OLYMPIA – A bill prompted by deadly prisoner releases by the state Department of Corrections is set for a vote Thursday in the Senate Law and Justice Committee, a year after the agency revealed it turned loose some 3,000 violent and dangerous prisoners ahead of schedule. Senate Bill 5294, sponsored...

The 2015 session began with a bang of the gavel as members were sworn in. The Legislature will have a Republican majority in the Senate and a Democrat majority in the House of Representatives this session. Given this reality, lawmakers will undoubtedly need to work together to achieve solutions on...

With the end of the 2013 regular and two special sessions now in the rear-view mirror, Senator Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley, talks about the wins of the Majority Coalition Caucus and how their dynamic will further improve state government in 2014..