Tuesday evening the Legislature approved a supplemental budget, concluding the legislative session. Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, voted in favor of the bipartisan proposal that makes minor adjustments to the state’s two-year operating budget approved last year. “This is a good supplemental,” lead budget negotiator Braun said. “It meets the requirements...

Today the state Senate approved legislation introduced by Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia to limit the power of state agencies by changing the way they make rules. Senate Bill 6396 would require proposed rules to be submitted to the state attorney general’s office for an opinion on their constitutionality. In addition,...

The state Senate today approved Sen. John Braun’s legislation that would make permanent a state policy that returns money from federal timber sales to local schools. Senate Bill 6292 would eliminate the reduction of state school funding to districts based on what they receive in federal forest revenues. The measure...

Deputy Majority Leader Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia voted Friday to let Washingtonians have the final word on requiring a two-thirds majority in the Legislature to raise taxes. Senate Joint Resolution 8211, which would let voters decide on a constitutional amendment requiring a supermajority to raise taxes, failed to receive support...

Late last year I conduced a survey of our legislative district to receive input on issues that the Legislature would possibly be considering this session. Please take a look at how our neighbors responded to the survey.

Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia reintroduced legislation, Senate Bill 5329 that would require public employees’ union negotiations to be open to the public. Currently these negotiations are exempt from Washington’s progressive open meetings requirement.   “I believe that this is an important policy for our state because the current process is...

Sen. John Braun, and Rep. Ed Orcutt, invite residents of the 20th District to join them for a live telephone town hall Thursday, January 14. The live, hour-long event begins at 6:00 p.m. The community conversation is much like an interactive radio program, during which listeners may ask questions or just...

May 13, 2015 Budget Update: Day 15 of the Special Session We are now half-way through the 2015 special session. The Legislature was convened by the governor for 30 days to finish work on the operating budget that should have been completed in the 105-day regular session. During that time...

April 20, 2015 Greetings Friends and Neighbors, Thank you to everyone who participated in our recent telephone town-hall meeting. We had record participation this year of over 1,900, and we discussed a wide range of issues. Your input is invaluable as I work to represent you here in Olympia. The...