Education

August 21, 2023

Newsletter: What are your legislative priorities for 2024?

Dear friends and neighbors, Although the legislature isn’t in session, it’s important to continue updating you on developments that will affect your families. At the moment, Washington has the second-highest gas prices in the nation. On Aug. 30, another carbon credit auction for the Democrat-sponsored cap-and-tax program will take place....
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April 12, 2023

STATEMENT: Republican leaders call foul on Democrats’ late-session bid to raise property taxes

OLYMPIA… In what amounts to the ninth inning of the 2023 legislative session, more than two-thirds of the state Senate’s majority Democrats have slid an extreme tax-increase proposal into the lineup of bills still in play. Senate Bill 5770 would raise the limit on increases in state and local property...
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March 20, 2023

Senate Republican Leader John Braun shares what the Legislature is doing to address learning loss and special education

              Learn more about what the Legislature is working on to deal with student learning loss and the needs of special education students.
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March 03, 2023

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...
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August 31, 2022

STATEMENT: Republican leader says lowering tuition is fairer to students, families than subsidizing unpaid loans

CENTRALIA… Senate Republican Leader John Braun says the renewed debate about the rising cost of college tuition is the one good thing about the Biden administration’s move to write off hundreds of billions of dollars in outstanding college loans. Braun, prime sponsor of 2015’s historic College Affordability Program, offered the...
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March 24, 2022

Braun bill to extend services for developmentally disabled young people receives governor’s signature

OLYMPIA… More young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities will have access to “School to Work” services under legislation signed today by the governor. In areas where students with intellectual and developmental disabilities have access to such services, they are three times more likely to be employed when they leave...
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January 20, 2022

Senators propose linking property-tax relief and substantial increase in support for K-12 schools

Bipartisan legislation would move toward education equity in every ZIP Code OLYMPIA… Sen. John Braun (R-Centralia) and Sen. Mark Mullet (D-Issaquah) say state government’s positive financial outlook has given legislators an opportunity to make significant new investments in Washington’s K-12 schools, bring local school-levy rates down and avoid a repeat...
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May 14, 2021

Braun reacts to governor’s veto of his COVID-related provision in racial equity analysis bill

OLYMPIA…Senate Republican Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, offered the following remarks after Gov. Jay Inslee vetoed his amendment to Senate Bill 5405. The bill, sponsored by Democrat Sen. Bob Hasegawa, mandates a racial equity analysis by the nonpartisan Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC). Braun’s amendment, which was accepted by...
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March 25, 2021

New three-foot distancing order for classrooms is right move for Washington’s kids, say Republican leaders

OLYMPIA…Republican legislative leaders released the following remarks in response to Gov. Jay Inslee’s order that the recently revised three-foot social-distancing guideline from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) would be made available immediately to every school across the state. Senate Republican Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, and House Republican Leader J.T....
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