Click the headlines to read my commentaries for the past two years. Older commentaries can be found in the archives of The Centralia Chronicle.
2026
- Delaying light rail offers best hope for new Interstate 5 bridge (April 29, 2026)
- Democrats fail to protect children, but they’ll go after sheriffs (April 24, 2026)
- Look no further than Olympia for true cause of high energy costs (April 17, 2026)
- Democrats are in no rush to settle concerns about potential fraud (April 10, 2026)
- Tax supporters continue an Olympia trend – stifle the competition (April 4, 2026)
- Income tax gives people another reason to take their money and run (March 27, 2026)
- There’s no overstating what Democrats just did to our state (March 13, 2026)
- Another session, another failure by majority to protect children (March 6, 2026)
- Blame one-party rule for unsustainable new budget, not the feds (Feb. 27, 2026)
- In Olympia, the response is ‘more taxes’ when it should be ‘less spending (Feb. 20, 2026)
- Olympia’s concern for affordability continues to be one sided (Feb. 18, 2026)
- The problem is Democrats’ thirst for money, not the state tax code (Feb. 6, 2026)
- Democrats new mask rule is unenforceable, distracts from real issues (Jan. 30, 2026)
- For the sake of Washington’s children, don’t fumble fentanyl bill a fourth time (Jan. 23, 2026)
- An income tax on anyone in our state will become an income tax on everyone (Jan. 16, 2026)
- Refusing to take fraud concerns seriously will add to public’s distrust (Jan. 9, 2026)
2025
- As 2025 ends, a sobering look at what Olympia has done to our state (Dec. 19, 2025)
- Good news for area power plant, but trouble remains for region’s power grid (Dec. 12, 2025)
- Soft-on-crime legislators have blood on their hands, local prosecutor says (Dec. 5, 2025)
- A state income tax is illegal, but don’t expect that to stop Democrats (Nov. 26, 2025)
- Don’t talk about affordability while making things more expensive (Nov. 24, 2025)
- Clarity on climate policy cost comes too late for our state (Nov. 17, 2025)
- The continuing insanity of the homelessness ’emergency’ (Nov. 7, 2025)
- Charges of corruption hit Democrat plan to hand out taxpayer dollars (Oct. 31, 2025)
- State funding for cancer research falls victim to sales-tax increase (Oct. 24, 2025)
- Kids can’t learn when they’re not in school (Oct. 17, 2025)
- Budget trouble here means federal shutdown will hit harder (Oct. 10, 2025)
- Cost of Green Hill fentanyl overdose: $12 million and a life changed forever (Oct. 3, 2025)
- Tax-first Democrats desperate to blame feds for state’s budget trouble (Sept. 26, 2025)
- State school superintendent plays politics while students continue to struggle (Sept. 19, 2025)
- To truly address violence, we must be Americans first (Sept. 12, 2025)
- Democrats insist on taking state’s job creators for granted (Sept. 5, 2025)
- Let’s have more action on water quality concerns tied to game farm (Aug. 29, 2025)
- Majority’s expansion of sales tax is costly, chaotic and unnecessary (Aug. 22, 2025)
- Instead of failing our children, focus on making their lives better (Aug. 15, 2025)
- Legislators must preserve fair competition in girls’ sports (Aug. 8, 2025)
- Reaction to federal shift on homelessness highlights state Democrats’ failures (Aug. 1, 2025)
- Something else we didn’t need — higher fees for fishing, hunting and parks (July 25, 2025)
- A big step toward restoring public safety: Auto thefts fall to historic low (July 18, 2025)
- Deal in facts when reacting to federal budget actions, not partisan fiction (July 11, 2025)
- No one likes gas tax, but it isn’t the main driver of our high fuel prices (July 5, 2025)
- State needs to make vulnerable individuals a priority again (June 27, 2025)
- Violence is violence, no matter who commits it or why (June 20, 2025)
- Response to Green Hill safety issues sunk by majority’s offender-friendly leanings (June 13, 2025)
- State’s Democrats overpromise and underdeliver on affordable-housing solutions (June 6, 2025)
- The value of ‘killing’ bad legislation in state Legislature (May 30, 2025)
- The $16 billion lie behind the largest tax increase in state history (May 23, 2025)
- When the government takes more, remember this: Democrats see paying taxes as a ‘privilege’ (May 16, 2025)
- Words aren’t enough — Governor needs to take action against tax hikes (May 9, 2025)
- The 2025 session in one sentence — It didn’t need to be this way (May 2, 2025)
- Just what we don’t need — a property tax hike that’s also bad for rural schools (April 25, 2025)
- “Make the wealthy pay,” Democrats say — while they come for your money (April 18, 2025)
- Property tax hike plus rent control could be last straw for affordable housing (April 11, 2025)
- Senate Republican budget is the better solution to governor’s concerns (April 4, 2025)
- The ‘tax madness’ in Olympia, and what you can do to fight it (March 28, 2025)
- Senate Democrats’ ongoing effort to raise property taxes goes from bad to worse (March 21, 2025)
- Republicans disrupt budget discussion with no-new-taxes, no-cuts plan (March 14, 2025)
- Going soft on criminals makes it even harder to overcome shortages of officers (March 7, 2025)
- Watch out for ‘mega-taxes’ as budget time draws closer (Feb. 21, 2025)
- Democrats claim they want to reduce spending, Republicans are showing the way (Feb. 14, 2025)
- Legislators have unique opportunity to help prepare for ‘silver tsunami’ (Feb. 7, 2025)
- Shorten prison sentences to reduce state spending? No thanks, Democrats (Jan. 31, 2025)
- Attack on new parental-rights law shows how far Democrats’ priorities are off (Jan. 24, 2025)
- Rent control isn’t a real answer to the shortage of affordable rentals (Jan. 17, 2025)
- As session begins, here’s what to expect from Senate Republicans (Jan. 10, 2025)
2024
- This year’s passage of four initiatives is already making our state better (Dec. 20, 2024)
- To make K-12 system better, stop electing a state school superintendent (Dec. 13, 2024)
- Legislators can learn from Pierce County’s bipartisan effort on homelessness (Dec. 6, 2024)
- Find more space for juvenile offenders, but stop putting them with adults (Dec. 2, 2024)
- By focusing on governing, Ferguson can turn the page on Inslee-era partisanship (Nov. 15, 2024)
(Does not include commentaries published during the 2024 election-year restrictions prohibiting the use of state resources for any official legislative communications for candidates for public office.)