Author Archives: kimberlywirtz

ALERT: Democrat bill to TRIPLE the increase in property tax

A bad bill Senate Democrats sponsored last year is being given a chance this year to move forward. Senate Bill 5770 would triple the 1% cap on the growth of local property taxes, taking $6 billion more of your money over the next 12 years.

It is likely to come to the Senate floor for debate and a vote.

You can still oppose the bill by contacting the offices of the 20 Democrats who sponsored the bill and tell them how you feel about it.

If the Senate votes on the bill and the majority passes it, it will go to the House of Representatives. If they decide to give the bill a hearing in the House, you would have another opportunity to testify against it or share written testimony. 

Democrats claim the money will pay for better law enforcement and more public school services for children with disabilities.

So why is this bill bad?

  • Bottom line: Raising property taxes would make the affordability crisis in our state worse. Lifting the 1% cap on annual growth goes against the will of the voters.
  • Government doesn’t have a revenue problem. It has a spending problem.
  • Tripling the property tax rate cap is just plain wrong. Can’t Washingtonians get a single year where Democrats aren’t digging deeper into their pockets?
  • Democrat concern for public safety seems hollow given how their policies have gutted police departments, vilified law enforcement, put offenders’ rights above victims’ rights, and created a revolving door in our criminal justice system.
  • Funding services for children with disabilities should NEVER depend on a new tax. These programs should be funded BEFORE other programs.
  • Democrats like to say that additional money is needed to fund things we are already required to provide. Their tactic is to fund new spending out of the budget and say they need new money to fund core programs – to meet our Constitutional obligations. It’s manipulating the public into allowing them to grow spending.
  • Property tax increases hit everyone. They hit seniors on fixed incomes, middle class families trying to afford higher prices on gas and groceries, and renters who will pay higher rents to cover the higher taxes housing providers have to pay on multi-family units.
  • Increased property taxes also make inflation worse because business owners have to raise prices to cover the increased overhead.
  • Higher property taxes translate into higher housing costs, for homeowners and renters alike. How can Democrats say they want to provide affordable housing while also making housing more expensive for everyone?
  • We have a severe housing shortage. Owning a home is increasingly out of reach for many, even with rising incomes across the state, because they simply can’t save enough to break into the housing market. This makes the problem worse.
  • Higher property taxes will put more people on the street.

Washingtonians can’t afford to have another $6 billion taken from them by the government! They are already having to go without on many essential items because prices are too high.

 

Government Revenue Growth Over Last Decade

1. State revenue: 6.5% avg annual growth
2. Five largest cities: 6.5% avg annual growth
3. 30 largest cities: 6.1% avg annual growth
4. Counties: 5.7% avg annual growth

Inflation average (2012-21):

• Implicit Price Deflator (IPD) = 1.6% avg annual growth
• Consumer Price Index (CPI) = 2.4% avg annual growth

 

STOP raising taxes.

STOP making housing even less affordable.

Fund priorities from existing revenue.

Provide meaningful tax RELIEF instead.

NEWSLETTER: Taxes that will increase the cost of housing during a housing crisis are a bad idea

Watch: My weekly video update – session, taxes and natural gas

 

FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS,

We are about to hit some milestones in this 60-day legislative session, which makes it a good time to explain what happens to legislation from here.

Next Wednesday, Jan. 31, is policy-committee cutoff. This is the deadline for the Senate’s 12 policy committees to take action on bills introduced here in the Senate. Legislation not moved forward by then is considered “dead.” (The House has the same deadline for its bills.)

The bills passed by policy committees that do not have a cost associated with them will wait to be pulled to the Senate floor for a debate and vote.

Those with a cost to them (which is estimated in what’s called a “fiscal note”) will go, depending on the topic, to one of the Senate’s two budget committees: Ways & Means, which handles the operating and capital budgets, or Transportation, which handles the transportation budget. If passed out of either committee, these bills also begin the wait for a floor vote.

Not all bills that make it out of committee survive to reach the floor. That decision belongs to the majority party. Bills passed by the Senate are sent to the House, where they begin start the committee process over again – and vice versa in the Senate committees for bills passed by the House.

At each step, the number of bills moving forward decreases. The majority Democrats always allow more of their own bills to make it to the governor’s desk than those sponsored by Republicans. This means many good Republican bills will die somewhere along the way, and sometimes it is simply because they are from Republicans.

The bills that pass out of both chambers are sent to the governor for what more often than not is a ceremonial signature – although some bills are written to become law as soon as they are signed. Otherwise they become law at a later date, such as 90 days after the session ends, or even the following calendar year.

The deadlines for acting on legislation come up much sooner in even-numbered years when the session is limited to 60 days instead of 105 like last year’s. It’s like running a marathon in the time it takes to run a sprint.

Even with the rapid pace of this session, I welcome you to contact my office if you have a question or concern. You can email me at john.braun@leg.wa.gov. 

Regards,

John Braun

 

Watch: Recovery Washington presser

The opioid crisis in Washington is out of control. On top of the role fentanyl is playing in the crime rate, and homelessness, there’s the shocking death rate from overdoses. Legislators on both sides of the aisle have bills this session focusing on this issue. Sen. Chris Gildon, R-Puyallup, Sen. Lynda Wilson, R-Vancouver, and I held a news conference this week to talk about four bills we are sponsoring.

Watch the press conference.

Read the full press release.

You can’t make housing more affordable by making it more expensive

 

Two tax bills proposed by majority Democrats this session could have a devastating impact on the availability of affordable housing.

I’ve written about Senate Bill 5770 before. This is the bill that triples the allowable growth factor of state and local property taxes, moving the annual cap to 3% from the 1% that has been in place since 2001. If passed, state or local government could increase your taxes by up to 3% a year without voter approval. As introduced, the bill would cost taxpayers $12 billion over 10 years, and it would compound from there.

You also need to know about a bill over in the House that would raise the real estate excise tax (REET), which is the tax paid on the sale of a piece of property. House Bill 2276 would increase the REET on properties valued at over $3 million. The bill is expected to raise $3 billion every two years and is being sold as a tax on only the very wealthy.

While on the surface a REET increase might seem to have no effect on rent prices, the opposite is true. Multi-family properties such as apartments, and other rental units such as senior living centers, would have to pass the increased tax along in the form of higher rent. It will make those rentals more expensive. This is the opposite of what we should do to increase the supply of housing people can afford.

Some might argue for a rent-control law to cap the amount a property owner can ask from tenants. But if owners can’t seek additional revenue to pay the taxes, or other expenses like utilities and maintenance, they may have to sell the property, which puts the stability of that housing at risk. And it could put more families on the street. High rent and scarce housing are both serious problems faced by Washingtonians, but we must not push fixes that would make the situation worse.

 

Banning a personal income tax in Washington

INITIATIVE 2111

Initiative 2111 was certified Wednesday. It would ban the adoption of a personal income tax in Washington. The people of Washington have overwhelmingly rejected an income tax 11 times.

Our state constitution already does not allow a graduated income tax, meaning an income tax that would tax people at different rates based on income level. Even so, Democrats continue to fight for a statewide income tax, seeing small victories (like their tax on capital-gains income – keep reading for more on that) as a path toward a statewide income tax like Oregon’s.

I hope this initiative is given a committee hearing. If I am given the opportunity to vote, I will strongly support a ban on income taxes in Washington. We must respect the will of the people. 

 

Repealing the capital gains income tax

INITIATIVE 2109

Another of the initiatives to the Legislature that has been certified by the Secretary of State is Initiative 2109, which would repeal the capital-gains income tax put in place in 2021.

Democrats are fighting hard against this initiative. Fuse Washington, a progressive political group, claims I-2109 would “steal billions of dollars in funding from early learning and education to give a tax cut to Washington’s wealthiest to 0.2%.”

Despite a ruling by the liberal Washington Supreme Court that says otherwise, the capital gains income tax is just that — an income tax. It is not an excise tax, as the Democrats who created it also claim. All 49 other states consider it an income tax. The IRS considers it an income tax. And a graduated income tax like the capital gains tax is unconstitutional. The Washington Constitution is clear on that.

In emails uncovered through a public-records request by the Washington Policy Center, legislative Democrat leaders have stated clearly that their capital-gains tax is just the first step toward a full-blown, statewide income tax. 

Before the ink was even dry on the capital-gains tax bill, Democrats were slipping into the budget an expansion of the tax…just as we predicted they would. When Democrats do expand the tax, it will target small business owners, family farms, entrepreneurs, and restaurant owners.

For now, Republicans are asking that I-2109, I-2111 and the other four certified initiatives to the Legislature receive public hearings. This is in line with the state constitution, which clearly states initiatives are to take precedence over all other legislation except budget-related bills. The speaker of the house recently claimed that of the 20-plus initiatives certified to the Legislature since the 1990s, only about half received hearings — as if Democrats’ past ignorance of the constitution is a reason for doing it again now. That is not a justification to avoid giving these initiatives a hearing. It’s an excuse.

You may contact majority Democrats to push for a hearing on these and the other initiatives. As with Initiative 2111, I will vote to approve this legislation, if given the opportunity. If the Democratic majority refuses to hear the bills, I will vote for them when they appear on November’s ballot.

Senate Majority Leader

Speaker of the House

 

My bills that will be heard in committee this week

Senate Bill 5850: Reduce chronic absenteeism in K-12 public schools.

Senate Bill 6033: Allows the open carry of firearms for ceremonial purposes on the Washington State Capitol Campus.

Senate Bill 6280: Provides for veteran parking privileges.

Senate Bill 6285: Ensures the timely and balanced use of impact fees to help reduce costs factored into building a home.

 

Other action on my bills this coming week

The following bills of mine are expected to be voted out of committee this week, which means they would go to the Senate Rules Committee for consideration. It is from this committee that they could be pulled to the Senate floor for a vote.

Senate Bill 5099: Creates the tribal opioid prevention and treatment account (see story about Recovery Washington).

Senate Bill 6029: Establishes criteria for detached accessory dwelling units outside urban growth areas. This is intended to assist with affordable housing.

Senate Bill 6031: Makes student transportation funding more flexible so it can include vehicles of various types, such as vans, that would meet students’ needs.

Senate Bill 6032: Fosters community engagement with law enforcement at religious schools.

 

Important News Clips

 

Mistaken “yes” vote on SB 5462 explained

The following is my response to inquiries regarding the “yes” vote I made in error on Senate Bill 5462.

 

Thank you for checking in on this bill. I was pulled off the floor to discuss another matter and thought they were voting on a different bill when they called my name. After they recorded the vote (which was just seconds later), it was impossible to change. Even though my vote made no difference in the passage of the bill, I immediately asked that the error be recorded officially into the journal.

I’ve clipped the part of the journal that pertains to that bill, and you will see that below. My “Statement for the Journal” is at the bottom of the clip. Here is the link to the online journal where the clip came from: https://leg.wa.gov/Senate/SDJ/Documents/2024/SJ_24_010.pdf

SB 5462 contains bad policy, and I have always been opposed to it. I voted “no” on the legislation last year. If you go to this link – https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5462&Year=2023&Initiative=false – and look under bill history, you will see a link called “View Roll Calls”. You can see my “no” vote there.

Thank you again for taking the time to ask about this. I really appreciate it. There are others who haven’t cared to ask for details before jumping to conclusions. It’s too bad.

 

Regards.

Senator John Braun

Senate Republican Leader

20th Legislative District

Leg Building Room 314

360-786-7638

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bill on Holocaust, genocide education to receive Senate hearing tomorrow

OLYMPIA…A bill from Senate Republican Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, that would require Washington public schools to teach about the Jewish Holocaust and other campaigns of genocide will receive a public hearing tomorrow (Jan. 17) before the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee. The committee meeting will begin at 10:30 a.m.

Senate Bill 5851, which has strong bipartisan sponsorship, also would designate April as “International Genocide Prevention and Awareness Month” to provide the opportunity for formal recognition of the horrors and lasting effects of the Jewish Holocaust of World War II and other genocidal campaigns and crimes against humanity.

April was chosen because it is when members of the Jewish faith observe Passover, the eight-day celebration of the Israelites’ journey from slavery in Egypt to freedom.

The bill would also strongly encourage public schools to make at least one stand-alone elective course about the Holocaust and genocide available to students while they are in grades 6 – 12.

“I’m pleased and encouraged that the committee will take up this important legislation. I sponsored this bill because of the rise in anti-Semitism we’ve seen around the world after Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on Oct. 7 last year and committed the worst acts of violence against the Jews since World War II,” said Braun.

“Protests aimed at Israel, including the one here at the Capitol this past weekend, show a lack of understanding about Jewish struggles throughout history. Apparently, 63% of millennials and Generation Z do not know that 6 million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust. More than half can’t name even one of the German concentration camps. More than 10% of them don’t believe the Holocaust happened and nearly as many believe Jews caused the Holocaust. If those numbers are consistent, or are even worse, worldwide, then we’re talking about a global travesty. My bill is a step toward rectifying that here in Washington.”

Anyone wishing to testify on behalf of SB 5851 may do so in person, via Zoom, or by submitting written testimony. Find out how.

Call to conserve power proves need for better energy policies

OLYMPIA…Millions of power customers in Washington received a notice over the weekend to lower their thermostats and limit their use of hot water to alleviate pressure on the power grid while Washington experienced winter weather. Senate Republican Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, released the following statement in response.

“This weekend’s energy alerts should serve as a reminder that public policy matters when it comes to our state’s energy system. Unfortunately, for too long, legislative Democrats and the governor have been carrying out an energy agenda that threatens to push the Northwest’s power grid to a breaking point. Instead, we should be looking to create a more resilient grid with a diverse set of energy resources.

“If the grid can’t handle current demand during a brief cold snap, it won’t be able to handle the increased demand that will come from millions of additional electric vehicles on the road. Combine that with proposals to ban natural gas and breach the Snake River dams and you have a catastrophe in the making. If the grid fails, millions of people would be put at risk – left without a dependable way to heat their homes. People living in houses with wells could lose access to water. Those with plug-in electric vehicles may be stranded.   

“The better approach is to responsibly build and strengthen our power infrastructure. Senate Republicans have proposed a plan called ‘Power Washington,’ which is made up of pragmatic and equitable solutions that would make a real difference. This is a complicated issue and simply banning fossil fuels and taxing an overworked grid is not the way to keep people safe and warm. It may sound good in theory to some, but it’s not a real-world solution.”

 

“Power Washington” is built on seven major goals:

  • Help people access different kinds of alternative vehicles, such as hybrids and hydrogen
  • Preserve, improve, and expand Washington’s clean hydropower system
  • Enable the capture of carbon and invest in our working forests and natural resources to maximize carbon absorption
  • Significantly reduce high fuel prices for drivers
  • Ensure that the transition to new energy technology is environmentally responsible
  • Shore up our electric grid to keep providing affordable and reliable power
  • Keep energy costs low so people can be secure in their homes and businesses

NEWSLETTER: Hitting the ground running on key issues this legislative session

 

Friends and Neighbors,

WEEKLY VIDEO UPDATE

The first week of session was busy and I have several things to share with you. First, take a few minutes to watch my weekly video update.

LEGISLATIVE PREVIEWS

Every year, the week before session starts, the leaders of the four caucuses participate in a variety of press events and interviews to share their perspective on the upcoming session. I’ve provided links to two of these appearances so you can hear for yourself what is coming this session.

My interview on TVW’s “The Impact.”

My panel discussion at Seattle CityClub’s annual Legislative Preview. The panel also includes House Republican Leader Drew Stokesbary, Senate Democrat Deputy Leader Manka Dhingra, and House Democrat Leader Joe Fitzgibbon.

STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESS & RESPONSE

The governor delivered his annual, and final, State of the State address to a joint session of all legislators. Immediately following that, Sen. Nikki Torres, R-Pasco, gave the Republican perspective.

This was followed by a Republican news conference where leaders from both the House and Senate Republicans answered questions about issues we are facing this session.

CHRONIC ABSENTEEISM BILL GETS A HEARING

My bill that addresses chronic absenteeism (SB 5850) was heard in committee yesterday. Listen to the testimony. I’m encouraged and hopeful that it will be voted out of committee, which means it is more likely to come to the Senate floor for a vote. This bill is important, but it is only one piece of the solution for post-pandemic learning recovery. We must fund additional intensive tutoring and we must adequately provide for kids who receive special education services. This is a critical need this session. Since several of my education bills are co-sponsored by Democrats, I’m optimistic about their chances of moving forward.

If you have questions or concerns, you can email me at john.braun@leg.wa.gov. 

Regards,

John Braun

 

State-run detention centers like Green Hill School need security-protocol overhaul

The governor was asked this week about the situation of contraband not being turned in to law enforcement by Green Hill School administrators. He claimed it has improved. Click here to read the response Police Chief Denham and I issued to the press. 

 

The middle of I-5 is an unsafe and unreasonable protest venue

While people have the right to protest, they do not have the right to block the freeway. In fact, it’s illegal. Read the statement I issued earlier this week expressing my concern about the danger protesters pose to the public and themselves when they block the highway.

 

Governor continues to scapegoat others for his false claims about carbon tax effect on gas prices

During the recent Legislative Preview, we heard the governor avoid giving straight answers when asked if he and his staff misled the public intentionally about the true cost of his carbon tax. Instead of taking responsibility, he said Republicans overestimated the possible impact, his own Department of Ecology was wrong, and oil companies should show him appreciation. He ultimately dodged the point of the question by pointing to the goals of his policy, implying the ends justify the means.

Read the entire statement here. 

 

 

Important News Clips

State-run detention centers like Green Hill School need security-protocol overhaul

Governor needs to be accountable, stop minimizing problems

 

OLYMPIA…Senate Republican Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, and Centralia Chief of Police Stacy Denham are disputing the governor’s recent claim that security protocols at Green Hill School, the state-run maximum-security detention facility in Chehalis, are “improved.” They provided the following statement in response.

“We cannot emphasize enough how badly the hiring, training and security protocols at Green Hill School and other state-run detention facilities across Washington need to be overhauled to ensure the safest and most effective environment for the rehabilitation of offenders. We call on Governor Inslee and DCYF Secretary Ross Hunter to step up and take responsibility for enacting real solutions rather than just putting a bandage on the problem and calling it good.

“The governor minimizes the problems plaguing detention centers around the state, including Green Hill School in Chehalis. He likes to claim his administration has fixed the security problems that allowed Green Hill officials to ignore policy and stockpile contraband such as drugs and weapons in lockers instead of turning them over to law enforcement. That is not the case. Items are not turned over daily but instead are given to law enforcement as a ‘package’ once a month, accompanied by a report so poorly written that the Chehalis Police Department offered to teach the facility staff how to prepare it correctly.

“Chronic, systemic mismanagement of the agencies under Jay Inslee’s watch has become a hallmark of his 12 years in office. Yet, he accepts no accountability for it. Sweeping change is needed. The current situation is a complete failure, not just for the staff and inmates, but also for communities across Washington. When security can’t enter an inmate’s room after ‘lights out’ to confiscate the illegally obtained cannabis being smoked, something is wrong. When kids are allowed to walk unescorted from building to building, giving them the opportunity to pick up footballs with drugs hidden inside that have been thrown over the fence, something is wrong. And when the governor won’t allow an investigation of one of his agencies, something is wrong. Fix the system and let security do their jobs.”

 

Inmates at Green Hill School include adult males, yet the facility and others like it are managed by the Washington State Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) – not the Department of Corrections (DOC).

 

A history of problems at the Green Hill School:

“Four Green Hill School inmates charged for prison riot; eighth riot charged at facility in 2023” (The Chronicle, Jan. 8, 2024)

“Green Hill School inmate charged for alleged possession of fentanyl in January 2023” (The Chronicle, Jan. 5, 2024)

Braun: Drug contraband, obstruction of justice at Green Hill School warrants thorough investigation (Sen. John Braun, Nov. 4, 2023)

“Search warrant served as part of drug investigation at Chehalis juvenile detention center” (King TV, Sept. 7, 2023)

“Rampant sexual abuse at The Green Hill School in Chehalis” (PCVA Law)

Braun: Interstate 5 an unsafe, unreasonable protest venue

Blocking major highway through Seattle a matter of life or death for some

 

OLYMPIA…Senate Republican Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, made the following comments about this weekend’s anti-Israel, traffic-blocking protest across Interstate 5 through Seattle.

“People have the right to peaceably protest, but they don’t have the right to put themselves and drivers in danger by blocking the busiest section of the busiest road in our state. I understand how causing disruption in a highly visible location will draw attention, but it could easily go wrong. Someone could get injured or killed. We’ve seen it happen.

“Aside from being dangerous and unreasonable, it’s also a class C felony to interfere with the ability of emergency vehicles to serve the public by interfering with a mode of transportation, such as a freeway. We need to empower the Washington State Patrol to enforce this law and arrest those who choose to obstruct the work of first responders. Their freedom of speech does not justify trapping an ambulance or fire truck in traffic simply because protestors want to be seen. Getting the patient to a hospital can be a matter of life or death. The governor should encourage law enforcement to take strong action when this happens.”

NEWSLETTER: Session begins TODAY — you can testify in support of my bills — learn how

Friends and Neighbors,

Today marks the beginning of the 2024 Legislative Session. We operate on a biennial schedule, so this is the “short” year. This means we meet for 60 days, during which time we are tasked with making minor adjustments to the biennial state budget adopted in 2023 rather than writing an entirely new budget. We also can continue work on bills we sponsored last year.

My priorities this session are to make Washington a safer and more affordable place to live. I also will focus on making stronger headway toward eliminating learning loss among our K-12 students.

Some of my key bills this year will address:

As  these and other bills I’m sponsoring are granted hearings, I will let you know so you may testify in support of them if you like. Our final day of session will be March 7. The pace will be fast, but I will keep you informed along the way.

Happy New Year,

John Braun

Testify: My bill to curb chronic absenteeism to receive hearing Jan. 11

Senate Bill 5850, which I sponsored to address chronic absenteeism, will receive a hearing in the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee at 1:30 p.m. this Thursday, Jan. 11. You may testify in support of the bill either in person or via Zoom. Learn how. 

Chronic absenteeism is a serious problem for our public schools. This makes it more difficult to combat learning loss from the pandemic and puts more students at risk for not graduating.

Teachers and administrators often feel as if their hands are tied, and the law is little help in getting kids who skip school to attend class.

Since some kids will go to school, but wander the halls and not go to class, the issue is more complicated than simply working with parents to make sure kids set foot in the building.

I encourage you to testify in support of my bill. You also may submit written testimony instead or in addition to testifying either in person or virtually.

 

A sham lawsuit threatens to disenfranchise WA’s Latino voters

By 

John Braun
Appeared in the Seattle Times Dec. 26, 2024

In 2021 our state’s bipartisan, voter-created Redistricting Commission set Washington’s current legislative and congressional boundaries.

In August, a federal judge ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in Soto Palmer v. Hobbs, who claimed the map of Central Washington’s 15th Legislative District violates the federal Voting Rights Act (VRA). The judge ordered the boundaries to be redrawn.

Under state law, legislators can reconvene the commission at any time should district boundaries need adjusting. Instead, special-interest groups, with the help of local activists, are trying to circumvent that process to achieve a predetermined political outcome.

On Dec. 1, the plaintiffs proposed five maps to the court. Four move Eastern Washington’s first Latina senator, Republican Nikki Torres of Pasco, out of her district into the adjacent 16th Legislative District. The fifth map would keep her in her district but slash her proportion of Latino constituents — now 73% — down to 47%.

The plaintiffs make the unfathomable claim that a Latina’s election proves her ethnic community was discriminated against under the terms of the VRA. To the best of anyone’s knowledge, the VRA has never been twisted in such a way.

As a young girl, Sen. Torres woke before daybreak to pick fruit alongside her parents in Central and Eastern Washington. As a single mom, she struggled to get an education and achieve her American Dream. Family, hard work and education helped her exceed the expectations of those who told her she would never amount to much because of who she is and where she came from.

Sen. Torres should be proud. She has achieved so much already and is doing an outstanding job representing her constituents. She understands their struggles because they are her struggles.

Now, after being overwhelmingly chosen to represent her community, she is faced with this politically motivated push to take her job and diminish her worth.

While five registered Latino voters in the 14th and 15th legislative districts are listed as the plaintiffs, the lawsuit is clearly part of a national movement to politicize redistricting and weaponize the VRA to elect more Democrats from court-gerrymandered districts.

A prominent actor behind this lawsuit and the accompanying national strategy is Matt Barreto, with the UCLA Voting Rights Project.

Besides close ties to President Joe Biden’s political operation, Barreto claims in his online bio to have had a pivotal role in VRA challenges in other states, including Texas, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

His organization and similar outside groups, with strong ties to the state and national Democratic parties, are the ones working hardest — behind the local plaintiffs — to challenge Washington’s bipartisan redistricting process.

Why would special interests attack a Latina senator in the name of helping her Latino constituents?

The plaintiffs’ proposed maps make the answer clear. They would cause the Yakima Valley district to go from having a 1.4% Republican advantage margin to margins that range from 10.2% to 11.1% in Democrats’ favor.

While such a radical shift would give the Democratic Party a major advantage, these proposed maps do nothing to strengthen the voice of the Hispanic community. Two maps would expand the Latino population by only 0.15% compared to the current district, which already has the state’s largest Latino population. The other three maps would, unbelievably, decrease the percentage of Latinos.

The real goal is clearly to have a court transform what is now a “swing” district in Central Washington — one either party could win — into a solidly Democratic-leaning district that guarantees the current Democratic legislative majority another vote in Olympia.

This outrageous scheme would violate U.S. Supreme Court standards, which require that replacement maps make only the minimum changes needed to fix a VRA violation.

A better solution is for the Legislature to call itself back into session immediately and reconvene the state’s Redistricting Commission. Even though the regular session is scheduled to start Jan. 8, this is an urgent matter that can be taken care of quickly. Let the commission fix any compliance issues with a bipartisan solution that is fair and transparent.

Anything less will disenfranchise the people of Sen. Torres’ district, harm Eastern Washington’s Latino community and put politics ahead of people.

 

Coming up this week

In addition to SB 5850 receiving a committee hearing (details below), several big things are happening at the Capitol this week.

Jan. 8:

  • Opening day of the 2024 Legislative Session

Jan. 9:

  • State of the State Address and the Republican response
  • Republican press conference
  • Meeting with the Consul from Japan

Legislative Cutoff Calendar (deadlines that help determine which legislation moves forward)

 

Important Articles