Emma Bowman, a freshman at West Valley High School, spent a week working as a page for the Washington State Senate at the Capitol in Olympia. Emma was one of 21 students who served as Senate pages for the fifth week of the 2018 legislative session. She was sponsored by...

The Senate Ways and Means Committee voted unanimously late Tuesday to advance Senate Bill 6410, concerning school safety. Under the measure, sponsored by Sen. Mike Padden, first responders would be required to notify both public and private schools during any situation in their vicinity that would warrant an evacuation or...

Today would have been the 107th birthday of Ronald Reagan. JIM VALLEY TALKED TO ONE REPUBLICAN SENATOR WHO HONORED THE 40TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AT THE STATE CAPITOL IN OLYMPIA. Ronald Reagan was born February 6, 1911. In a speech on the Senate floor, Republican Senator Mike Padden from...

Today the Senate Law and Justice Committee received public testimony on Senate Bill 6408, aimed at clarifying the rules surrounding the use of police body cameras. The measure is sponsored by Sen. Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley, the ranking member on the committee. In 2016, the Legislature passed House Bill 2362,...

On Thursday the Senate approved a bill sponsored by Sen. Mike Padden that is aimed at increasing access to small-claims courts, by raising the jurisdiction of the courts from $5,000 to $10,000. “This is an important update in the jurisdiction of small-claims courts that’s well overdue,” said Padden, the lead...

The 2018 session is underway, and although we have only been in Olympia for a few days, I have much to share with you. Already lawmakers have started work on issues that affect both our state and our district, from addressing the ability of rural property owners to develop and...

The only debate between then-challenger Ronald Reagan and incumbent President Jimmy Carter prior to the 1980 presidential election produced one of the lines for which President Reagan is still remembered. “There you go again,” he said to Carter (before explaining that Carter’s promotion of national health insurance misrepresented Reagan’s position...

For the third time since lawmakers convened at the state Capitol in January, the Washington state Senate has unanimously passed Sen. Mike Padden’s bill to make a fourth DUI conviction in 10 years a felony. “We have only a few more days to act before the end of the current...

Watch a video featuring comments from Sen. Padden and some of the Down syndrome self-advocates who attended today’s reading of Senate Resolution 8657, honoring those with Down syndrome and recognizing those individuals and organizations who advocate on their behalf.