January 18, 2017

Remembering Judge Sam Cozza, reforming DUI laws

The following newsletter was sent to subscribers to Sen. Padden’s newsletter Jan. 18, 2017. To subscribe to Sen. Padden’s newsletters, click here. Dear friends and neighbors, On Saturday, the people of our area will pay tribute to one of our best-respected jurists, Sam Cozza, presiding judge of the Spokane County Superior Court. Cozza...
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January 13, 2017

An out-of-bounds court casts shadow over Legislature

  By Sen. Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley Note: This op-ed originally appeared in the Valley News Herald, Spokane Valley, Jan. 13, 2017. In Olympia this year we’re going to be talking about a number of specific issues that have a direct impact on the people of the Spokane Valley and...
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January 12, 2017

Off and running in Olympia

The following newsletter was sent to subscribers to Sen. Padden’s newsletter Jan. 12, 2017. To subscribe to Sen. Padden’s newsletters, click here. Dear friends and neighbors, We’re off and running on our 2017 legislative session. The Legislature opened Monday for what is supposed to be 105 days at the state...
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January 10, 2017

Coroners’ inquests, investigations of police fatalities, subject of committee hearing Wednesday

OLYMPIA – The Senate Law and Justice Committee will hold a work session Wednesday, Jan. 11, on coroners’ investigations of police use of deadly force – a topic that has garnered much comment during the run-up to the 2017 legislative session. The hearing begins at 8 a.m. in Senate Hearing...
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January 09, 2017

2017 shaping up as busy year for Legislature

Taxes, other key issues for Spokane Valley, are on the table By Sen. Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley Note: This op-ed was originally published in the January 2017 editions of the Liberty Lake Splash and the Valley Current. The buzz about next year’s legislative session is all about education funding, proposals...
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December 16, 2016

Breaking the bank in 2017

The following newsletter was sent to subscribers to Sen. Padden’s newsletter Dec. 16, 2016. To subscribe to Sen. Padden’s newsletters, click here. Dear friends and neighbors, We’re getting ready again for another legislative session in Olympia, and it is looking like this will be one of the hardest-fought sessions in...
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November 30, 2016

Sen. Padden discusses 1976 Electoral College vote with KIRO radio

Sen. Padden spoke with KIRO radio in Seattle and reporter Feliks Banel about his 1976 vote in the Electoral College. Padden, a Republican elector from Washington’s 5th Congressional District, cast his ballot for Ronald Reagan, rather than President Gerald Ford, who carried the state in the general election, prompting legislation...
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November 23, 2016

Sen. Padden tells the story of his Electoral College vote

Sen. Padden appeared recently on a pair of national broadcasts aired on public radio networks, recounting the story of his 1976 Electoral College vote. Padden, a Republican elector from Washington’s 5th Congressional District, cast his ballot for Ronald Reagan, rather than Gerald Ford, who carried the state — one of...
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June 11, 2016

Sen. Mike Padden: DOC, governor must accept responsibility for deadly prison releases

This op-ed originally appeared in The (Spokane) Spokesman-Review, June 11, 2016. One of the most disturbing things about the deadly prison-release scandal at the Department of Corrections is the way top state officials keep telling us it wasn’t their fault. The governor’s investigators went to great lengths to blame midlevel...
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