Mike Padden

Washington residents must enroll in private insurance by Nov. 1 to escape new payroll tax Dear friends and neighbors, A new payroll tax for a state long-term care insurance program will soon go into effect, the result of legislation approved by the Legislature’s majority party. I strongly opposed this new...

One of the other challenges we have is making sure that there is much-needed oversight of the executive branch. Despite plans to reopen the state no later than June 30, the governor still refuses to relinquish his unilateral control by ending the state of emergency. Some agencies, such as the...

The pushback from the legislative session that concluded on April 25 continues to pour in for Governor Inslee. Taxpayers, Republicans, tribal leaders and even traditional allies like legislative Democrat leaders have called the governor out for overstepping his legal authority. You can read more about that below. It has been...

Measures would reduce barriers to condo construction and help protect free speech In a virtual ceremony today at the state Capitol, Gov. Jay Inslee signed two of Sen. Mike Padden’s measures from the 2021 legislative session. Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5024, which cleared both the House and Senate unanimously after...

We continue to see the fallout from the 2021 legislative session that adjourned on April 25. Less than two weeks after leaving Olympia, without addressing the governor’s emergency powers and one-person rule, members of the majority party from Pierce County are lamenting the fact that the governor has wielded his...

Today Gov. Jay Inslee signed Sen. Mike Padden’s legislation to help people with hearing impairments by increasing the availability of closed captioning on televisions in public places. According to Padden, Senate Bill 5027 is about addressing an important issue for the more than 20% of Washingtonians who suffer from some...

As the Legislature prepared to convene for this year’s session, state troopers were ordered to Olympia from across the state, joined by 750 National Guardsmen, and a fence was erected around the state Capitol, shutting out the public. After nearly four months of repeated calls from Republicans and members of...

Conservatives tend to be positive people, trying to see the best in every situation, but the most positive thing that can be said about the 2021 regular legislative session is that it is finally over. Beyond that, the news is not good. While this session clearly reflected the values of...

Awards ceremony honors ‘epic fails’ of 2021 legislative session The new income tax passed by majority Democrats in the Washington Legislature earned top honors in the first annual Galloping Gertie Awards, presented by the Senate Freedom Caucus to honor the biggest fails of the 2021 legislative session. The income tax...