John Braun

Proposed constitutional amendment would bring stability to long-term care fund OLYMPIA…More than a year before Washington workers are required to begin paying into a long-term care fund, Washington voters will have an opportunity to direct those payroll-tax dollars into investments that could strengthen the fund while protecting taxpayers. Late Thursday...

OLYMPIA…Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia and budget leader for Washington’s Senate Republican Caucus, offered this statement about the supplemental operating budget proposed today by the state Senate’s Democrat majority. “The majority could have done something truly memorable with this budget. With the state’s revenue situation running 1.5 billion dollars ahead of...

OLYMPIA…Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia and budget leader for Washington’s Senate Republican Caucus, made this statement following today’s adoption of the first quarterly state-government revenue forecast for 2020. The forecast indicates revenues for the 2019-21 budget cycle are $606 million ahead of the November 2019 forecast, for a total estimated revenue...

The Daily News, Longview Feb. 16, 2020 Opinion — Senator John Braun There are a billion reasons to be concerned about a big tax bill signed by the governor Monday after it zoomed through the state Legislature. The word “billion” applies for two reasons. First, the tax takes another billion...

Legislation offers grants to assist businesses with security, sanitation needs With time starting to run short for Senate policy committees to move bills forward in the 2020 session, Sen. John Braun is hoping to see action soon on his proposal to address sanitation and security needs in commercial districts with...

Tax would balloon to $1 billion from $773 million under Senate majority proposal  The state Senate’s majority Democrats should simply repeal the badly flawed business-tax increase that took effect Jan. 1 rather than pursue a new plan that would take far more money from professional-service providers, says Sen. John Braun....

Proposal would slowly shift tax on vehicle purchases away from operating budget OLYMPIA… Sen. John Braun is proposing to add a major new funding source for transportation needs across Washington without imposing a new tax. The Senate Republican budget leader plans to file legislation that would begin shifting the state...

The Wire caught up with Sen. Braun post-session to talk about the budget, tax bills that passed, and his forward-looking priorities. Click here for Part 1.

OLYMPIA… Sen. John Braun remembers the big-taxes, big-spending budget Gov. Jay Inslee proposed to lawmakers before their 2019 session, so it was no shock today when Inslee endorsed an avalanche of unnecessary new taxes and a record state operating budget to spend them. “The governor wanted a business-tax increase and...