Note: The following e-newsletter was sent to Sen. Padden’s subscribers October 17, 2024. To subscribe to Sen. Padden’s newsletter, click here.
Dear friends and neighbors,
Twice a year, the vast majority of Americans are forced to move their clocks forward (in March) or backward (this year it will take place in just over two weeks — Sunday, November 3).
Early this year, I prime-sponsored legislation to “Ditch the Switch” by authorizing Washington to be on year-round Pacific standard time, thus stopping the unpopular twice-yearly changing of our clocks. Senate Bill 5795 had strong bipartisan support, as seven Republicans and five Democrats co-sponsored it.
Despite this bipartisan backing, and despite efforts by legislators in Oregon, California and Idaho to pass similar bills so that our West Coast states would all be on Pacific standard time permanently, SB 5795 was not brought up for a vote in the Senate State Government and Elections Committee — simply because the committee chairman, Senator Sam Hunt, wanted the bill to fail.
I’m retiring at year’s end and won’t be in Olympia to introduce the “Ditch the Switch” bill in 2025, so 19th District Senator Jeff Wilson of Longview, who is also the Republican leader on the Senate State Government and Elections Committee, has agreed to prime-sponsor a similar proposal for the upcoming legislative session. Senator Wilson co-sponsored SB 5795 last session, and he shares the belief of many Washingtonians that it is long overdue tor our state to stop the tiresome time switch each spring and fall
Because Senator Hunt also is retiring at the end of this year, the State Government and Elections Committee will have a new chair when the 2025 legislative session, which starts on January 13. One can only hope the new chair will support the latest version of “Ditch the Switch” and bring it up for a committee vote.
Thank you, as always, for the honor of representing you in Olympia!
Best Regards,
Senator Mike Padden
Watch TVW interview with Senator Padden
As mentioned in the previous Report from Olympia, TVW’s Inside Olympia show on October 3 aired an “exit interview” with me that covered my 28-year legislative career. My interview is shown during the second half of the Inside Olympia episode. You can watch it here.
Spokane Valley Heritage Museum’s 20th anniversary event November 9
The Spokane Valley Heritage Museum.
One of our area’s more valuable historical treasures is the Spokane Valley Heritage Museum, which is about to celebrate its 20th anniversary in just a few weeks. The museum is located at 12114 E. Sprague Ave. in Spokane Valley.
As noted in a recent Spokesman-Review story, the museum holds artifacts, photos and maps from the Spokane Valley, as well as south Spokane County, Millwood and Liberty Lake, dating back 150 years.
The museum is in the Opportunity Township building. Several years ago, the Legislature, at my request, included $75,000 in the state capital budget for the museum.
The 20th anniversary celebration will be Saturday, November 9, during its annual Heritage Program fundraiser – which this year will include a history of Felts Field. The event will start at 1 p.m. at the CenterPlace Regional Event Center, 2426 N. Discovery Place. Tickets are $25 and are available at spokanevalleymuseum.com.
Veterans and military committee meeting in Spokane
On October 7, I attended a meeting of the Joint Committee on Veterans’ and Military Affairs that was held on the WSU Spokane campus. It was chaired by Rep. Mari Leavitt and Sen. Keith Wagoner. The recent gathering was very informative, as it included an update from Fairchild Air Force Base, plus an update on the Spokane Veterans Home. Go here to watch TVW’s coverage of the meeting.
New local cross-country route to be site for 2027 NCAA regional meet
Senator Padden and others take part in the groundbreaking ceremony for the upcoming Spokane Valley Cross Course.
The Spokane Valley area and distance-running enthusiasts throughout the region recently received good news when it was announced that the future Spokane Valley Cross Course was selected as the host site for a NCAA 2027 Division 1 regional meet.
I joined others at the groundbreaking ceremony for the new cross-country course yesterday morning. KHQ-TV did a story on the ceremony for the future route, which will be open to the public when not in use for cross-country meets and other running events. Here is the KXLY-TV story on the event. The cross-country course will be located at 2710 N. Flora Road in Spokane Valley.
Two years ago, I helped secure $175,000 in the state capital budget for the construction of this cross-country route. It’s being built on land near the Spokane River formerly managed by the state Department of Transportation. The cross-country course project also received $1 million in funding from the Washington Wildlife Commission, as well as from local lodging tax revenue. All of the combined funding has helped create a destination-level cross-country route.
Congratulations to the Spokane Sports Commission for landing the 2027 NCAA cross-country regional meet. Even though the 2027 regional meet’s course is still under construction, the NCAA clearly liked what it could see.
Attending former intern/aide’s swearing-in as attorney
Felicia Hebner was my Senate intern during the 2020 legislative session, and she served as my session aide during the 2021 session. The entire Senate was introduced to her that session when she was chosen to sing the national anthem at the opening of the Senate daily session on the final day of 2021 session, and performed it beautifully. Here is the video of Felicia singing the national anthem before the Senate.
After the 2021 session, Felicia began attending Gonzaga Law School. She recently graduated from Gonzaga Law with a Doctor of Law – JD. On October 4, Felicia was sworn in by Spokane County Superior Court Judge Anderson. I was proud and honored to attend Felicia’s swearing-in ceremony (see photo above).
Thurston County sheriff hit by another impaired driver, highlighting how unsafe our roads are
An image of a car crash caused by an impaired driver.
Recently, and for the second time in 18 months, Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders was struck by a drunk driver while out on patrol. Some might call that bad luck, but it really is another example that Washington still has a problem with impaired drivers on our roads and highways.
Seattle’s KIRO-TV has a story on Sheriff Sanders being hit by an impaired driver a second time. You can watch it here. According to the KIRO story, the sheriff is calling on Washington’s next governor to take action. Sheriff Sanders says what happened to him “is indicative of a statewide emergency of dangerous driving.”
On Tuesday, the Senate Transportation Committee held a work session that covered several updates, including one that revealed Washington continues to have an extremely serious crisis on our roads and highways. You can view the committee’s meeting here.
During the committee meeting, Washington Traffic Safety Commission officials gave a presentation showing that 2023 was a terrible year in several categories:
- 810 traffic fatalities, the most in our state since 1990.
- 157 pedestrians killed, the most on record in Washington.
- 141 motorcyclists killed, the most on record in our state.
- 210 fatal crashes with young drivers involved, with 95 young drivers killed.
The figures shared by the WTSC was a stark reminder that Washington’s roads and highways are still unsafe, and a key reason why there is the high number of impaired drivers in our state.
At the end of this year’s legislative session, the Legislature took a major step toward addressing the serious problem of impaired driving by passing House Bill 1493. This new law is a major step toward making our roads and highways safer. It includes provisions that will keep more repeat impaired drivers off the road.
The HB 1493 law includes policy that I have proposed the past four years. An amendment approved by the Senate near the end of this year’s session added language from Senate Bill 5032, a measure that I introduced that would expand the period for reviewing prior convictions of impaired driving to 15 years, from the 10 years now in state law, when determining whether a new offense of impaired driving is charged as a felony.
The policy language from SB 5032 that is now part of HB 1493 also would increase the penalty to a felony offense, rather than a gross misdemeanor, for any person who has three or more prior DUI offenses within that “lookback” period.
Washington has seen a significant increase in traffic deaths over the past few years. Drunken driving and drug-impaired driving, especially by repeat offenders, are two leading causes. The law created by House Bill 1493 will help remove the most dangerous drivers from our roads and highways and get them into treatment or they will be held accountable by the state criminal justice system. This bill provides good balance, as it is strong on treatment while also being strong on accountability.
Many traffic fatalities in the state involve drivers who have had as many as eight DUI offenses, but the current 10-year lookback period is not long enough to allow the state to impose stronger punishment against such offenders.
According to the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, there were 740 traffic deaths in the state in 2022 (the highest in over 30 years), including 389 fatalities involving drug- or alcohol-impaired driving. There were 674 traffic deaths in 2021, including 345 fatalities involving impaired driving. In 2020, Washington had 574 traffic fatalities, including 282 involving impaired driving.
Besides enacting HB 1493, the Legislature included funding in the state operating budget for an oral-swab program that will help with the field identification of driver Impairment. The oral-swab technology has great promise as it can detect a range of drugs that could be affecting a driver.
Contact us!
If you have a question or concern about state government, please do not hesitate to contact our office. During the interim we are conducting business from our district office in Spokane Valley. We are here to serve you!
Phone: 509-921-2460
Email address: Mike.Padden@leg.wa.gov
PLEASE NOTE: Any email or documents you provide to this office may be subject to disclosure under RCW 42.56. If you would prefer to communicate by phone, please contact Sen. Padden’s Olympia office at (360) 786-7606.
To request public records from Sen. Padden, please contact Randi Stratton, the designated public records officer for the Secretary of the Senate and Senate members.