Washington State’s 4th District Senator, Mike Padden, Chair of the Senate Law and Justice Committee, talks about the successful passage of his bill dealing with DUI penalties in Washington State. It’s next stop for consideration is the Senate Ways and Means Committee to determine what the costs will be.

Sen. Mike Padden, a sponsor of the Religious Freedom Protection Act, said he’s supporting the measure because it would extend the state’s anti-discrimination laws in a way that should protect practitioners of any religion from discrimination. “State government has no business forcing someone to violate his or her deeply-held religious...

Washington State’s 4th District Senator, Mike Padden, Chair of the Senate Law and Justice Committee, talks about the successful passage of his bill dealing with autopsies, as well as the future for his comprehensive bill dealing with DUI penalties in Washington State.

The Legislature has wrapped up its work on Senate Bill 5256, Sen. Mike Padden’s bill to make it clear that coroners and medical examiners may speak openly when talking about a death that occurs in connection with a law-enforcement action or inside a correctional facility. “For whatever reason – maybe...

Rather than count votes, as he typically might when trying to move a bill through the lawmaking process, Sen. Mike Padden is counting days – as in how much time is left for the passage of bipartisan legislation aimed at reducing the number of repeat DUI offenders. “The calendar is...

Wednesday was the final day for the Senate and House of Representatives to act on each other’s legislation, and it brought approval from the House for two more of Sen. Mike Padden’s bills. Senate Bill 5437 would align Washington boating law with the state’s motor-vehicle law when it comes to...

Sen. Mike Padden’s comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation is headed for a place in Washington state law. This afternoon the House of Representatives gave its unanimous support to Senate Bill 5669, as the Senate had done last month, which completes the Legislature’s work on the measure. “This is one of the most...

While the operating budget adopted by the Senate this evening has much to recommend it, Sen. Mike Padden said, it also makes some allocations that the Spokane Valley Republican ultimately could not support. “I appreciate many things about this budget – especially the fact that it wouldn’t raise taxes and...

Sen. Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley and a member of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, had this response to the “budget priorities” Gov. Jay Inslee announced today. “Anyone who voted for Governor Inslee based on the claims he made as a candidate has grounds to be feeling like a victim...