This Friday the Senate Law and Justice Committee will make history by letting three people offer testimony without having to travel to the Capitol. Sen. Mike Padden, committee chair, said the 8 a.m. work session will offer the first real test of videoconferencing technology he hopes to use more during the upcoming legislative session.

“Think about how the challenge of traveling to the Capitol has prevented people, going back to territorial days, from speaking out about legislation affecting them. That’s especially true for people east of the Cascades and in the northwest and southwest corners of the state. A ZIP code should not determine who does and doesn’t have an opportunity to be heard, and technology provides a solution that we will test at Friday’s work session,” said Padden, R-Spokane Valley. Continue reading →

Sen. Mike Padden said he will remember state Rep. Roger Freeman for the courage he showed in being an outspoken defender of life and battling the cancer that claimed the first-term Democratic lawmaker’s life earlier today. Freeman, of Federal Way, was 48.

“He was an outstanding person with such a positive attitude,” said Padden, R-Spokane Valley. “It was amazing to see the respect he received from members of the Senate after just two years as a member of the House.”

Padden, chairman of the Senate Law and Justice Committee, said he worked with Freeman, an attorney who had been a public defender, on a range of issues, including law and justice. However, the strongest bond between the two came from their support of pro-life issues.

“I think he showed tremendous courage through his commitment to the vulnerable in society, including the unborn. He also was a magnificent public speaker, and the speech he gave at the March for Life in Olympia during this year’s legislative session was one of the most moving speeches I have heard,” Padden said.

“He was a wonderful family man, and my thoughts and prayers are with his wife Sonya and their two children. I will miss him a lot.”

Click on the image to view the Senate Law and Justice Committee’s Oct. 2 work session, in the Spokane Valley City Council chambers.

Sen. Mike Padden invites residents of the 4th Legislative District to join him for coffee and conversation on Wednesday, Nov. 12 in Millwood.

From 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. that day, Padden will be at the Rocket Bakery, 3315 N. Argonne Rd., to meet one-on-one with the people he serves. Due to limited seating inside the bakery, Padden asks that people phone his legislative office in Spokane Valley at 921-2460 and arrange a specific meeting time.

“I believe strongly that the people’s representatives should go to where the people are, when possible, and a lot of folks like to sit down and talk over a cup of coffee,” said Padden, R-Spokane Valley. “I’m already working on a list of issues to take up during the 2015 legislative session, and what I take away from these conversations is a great help.”

It will be the fifth time in a year that Padden has met with his constituents over coffee; he did so in Greenbluff in September, Spokane Valley in June, and Greenacres and Liberty Lake in November 2013.

Click on the text below to read the full column by Sen. Padden.

Members of the state Senate Law and Justice Committee will take up a mix of criminal-justice and business-law issues – and revisit a constitutional question – when they come to Spokane Valley for an afternoon work session Oct. 2.

“It isn’t easy for people from our area to travel to the Capitol, so this is a way to bring state government to them,” said Sen. Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley, who is committee chairman. “The issues on our agenda should be of interest not only locally but to property owners, families, employers and others statewide.” Continue reading →