OLYMPIA…A bill aiming to reduce chronic student absenteeism Washington’s K-12 public schools passed unanimously in the Washington State Senate Tuesday. Senate bill 5850 is sponsored by Senate Republican Leader John Braun, R-Centralia. According to the Washington Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), students who miss even two days...

 OLYMPIA…A bill that will allow school districts the flexibility to use student transportation funding to pay for the use of vehicles other than school buses passed the Senate Monday. Senate Republican Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, sponsored Senate Bill 6031 after seeing a full-size school bus transporting only two children. After...

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...

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...

OLYMPIA… Chronic absenteeism is among the major obstacles preventing Washington children from recovering from pandemic-related learning loss. Senate Republican Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, has introduced legislation to help school administrators, teachers and parents get students to show up to school and take part in class. Senate Bill 5850 would provide...

Bipartisan bill would make K-12 curriculum Nazi genocide of Jews mandatory   OLYMPIA…Senate Republican Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, and Sen. Jesse Salomon, D-Shoreline, pre-filed a bill today (Senate Bill 5851) for the 2024 legislative session that would make it mandatory for Washington’s K-12 public schools to teach the Jewish Holocaust...

Friends and Neighbors, This will be my final e-newsletter for 2023. You will receive my next one during the first week of January, so I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. The 2024 Legislative Session begins Monday, Jan. 8. It will end Thursday,...

Dear Friends and Neighbors, The state of Washington’s K-12 education system remains one of my top priorities as we approach the 2024 legislative session. And, according to the Seattle Times, significant learning loss remains a critical problem.   The equity issue of our time Last year, I worked to get...

Dear friends and neighbors, Republicans have talked a lot about the record increases in the price of gas. We’ve been clear that the tax program the Democrats refer to as “cap-and-trade” or “cap-and-invest” (but we call “cap-and-tax”) is to blame for Washington having the highest/second-highest gas prices in the nation. ...