Spokane-area business Haskins Steel to become first award recipient in four years State Sens. Michael Baumgartner, R-Spokane, and Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley, today recognized the efforts of Spokane-area employer Haskins Steel for its stellar record of hiring military veterans and guardsmen. Later this morning the state will award Haskins Steel...

Now that the 2012 legislative session has come to a close Sen. Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley, is opening his 4th District legislative office in Spokane Valley. The office, which will open on Monday, April 30, will be staffed by Padden’s senior legislative assistant, Mike McCliment. “It’s not easy to travel...

Today Gov. Chris Gregoire signed into law a measure to shield, against civil lawsuits, charitable organizations working to provide much-needed eyewear and hearing aids to poor, homeless and uninsured people. House Bill 2261 was prime-sponsored in the House by , D-Longview. The bill’s language, as amended in the Senate, is...

Sen. Mike Padden, a staunch advocate of the nation’s military men and women and the organizations that support them, is helping to call attention to a rarely publicized federal agency: the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, which promotes the service and integration of National Guard members and Reservists...

Sen. Mike Padden today applauded the Legislature for approving a measure to shield, against civil lawsuits, charitable organizations working to provide much-needed eyewear and hearing aids to poor, homeless and uninsured people. The House voted 98-0 yesterday to approve his rewrite of House Bill 2261. The bill’s language is now...

Baumgartner and Padden join bipartisan coalition to dump budget gimmicks and keep spending in line with revenue Early this morning, the Washington State Senate approved its operating budget with a bipartisan vote of 25 to 24, with three Democrats joining all 22 Republican members. The bipartisan reform-based plan rebalances the...

On Monday Sen. Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley, honored West Valley School District teacher Ned Fadeley, a top finalist for the Washington State Legislative Civic Educator of the Year Award.  Padden presented Fadeley with a certificate recognizing his hard work and achievement, while many of Fadeley’s students who were able to...

Padden says bill is ‘unnecessary, unconstitutional and could prove costly for state’ The Senate Ways and Means Committee will hold a public hearing at 3:30 p.m. today on House Bill 2330, a controversial measure that would require private-insurance plans which provide maternity coverage to also pay for elective abortions. “Proponents...

Calling it simply the “right thing to do,” Sen. Mike Padden today applauded the Senate’s passage of his bill to give legal protection to charitable organizations that are working to provide much-needed eyeglasses to our state’s poor, homeless and uninsured. “I am glad to see such broad support for this...