Author Archives: kimberlywirtz

Braun: Bipartisan Senate budget addresses ‘equity issue of our time’

Provides nearly $70 million for to address students’ learning loss,
additional $800 million for special education

 

OLYMPIA…The 2023-2025 Senate operating budget proposal released today includes nearly $70 million to help Washington’s students recover from learning loss resulting from remote learning and school closures during the pandemic. It also includes an additional $800 million over the four-year budget outlook for special education.

Senate Republican Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, provided the following response:

“We know that learning loss has become a huge problem in our public school system in the wake of school closures and remote instruction during the height of the pandemic. Our kids were kept home for too long. Recently, only a little more than half of Washington’s schoolchildren passed the English-assessment test and less than a third passed the math assessment. Our education system has slipped from one of the best in the nation to the middle of the pack. That’s unacceptable.

“We also know that students are disproportionately affected by learning loss if they are students of color, receive special-education services, or live in lower-income households. The learning gap is much worse now than it was before. Rebooting education, in part by funding strategies to make up that learning loss, is one of the Senate Republicans’ top three priorities. It is the equity issue of our time. I thank Sen. Christine Rolfes, Sen. Lynda Wilson and Sen. Chris Gildon for including $50 million in the Senate budget proposal to help overcome this problem through education grants, intensive tutoring, and enhancements to the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program.

“I’m especially pleased that the Senate budget would make such a significant long-term investment in special education. So many kids do not have advocates in their lives to monitor their progress and insist on proper planning and implementation of strategies to meet their needs. The tragedy of that is felt even more strongly among kids receiving special-education assistance. Among other enhancements for special education, this budget would provide money to ensure every child in Washington’s special-education programs would have an advocate. It could be a game-changer for many of our students.”

Over the 2023-2025 biennium, the Senate budget proposal would spend $57 million to create a competitive grant pool where school districts can submit plans to advance student progress and address learning loss. It includes $7 million for intensive tutoring. And it would provide $2 million an innovative and interactive mathematics instructional tool.

Besides paying to provide advocates for special-education students, the additional $800 million for special-education programs would also mean more, such as providing advocates to help students and parents with individual education plans.

 

STATEMENT: Bipartisan special education funding bill step in right direction

OLYMPIA…Senate Republican Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, shared the following comments upon the passage of Senate Bill 5311, which provides $800 million in additional funding for special education programs in Washington schools.

“Special education programs in Washington’s schools have been chronically underfunded. Although the funding in this bill still doesn’t go far enough in meeting the needs of children receiving these services, Senate Bill 5311 is a step in the right direction. Every child in our schools has the right to a basic education, regardless of their personal challenges or abilities. I couldn’t be prouder to support this bill.”

 

STATEMENT: Bill threatening rights of parents passes Senate

Senate Bill 5599 removes parents from health and mental health care decision-making process

OLYMPIA…Senate Republican Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, made the following remarks after the state Senate’s majority Democrats passed legislation that would give youth-related facilities a troubling new excuse for withholding the whereabouts of runaway children from their parents. Under Senate Bill 5599, those children could effectively disappear by simply claiming they are seeking what the bill calls “protected health services,” such as gender counseling or puberty-blocking chemicals.

The legislation, passed on a party-line vote, would not allow teens staying at licensed youth shelters or host homes to undergo “gender-affirming” surgery without parental approval. Nor would it allow other parents to hide children. But it does clear the way for children between ages 13 and 18 to stay at these facilities without their parents’ knowledge for an indefinite time while seeking services related to gender dysphoria and gender transitioning.

It also clears a path for any teenager to “game the system.” A child can run away to a youth shelter, claim they are seeking protected health care services even if they really aren’t, and be hidden from their parents. It would not be the first time a teenager would take advantage of a legal loophole to avoid general accountability.

“The sponsors of Senate Bill 5599 have said on the record that they want safe spaces where children have the freedom to express their true selves and that Washington must clear a path to ensure success for every child. I agree. Like so many other health-related situations, gender dysphoria presents unique needs that deserve attention. But this should not mean removing parents from the decision-making process.

“If it becomes law, this bill would disenfranchise loving parents who deserve to have a say in the care of their teenage children. Children between the ages of 13 and 18 can already access these same health- and mental-health services under Washington law, without their parents’ permission. The only thing SB 5599 would do is cause harm by driving a wedge between vulnerable kids and their parents, at a time when a teen lacks the perception and judgment to make critical life-altering decisions.

“A parent may not even know why the child ran away and could involve law enforcement or other groups in a desperate search – all the while going through an unnecessary emotional nightmare, imagining the worst about what might have happened. It’s also wrong how this bill would also apply to children from other states who may travel thousands of miles for services not available to them at home. Unless there is reason to suspect parental abuse or harm, parents deserve to know where their teenagers are.

“Democrats have claimed many times that the brains of minors are not fully developed until age 22. Right now, they are sponsoring a juvenile offender sentencing bill [Senate Bill 5475] based on ‘the expansive body of scientific research on brain development, which shows that adolescents’ perception, judgment, and decision-making skills differs significantly from that of adults.’ It’s revealing how brain research matters to them when juveniles break the law, but not when they seek life-altering, potentially irreversible health care.”

When SB 5599 received a hearing before the Senate Human Services Committee on Feb. 6, more than 4,700 people signed in with an opinion on the bill – and 98% were opposed, including parents from the LGBTQ community.

One former transgender youth testified against SB 5599, sharing her experience as a sexual-assault survivor and her concern about the effects of the bill on vulnerable children. She said, “In the short term, I might have felt better having medically transitioned. Despite feeling better in the short term, medical transition would have profoundly damaged me, potentially even more than the sexual assault [that caused her gender dysphoria].”

SB 5599 now moves to the House of Representatives for consideration. Members of the public who wish to testify on the bill, should it receive a hearing in the House, should visit how to testify on a bill on the Washington State Legislature’s website.

 

WATCH: Sen. John Braun’s floor speech on final passage of Senate Bill 5599

STATEMENT: Scarce storage for Seattle-King County’s dead shameful, preventable

Record increase in fentanyl overdoses due to lax Democrat approach to hard drugs

OLYMPIA…Properly storing the dead is proving to be more than the Seattle-King County Morgue can handle. Public Health Director Dr. Faisal Khan attributes the shortage of morgue space to record increases in fentanyl overdoses across the county – 35 people this month alone. King County saw 686 fentanyl-related deaths in 2021. Officials expect the deaths from 2022 to be even higher once final numbers are compiled.

Senate Republican Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, issued the following statement in response to reports of the lack of storage and its ties to the abuse of hard drugs.

“Those who support legislation that essentially legalizes hard drugs should be ashamed of the real-world consequences of their misguided ideologies. That includes Democrats in our state Legislature who won’t listen to the pleas of law enforcement, community leaders and families who must confront the drug crisis head on.

“The idea that Seattle is scrambling to find alternative cold-storage options for the dead is like something out of a dystopian movie, thanks to permissive drug laws and the lack of adequate treatment options. The fentanyl-related death toll is like a cancer spreading across Washington.

“Democrats are running out of time to decide whether they will move past virtue-signaling to expand access to substance-abuse treatment and compel drug addicts on the street into long-term treatment programs. We often think only people living in homeless camps are at risk of overdose, but it’s gone far beyond the clusters of tents and RVs to now include average homes and college campuses. Stronger drug laws and better enforcement of those laws are critical to any possible solution. Allowing addicts to use until they die in the streets is not empathy. It’s apathy.”

Republicans lead Senate’s passage of bill to correct damage to public-safety laws

OLYMPIA… Senate Republican Leader John Braun of Centralia made this statement following tonight’s approval of Senate Bill 5919, which would restore some of the public-safety tools lost by law-enforcement agencies due to anti-police bills adopted by majority legislators in 2021:

“Many people across our state feel less safe today because the majority’s restrictions on law enforcement have clearly backfired. Republicans came into this session with a priority on reestablishing public safety, and our role in improving and passing SB 5919 is a step forward on that path.

“The criminals know important tools were taken away from our law-enforcement agencies. They know officers are unable to respond to 9-1-1 calls and other situations the way they could have just one year ago, because without the standard of ‘reasonable suspicion’ it is much more difficult to detain or pursue someone. The damage to public safety is clear from the numbers. Preliminary data from this past year has Seattle reporting nearly 1,000 more violent crimes than in 2020, and in King County, the reported number of gunshot victims – including victims of shootings involving criminal gangs – doubled from just 4 years earlier, hitting an all-time high. And it’s not just about apprehending criminals: Under the changes made in 2021, officers don’t even have the authority to use physical force when dealing with a person experiencing a mental-health crisis.

“This bill doesn’t resolve all of the public-safety concerns created by the majority’s actions this past year – but the amendments proposed by Republicans on the Senate floor have made this measure stronger, and our votes made sure it passed. I hope the House follows the Senate’s lead, so the pendulum of public policy can begin to swing away from the criminals, and back toward the people who put their trust in government to keep the peace and enforce laws effectively.”

The vote was 31-18, with all 21 members of the Senate Republican Caucus voting yes, joined by 10 senators from the Senate majority.

 

Senate majority passes ‘unconscionable’ bill that would let murderers, rapists pursue quicker release from prison

OLYMPIA… Under Senate Bill 5036, passed today by the Senate’s Democratic majority,  128 offenders now serving time for aggravated murder or first-degree murder would immediately become eligible to apply for commutation of their sentences. Another 68 such offenders would be eligible to seek commutation within the next five years.

An additional 321 inmates sentenced to life without parole (LWOP) who have been in prison for more than 20 years can apply for commutation. Those convicted of capital murder — such as Gary Ridgway, better known as the “Green River Killer” – would be eligible to apply for commutation if they have served over 25 years. Other LWOP offenders in Washington prisons include 10 offenders convicted of first-degree rape; five more convicted of first-degree rape of a child; and eight more convicted of first-degree child molestation.

Under SB 5036, LWOP offenders would no longer be subject to the “utmost scrutiny” standard found in the state law on clemency and pardons.

Senate Republican Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, released this statement in response to today’s vote::

“I believe in redemption, in forgiveness and in grace, but how tone-deaf can the Democratic majority be to pass a bill that would result in our communities being exposed to murderers and rapists who should never go free? Washington already has a public-safety crisis, between rising crime rates and the anti-police laws that absolutely must be fixed this year. The Legislature should be creating laws that protect our communities and victims, not be looking for ways to put violent offenders back out on the street to victimize others.

“Senate Bill 5036 has a host of problems. Just yesterday, a member of the Clemency and Pardons Board said the most important aspect of the board is that it is voluntary. Yet the majority’s bill would change the board from voluntary to paid. Language buried in Section 7 of the requires the Clemency board to recommend an incarcerated individual be released unless they determine by a preponderance of the evidence that the inmate is more likely than not to commit new crimes – the bill presumes release.  Our communities and victims, in particular, deserve far better than that.

“This bill was put down by the House last year. That needs to happen again this year. I hope the House will recognize just how damaging this bill would be if it becomes law – how insulting it is to the victims and their families. It’s unconscionable.”

Only fix for problematic long-term care tax is repeal, says Braun

OLYMPIA…Senate Republican Leader John Braun introduced Senate Bill 5965, which would repeal the wildly unpopular long-term care trust program referred to as “Washington Cares.” It would also repeal the taxes employees are required to pay through payroll deductions.

More than 400,000 people applied for exemptions to the plan – a number that would have been far greater had the application deadline been extended and private insurance carriers not pulled their long-term care products out of Washington. Their decision to stop selling such plans was driven by the concern that the payroll tax would cause people to purchase and hold policies just long enough to obtain an exemption, then cancel.

Democrats passed two bills earlier this legislative session to delay the long-term care tax by 18 months and to provide for certain exemptions to the program, claiming they needed time to fix the many glaring flaws Republicans have been highlighting since the program was proposed and later passed in 2019. Braun says the people would be better served by repealing “Washington Cares” instead of delaying it.

“If a long-term care program managed by the state and funded by taxpayers is something a majority of the people want, then legislators should go back to the drawing board and work to create a bipartisan solution. This needs to be done right,” says Braun. “Let’s work toward something that doesn’t work against the military community, people who live in bordering states but work in Washington, or those who pay into the program but never see a dime because they moved out of state. It needs to be something we can all support.

“If the Legislature does create a new long-term care program, I hope it’s properly vetted. If Democrats had done so in the first place, there wouldn’t be any need to fix it. This is what you get under the hubris of one-party rule. The plan is expensive, the benefit is insufficient and the tax is unpopular. Given how the state has mismanaged this program, starting fresh and involving more legislators from both sides of the aisle would be a better path forward.”