Arrests at Green Hill School may be sign things are improving Friends and Neighbors, I toured Green Hill School this week to see for myself the conditions and protocols at the detention facility. Green Hill once housed only juveniles, but now houses adults up to age 25 if they were...

Friends and Neighbors, The 2024 legislative session wraps up today. The 2025 session doesn’t begin until next January. In the meantime, we move into the period called “interim,” when legislators return to their districts and their regular lives… while continuing to respond to questions and concerns from their constituents. This...

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, 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...

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...

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...

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…Senate Republican Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, today responded to public comments recently made by Gov. Jay Inslee that attempt to divert attention from evidence in a Washington Policy Center blog showing the governor knew it was false to claim his “cap-and-trade” tax on carbon-dioxide emissions would not increase gas prices,...

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...