Keith Wagoner, R-Sedro-Woolley, for local agricultural, land sustainability, education and community projects.
The capital budget outlines state infrastructure spending for the next two years and stays within the state’s constitutional debt limit – an important step to protect the state’s historically high AAA credit rating and avoid higher debt-service payments that could financially hinder future state budgets.
Details and specific project lists are available at the fiscal.wa.gov website.
“So far, so good,” said Wagoner, who serves on the Senate Ways and Means Committee, which develops the state’s operating and capital budgets. “While there is still a lot of work to be done before we will get to the final list of approved projects, the funding included in this proposal is a great start and will go a long way toward funding critical agricultural and water infrastructure, key community projects and working-class construction jobs.”
The state capital budget provides for the acquisition, construction and maintenance of capital assets across Washington – such as schools and projects with recreational and economic-development value. Projects of importance to the 39th Legislative District in the capital budget include:
- Darrington School District ($5 million);
- Concrete School District ($1.28 million);
- Stillaguamish Watershed Floodplains and Farmlands ($9.1 million);
- Fisher Creek Restoration at Cedardale and Starbird ($3.98 million);
- Hamilton Floodplain Education, Property Acquisition, and Restoration ($3.65 million);
- Skagit PUD 39th District Waterline Relocations (Mt. Vernon) ($600,000);
- Field Maintenance Shop Addition-Sedro Woolley ($874,000);
- Frontier Heights Multi-Sport Field and Courts ($350,000)
- Woods Lake Acquisition ($297,000);
- Lake Stevens Historical Museum ($764,000);
- Lake Stevens Community Food Bank (Lake Stevens) ($450,000);
- Frontier Heights Athletic Field and Pickleball Court ($350,000);
- Correction of Fish Barrier Culverts ($425,000);
- Sedro-Woolley Club Renovation ($100,000); and,
- Sea Mar CHC – Concrete ($186,000); among others.
(Click here to view the full list of 39th District projects.)
“There is a lot in this plan for the families of the 39th District to applaud,” added Wagoner. “These projects reflect the priorities of our district, and I will be working hard to get as much of this funding as possible included in the final budget deal.”
The Senate Ways and Means committee held a public hearing on the plan today with committee and full-Senate passage expected later this week.