On Thursday, the Senate Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources and Parks Committee voted to advance legislation from Sen. Keith Wagoner that would give counties another opportunity to participate in the state’s Voluntary Stewardship Program.   The program offers an alternative approach for protecting critical areas on lands where agricultural uses exist....

By The Chronicle staff Click here to read online. State Sen. Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley, criticized his Democratic colleagues on the state Senate Law and Justice Committee on Friday for rejecting Republican attempts to reform what he called a “criminal-friendly flaw” in a police pursuit law. According to Padden, the...

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...

On behalf of the people of Washington, and specifically the more than 520,000 veterans who call Washington home, the state Senate today honored retiring Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs (WDVA) Director Lourdes E. “Alfie” Alvarado-Ramos. Sen. Keith Wagoner is prime sponsor of Senate Resolution 8607, which thanks Alvarado-Ramos for...

Challenge of WSR 21-21-074

Dear Neighbor, I have recently heard from some of you regarding the payroll tax to fund long-term care that will be implemented next year. I know many of you have questions and concerns regarding this new tax so I wanted to provide you with information based on some of the...

Dear Neighbor, Finally! The 2021 legislative session has come to an end. While there were some positive outcomes during this mostly virtual session – the poor policies that made it to the governor’s desk far outweigh the good things we achieved. We completed the 105-day session only after enacting record...

Dear Neighbor, While there have been many ups and downs this legislative session, today I want to share some good news with you. We’re moving to phase 3! Weeks after our entire state made it to phase 2 of Governor Inslee’s Roadmap to Recovery plan, he announced that all of...