OLYMPIA – Majority members of the Senate Law and Justice Committee Thursday announced plans for the panel’s investigation of the Department of Corrections, including appointment of an attorney and an effort to seek insight from current and former agency employees. To oversee the independent legislative investigation the Senate is hiring...

OLYMPIA – The Senate Rules Committee Jan. 19 will consider a request from the Senate Law and Justice Committee for a pair of subpoenas in its investigation of the state Department of Corrections. The meeting is set for 5:45 p.m. in the Senate Rules Room, 220A Legislative Building. The Law...

This newsletter was distributed to Sen. Mike Padden’s subscribers on Jan. 14, 2016. To subscribe to Sen. Padden’s newsletters, click here. Dear friends and neighbors, We had plenty of drama this week as we opened the 2016 legislative session. And it just goes to show things get faster when there...

OLYMPIA – The Senate Law and Justice Committee will seek subpoena power to conduct its own inquiry into a management failure at the Department of Corrections that turned loose thousands of prisoners before their scheduled release dates and likely caused the deaths of at least two people. Senate Law and...

A hearing on the opening day of the 2016 legislative session will put the spotlight on a management failure at the state Department of Corrections that caused thousands of prisoners to be released ahead of schedule. The Senate Law and Justice Committee hearing will begin at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 11...

Law and Justice Committee Chair to hold hearing on 3,200 felons prematurely released Sen. Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley, today voiced outrage over the lack of leadership and accountability at the Department of Corrections, after the governor’s office announced that the DOC had erred in calculating the release time of several...

Sen. Padden is awarded the Cultural Hero Award by (from left to right) Father Robert Spitzer, Camille Pauley, and Steve Lovejoy. Father Spitzer is the former president of Gonzaga University and co-founder of Healing the Culture with Camille Pauley. Steve Lovejoy is a board member of Healing the Culture. Washington...

As the scandal involving sales of fetal body parts continues to make headlines across the nation, Sen. Mike Padden is reminding Washington’s abortion providers that state law protects fetuses that have a heartbeat, are moving, or otherwise are showing signs of life outside the womb. Since 1981 the section of...

Thanks to the efforts of Senate Republicans, college students and their families will see tuition reduced by 5 percent across the board this fall, and by even more in 2016, for a total 15 percent reduction at UW and WSU and a total 20 percent at Eastern, Western, Central and...