John Braun

Watch my sine die interview with TVW’s The Impact   Dear Friends and Neighbors, The regular 2025 legislative session wrapped up yesterday, on schedule – although a “special” session can’t be ruled out if the governor takes issue with the new budget. At times, this session felt even longer than...

Areas outside Seattle will see an increase of nearly 20% next year and 55% over the next six years.   Dear Friends and Neighbors, At the beginning of the week, the news media reported legislative Democrats had again decided to abandon their efforts to increase your property taxes. This was...

OLYMPIA…A bill sponsored by Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, to expand exploratory career and technical education (CTE) to sixth-grade students was signed today by Gov. Bob Ferguson. It will become law 90 days after the Legislature adjourns. Currently, K-12 education funding provides exploratory CTE to students beginning in seventh grade. Exploratory...

Legislative budget week — the Tax Day rally     Dear Friends and Neighbors, On Tax Day, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to speak to a large crowd of Washingtonians who came to the steps of the Capitol to protest the billions in new and higher taxes Democrats...

OLYMPIA… On the final day for Senate bills to be considered by the House of Representatives, the majority Democrats in the House — including the Speaker of the House — fumbled a critical opportunity to alleviate dangerous overcrowding in Washington’s juvenile-justice facilities, leaving both residents and staff members in crisis....

OLYMPIA…As if proposing the largest tax increase in Washington state history wasn’t enough, Senate Democrats in Olympia doubled the number of taxes proposed by introducing five tax bills just in time for Tax Day. Senate Republican Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, offered this reaction: “On Tax Day, no less, Democrats have...

OLYMPIA…Senate Republican budget leaders have filed their no-new-taxes, no-cuts-to-services operating-budget proposal as standalone legislation. Crafted by Sen. Chris Gildon, R-Puyallup, and Sen. Nikki Torres, R-Pasco, the Senate Republican version of a 2025-27 state operating budget is a truly viable alternative to the $78 billion Democrat budget that relies on billions...

OLYMPIA…Parents’ rights, local control of our schools, and common sense took another hit today when the Democrat majority in the Senate passed a bill that would drive a wedge between parents and children, while also using state funding to punish school districts for not complying with liberal-agenda-driven state mandates. Senate...

Dear Friends and Neighbors, The primary reason for Washington state government’s multibillion-dollar budget shortfall is years of overspending by majority Democrats. This is a bipartisan belief. Our new Democrat governor said as much during his recent press conference, during which he also vowed not to sign any budget that does...