Friends and neighbors, I don’t think that any of us are blind to Washington’s drug epidemic. Many of us have loved ones who have struggled with, or succumbed to, addiction. Police and other emergency responders are overwhelmed with calls to assist in overdoses, including overdose deaths. Mental illness is often...

CENTRALIA… Efforts to build a behavioral-health treatment facility in Lewis County are being pushed back another six months by what Lewis County lawmakers say is another broken promise from Gov. Jay Inslee’s administration. Sen. John Braun and Rep. Peter Abbarno, both R-Centralia, are particularly frustrated because the governor’s office assured...

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. ...

CENTRALIA… State lawmakers have been called into a special session to continue work toward a new state law on the possession of controlled substances, after failing to come to an agreement before the regular legislative session ended April 23. Senate Republican Leader John Braun offered this comment following Gov. Jay...

OLYMPIA… The 2023 legislative session has ended without the passage of a new state law on the possession of controlled substances, leaving it up to counties and cities to put their own drug-possession laws in place once the state law adopted in 2021 expires July 1. Senate Republican Leader John...

OLYMPIA… The state Senate voted more than five weeks ago to make possession of hard drugs a gross misdemeanor, and improve on the Legislature’s disastrous response to the state Supreme Court’s 2021 Blake decision. The state House of Representatives just passed a version of Senate Bill 5536 that would lower...