Mike Padden

The end is near. If all goes as planned the regular 2022 legislative session will reach its scheduled conclusion later today. In 1866, as Surrogate of New York County, Gideon John Tucker famously wrote: “No man’s life, liberty or property is safe while the Legislature is in session.” Well, soon...

Today the Legislature approved mid-cycle updates to the state’s 2021-23 capital budget, which will fund several projects important to the 4th Legislative District. Senate Bill 5651 was passed by the House of Representatives on Tuesday by a vote of 98-0, and cleared the Senate unanimously today. In the supplemental plan,...

Last year, the Democrat-led majority in the Washington State Legislature pushed a police-reform agenda that many in the public and law enforcement have argued is proving to be unworkable and dangerous. Law-enforcement agencies across the state have spoken out on how the new laws are making it difficult and, in...

The 2022 session train keeps chugging along, and the end of the line is in sight. We have exactly one week to go until the scheduled end of this year’s regular session. Tomorrow is the final cut-off deadline to approve bills that originated in the House of Representatives, and for...

As we enter the homestretch of the 2022 legislative session, it’s budget week in Olympia. In odd-numbered years, the Legislature is required to create and pass three budgets: an operating budget, a transportation budget, and a capital budget. In the even-numbered years, like this one, lawmakers use the short session...

As we wrap up the sixth week of this 2022 legislative session, we have now passed the “cutoff” for Senate policy bills to move forward from the Senate, and likewise for bills in the House of Representatives. The good news: Some really good Senate bills survived the voting deadline and...

Today, as the Senate wrapped up its work for the year on Senate-sponsored legislation, it gave its approval to a measure sponsored by Sen. Mike Padden that would make it a crime to interfere with a firefighter or emergency medical services provider in the performance of their duty. “I was...

Lovick amendment would add treatment sentencing alternative In its final vote of Wednesday night, the Washington State Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 5054, a measure aimed at strengthening the state’s felony-DUI law and reducing the pain and suffering faced by victims of impaired drivers. The 48-0 vote sent the proposal to...

We’ve almost reached the end of the fifth week of the 2022 Legislature. Only four weeks remain in the regular session. The majority of this week has been spent on the Senate floor, voting on bills that were advanced by the policy and fiscal committees. The universe of measures we...