Dear Friends and Neighbors,

You may have seen headlines claiming that the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” recently passed by Congress will gut health care, close hospitals, or take food away from struggling families.

Let’s be clear: That’s false.

What this new law does is restore common sense to federal spending. It protects programs like Medicaid and food assistance by putting limits on fraud, enforcing eligibility, and ensuring benefits are focused on those who truly need them. Seniors, children, people with disabilities, and low-income parents aren’t affected. The reforms apply only to able-bodied adults without young children—and even then, they can meet the new requirements by working, volunteering, or going to school.

Here in Washington, we have time to prepare. These reforms don’t start to kick in until late 2026, with others phasing in gradually over the following years. There’s no crisis. There’s no need for the governor to call legislators back to Olympia for a special session. Instead, there’s just a lot of political grumbling from people who are taking more of your money through their tax increases but seem to have no interest in stretching and protecting your tax dollars by reforming inefficient government programs and systems.

While some are scaring people with political rhetoric and worst-case scenarios, they’re ignoring the real opportunities this law creates. It opens the door to hundreds of millions in federal funds for rural health care, trims bloated tax giveaways for energy companies and provides meaningful tax relief for working families and retirees.

An irony we can’t ignore is that the governor and legislators who are complaining about the effects of the OBBA are the same people who just passed the largest tax increase and operating budget in Washington state history. The budget offered by Senate Republicans would not have raised any taxes, nor would it have made any cuts to services. Under our budget, Washington would be in a more stable position to weather whatever adjustments need to be made to accommodate federal changes.

It’s also hard to take Gov. Ferguson’s concerns about the welfare of children seriously when he signed off on the defunding of a program to care for drug-addicted newborns, as well as the increase in childcare costs and taxes that will burden families who are already struggling to put food on the table.

You can learn more on our WEBSITE.

As always, I’ll keep fighting to make sure our community is heard—and that our tax dollars are spent wisely. If you have any questions, contact me atjohn.braun@leg.wa.gov. 

Sincerely,

Sen. John Braun

 

Drug-filled burritos and sexual misconduct at the Green Hill School

Last week I gave an interview with King TV about the latest news out of the Green Hill School, which is the juvenile detention facility in Chehalis that houses offenders who were convicted before age 18.

Drugs and violence have been a problem for a long time at the school. However, King TV’s story showed video evidence of a member of the Green Hill staff posing as a Door Dash driver and delivering a burrito that, as it turns out, contained drugs that she was smuggling in for an inmate.

The staff member was caught. But what authorities discovered was that she is allegedly part of a larger web of corruption among staff.

Police investigated a record 21 complaints of staff misconduct last year and this year is on track to have the same result.

At least six of those cases involved female staff who were fired for inappropriate sexual conduct with inmates. At least one of those inmates was convicted of two murders.

If you recall, most of the residents at Green Hill are over 18 and will stay at the facility until age 25 before they can be transferred to a Department of Corrections facility. This situation has caused severe overcrowding that has put everyone at Green Hill in danger.

It is stunning that problems such as these continue to surface, but this is what happens when you warehouse violent offenders in unsafe, overcrowded conditions — conditions that also make it hard to recruit quality staff who won’t commit crimes against, for or with inmates.

House Democrats killed my bill to provide the Department of Children, Youth and Families the tools to move inmates over age 18 to adult correctional facilities, thereby relieving the overcrowding and restoring order at Green Hill. Their ineptitude and political game-playing are direct causes for continuing issues.

I will offer similar legislation for the 2026 Legislative Session and it would be wise for the House Democrats to support it.

 

Survey results: Adult inmates housed at the Green Hill School

Many of you responded to my one-question survey about what should be done with residents at Green Hill School who are over 18, but are expected to remain at the facility until age 25. These adults are incarcerated alongside juvenile offenders and have created an overcrowding problem that is dangerous for staff and residents.

The results by the numbers…

62% of you feel that inmates over age 18 should be moved to facilities operated by the Department of Corrections.

16% agreed, but only if they were convicted of murder or rape.

7% said they should only be relocated to DOC if they had committed a violent crime while residing at Green Hill School.

Only 3% of you said they should remain at the juvenile facility until age 25 – even though they would have gone straight to a DOC facility if they had committed their crime(s) after they turned 18.