Mike Padden

Today the Senate adopted a resolution sponsored by Sen. Mike Padden, honoring people with Down syndrome and recognizing the efforts of people and organizations working on behalf of those with developmental disabilities. Padden shared his personal commitment to policies that recognize the rights of those with Down syndrome. “As a...

Watch a video featuring comments from Sen. Padden and some of the Down syndrome self-advocates who attended today’s reading of Senate Resolution 8657, honoring those with Down syndrome and recognizing those individuals and organizations who advocate on their behalf.

Senate plan invests in schools, recreation and job creation On Wednesday the state Senate released a $3.9 billion bipartisan capital-budget proposal for 2015-17 that would build more than 2,100 classrooms, fully fund 80 parks and trails, and devote $60 million to local-government infrastructure projects statewide. Sen. Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley,...

Early Friday morning, the Senate unanimously passed our bill to make a fourth DUI conviction in 10 years a felony. The policy is also funded in the Senate’s state budget proposal. This is great news. We’ve been working for a number of years to get this change through the Legislature,...

Early this morning, at the end of a marathon session by lawmakers, the Washington State Senate unanimously passed Sen. Mike Padden’s bill to make a fourth DUI conviction in 10 years a felony. The policy is also funded in the Senate’s operating budget proposal, which was debated last night and...

There are just four weeks left in the 2015 regular legislative session. Today – day 75 of the 105-day session – the majority party in the House of Representatives finally released its proposed operating budget. I’ll have more information on its proposal in my next update, but the initial news...

Today the Washington State House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Sen. Mike Padden’s bill to protect private-property owners from having their property taken by government and given to a private company for economic-development purposes. The bill also would clarify that issues of blight and economic development are not sufficient...

Today the House Commerce and Gaming Committee heard public testimony on a bill sponsored by Sen. Mike Padden that would increase fines for the sale of designer drugs, such as synthetic cannabinoids, cathinones and methcathinones – commonly referred to as “bath salts.” The measure would also create a civil liability...

While our work on bills continues, I was reminded this week of why our efforts to pass legislation dealing with human trafficking and sexual exploitation of children are so important. As the Spokesman-Review reports, Spokane County inmates orchestrated sex crimes from their jail cells by arranging prostitution of underage girls....