Tag Archives: vehicle pursuits

Padden hopes traffic deaths, crime will drop as initiative restoring police pursuits goes into effect

Today marks the day when Initiative 2113, which restores police pursuits in Washington, goes into effect. State Sen. Mike Padden said the initiative, which was approved by the Legislature last March, should results in fewer traffic deaths in the state.

“Washington state is experiencing an increase in fatal and serious-injury crashes on our roads and highways that is shocking and heartbreaking. I-2113 should help officers apprehend dangerous drivers and make our roads and highways safer,” said Padden, R-Spokane Valley.

The 4^th District senator pointed to a recent Washington Traffic Safety Commission report revealing the state has reached a 33-year high for traffic fatalities. The report showed 810 people were killed in crashes involving a motor vehicle last year, an increase from 743 killed in 2022.

Of these 810 traffic deaths, nearly half (400) involved a drug- or alcohol-impaired driver, while 251 involved excessive speed, 171 involved not wearing a seatbelt or other restraint, and 135 involved a distracted driver.

“There are several factors that have resulted in the high number of traffic fatalities in recent years, but a key one has been the inability for officers to pursue vehicles in many situations. With I-2113 in effect, officers can pursue drivers in more instances and get them off our highways,” said Padden, the Republican leader on the Senate Law and Justice Committee.

Padden noted I-2113 will help reverse the growing crime problem in Washington.

“Crime is perhaps the greatest concern for citizens and communities throughout our state,” said Padden. “In fact, we have reached a crisis point in our state because of skyrocketing crime.

“After the Legislature passed laws a few years ago that restricted law-enforcement officers from pursuing suspects, criminals became more emboldened. They have acted in a more brazen manner as they commit crimes. The result was a sharp increase in auto theft, retail theft, burglary and other property crimes. Making matters worse, many auto thieves have used their stolen vehicles to smash into ‘pot shops’ to steal cash, or they use these cars as battering rams to break into other stores to steal merchandise.

“With Initiative 2113 now in effect, law-enforcement officers again are able to pursue suspects instead of helplessly watching them drive away,” added Padden.

The Washington State Patrol recorded nearly 8,000 incidents of drivers refusing to stop for troopers in the years after a controversial 2021 state law restricted police officers from chasing suspects.

ALERT – Property taxes could rise under bad bill moving in Senate

Note: The following e-newsletter was sent to Sen. Padden’s subscribers February 8, 2024. To subscribe to Sen. Padden’s newsletter, click here.

Dear friends and neighbors,

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that Senate Democrats are considering a bill this session that could dramatically raise your property taxes if enacted.

Unfortunately, this very bad and very expensive proposal is still alive. The Senate Ways and Means Committee on Monday voted to pass Senate Bill 5770, which would triple the allowable growth rate of annual property taxes collected by local governments in Washington. Governments currently may collect an additional 1% annually in property tax, plus any revenues attributable to the value of new construction, without having to seek voter approval. This proposal would change that increase from 1% to 3%. The state Department of Revenue has estimated that the proposed substitute version of SB 5770 would increase taxes by a whopping $7 billion over the next 10 years, with the compounding effect of the increase continuing to escalate over time.

There is talk in the Capitol that Senate Bill 5770 might be brought to the Senate floor as early as later today. If so, I will strongly oppose this very bad and unnecessary bill. Homeowners and landowners are paying enough in property taxes without being put in a position by the Legislature to pay even more.

If you have questions about how to participate in state government this year or thoughts to share on anything in this e-newsletter, please give me a call or send me an email.

Thank you, as always, for the honor of representing you in Olympia!

Best Regards,

Senator Mike Padden

Bill requiring insurance to own guns dies in committee

Every year in Olympia, Democrats sponsor several bills that infringe on law-abiding gun owners in one way or another.

It’s good to report that one of the more outrageous anti-2^nd Amendment bills has been stopped this year.

Senate Bill 5963, introduced by 48^th District Senator Patty Kuderer of Bellevue, would require gun owners, including renters, to have a home insurance policy simply for owning a firearm.

The NRA provided ample reason why SB 5963 is bad legislation:

Mandating insurance policies will in no way reduce crime and the illicit use of firearms, as criminals and other prohibited persons could never secure coverage. Instead, this legislation would serve as a barrier to those seeking to exercise their rights, including unknown annual costs. SB 5963 could be utilized as a backdoor registration scheme, which would include sensitive personal information on firearm owners, including name, address, phone number and other identifiers. Additionally, given the uncertainty if this type of coverage would even exist, it could put insurance companies in a position of increased pricing on policies based on the types and number of firearms covered. This legislation is not rooted in public safety, but instead provides an additional avenue for the Washington State Legislature to harass and burden law-abiding citizens.

As Republican leader in the Senate Law and Justice Committee, Senator Padden helped lead the successful effort to keep Senate Bill 5963 from being approved by the panel.

For many gun owners, SB 5963 represents yet another Democrat-sponsored bill to make it harder and more expensive to own a gun. Of the nearly 2,100 people who signed up to express their opinion on this measure when it received a public hearing in the Senate Law and Justice Committee on January 29, over 1,300 (62%) opposed it.

Among the many people who testified against SB 5963 was Jeremy Ball, who owns a shooting range in Spokane. You can view and hear Jeremy’s testimony here.

Those testifying against the bill made several worthy arguments:

This bill will make housing in Washington even less affordable.
The bill would require an ongoing fee, in the form of insurance, to exercise a constitutional right.
SB 5963 would not reduce gun crimes because it only addresses accidental discharge.
If this passes, gun owners will be forced to choose between housing and keeping their firearm.
Reporting of firearm ownership to insurance companies is akin to a firearm registry.
The insurance products described in this bill do not exist.
Citizens will be priced out of gun ownership because of the increased cost of purchasing insurance.
This bill discriminates against gun owners.
Impoverished people would suffer the most under this bill due to the increased costs associated with protecting themselves.
This bill is unnecessary. Firearms account for less than one percent of preventable accidents.

Fortunately, thanks in large part to the vast opposition to SB 5963 during its public hearing, as well as the many calls and emails from gun supporters to key legislators on the Law and Justice Committee, the bill was not brought up for a vote, so it is dead – at least until next year.

However, it would not be surprising if Democrats choose to introduce the same bill in 2025.

Six initiatives to the Legislature still ‘held hostage’ by not receiving public hearings

This poster, featuring Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and seen on the Capitol campus in Olympia, underscores how the state’s capital-gains tax could force residents to leave Washington.

It’s very disappointing that Democrat leaders in the Senate and House still have not scheduled public hearings on the six initiatives that were sent to the Legislature earlier this session. These measures each received more than 400,000 signatures and collectively over 2.6 million signatures. Here’s what each would do:

Initiative 2113 deals with police pursuits. It would erase certain requirements that since 2021 have prevented law-enforcement officers from pursuing a suspect unless they think someone has committed certain crimes, including a violent offense or driving while impaired. It has been sent to the Senate Law and Justice Committee for consideration.
I-2117 would repeal the state’s costly climate policy, called “cap-and-trade” by some but “cap-and-tax” or “cap-and-gouge,” by opponents who note this law has caused gas prices to rise substantially. The climate policy became state law in 2021 and took full effect early last year. It is now in the Senate Environment, Energy and Technology Committee.
I-2081 would give parents the right to review K-12 instructional materials and require parental notification of school-provided medical services. It has been referred to the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee.
I-2109 would repeal the state capital-gains tax that was passed by the Democrat-controlled Legislature in 2021. It is now in the Senate Ways and Means Committee.
I-2111 would ban any local or state government in our state from imposing an income tax. Like I-2109, this measure is in the Ways and Means Committee.
I-2124 would allow people to opt out of the mandatory payroll tax for the state-run long-term care program. It is before the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee.

Legislators have three options with initiatives to the Legislature: 1) adopt the initiative as written, in which case it becomes law; 2) refuse to pass it, which would result in the measure automatically being placed on the statewide ballot next fall; 3) propose and approve an alternative initiative, in which case both the original initiative and the alternative would both appear together on the fall statewide ballot.

Another poster found around the Capitol points out how I-2113 would help improve public safety by restoring police pursuits in Washington.

There are rumors that the Democrats might schedule public hearings on three of the initiatives – parental rights (I-2081), banning any income tax (I-2111) and restoring the ability of police to pursue (I-2113). However, if the hearings occur, it would not happen until after the February 13 “floor cutoff” for the Senate to pass bills that originated in our chamber.

Senate passes second Padden bill removing red tape from construction of smaller condominiums

A year ago, the Legislature unanimously approved a bill that I prime-sponsored that helps encourage home ownership in Washington by making it easier to construct smaller condominium buildings.

A similar condo-construction measure that I introduced is advancing this year following its unanimous passage Tuesday. The proposal now goes to the House of Representatives for consideration.

Senate Bill 5792 would exclude buildings with 12 or fewer units that are no more than three stories high from the definition of “multiunit residential building” if one story is utilized for above- or below-ground parking or retail space.

This bill builds on last year’s efforts to have more housing options for Washington’s middle class. Condominiums provide an affordable path to homeownership for first-time homebuyers.

When SB 5792 received a public hearing in the Senate Law and Justice Committee last month, several people testified in favor of it, including Spokane Valley City Council member Rod Higgins, Spokane City Council President Betsy Wilkerson, Greenstone Corporation’s Jim Frank and officials from the Washington Realtors Association and the Building Industry Association of Washington.

The law created by last year’s condo bill, Senate Bill 5058, exempts buildings with 12 or fewer units that are no more than two stories high from the definition of “multiunit residential building.”

Washington has one of the lower homeownership rates in the nation, and both policies can help our state address this problem. These smaller condominiums would still have the same building requirements that a townhouse or single-family house would have.

The combination of that law and this year’s new bill, if it is enacted, should result in more homeownership in the state.

Contact us!

If you have a question or concern about state government, please do not hesitate to contact our office. During the session we are conducting business from our Senate office in Olympia. We are here to serve you!

Phone: (360) 786-7606

Olympia Office: 215 Legislative Modular Building, Olympia, WA 98504-0404

Email address: Mike.Padden@leg.wa.gov

PLEASE NOTE: Any email or documents you provide to this office may be subject to disclosure under RCW 42.56. If you would prefer to communicate by phone, please contact Sen. Padden’s Olympia office at (360) 786-7606.

To request public records from Sen. Padden, please contact Randi Stratton, the designated public records officer for the Secretary of the Senate and Senate members.

Senate resolution honors Seattle Mariners on 2022 playoff run

Note: The following e-newsletter was sent to Sen. Padden’s subscribers April 20, 2023. To subscribe to Sen. Padden’s newsletter, click here.

It was great to meet with former Seattle Mariners catcher Dan Wilson during his visit to the Capitol this morning.

Dear friends and neighbors,

After more than 100 days of committee meetings and floor sessions in Olympia, this year’s regular legislative session will end this Sunday, April 23.

Before the Legislature wraps up for the year, there are still important tasks for the Senate and House to finish, including passage of a new two-year state operating budget. The two chambers also will need to reach final agreement on new two-year state capital and transportation budgets.

The Senate and House also will spend these final days negotiating on a handful of bills that are “in dispute,” meaning that one chamber disagrees with changes to a bill made by the second chamber.

During a typical Senate floor session, members will debate and vote on a number of bills and amendments. But occasionally we also sponsor resolutions that are read aloud on the floor. The resolutions often recognize or honor notable individuals or group in our state. Sometimes, these resolutions recognize sports teams or athletes. One of the Northwest’s beloved pro sports teams was honored today.

The Senate took a couple of minutes from today’s busy floor schedule to pass a resolution congratulating the Seattle Mariners on reaching the 2022 American League playoffs and ending their 21-year postseason drought. After the resolution was read aloud and then approved by the Senate, a number of senators spoke about the team and its exciting season. You can watch a video of my floor speech on the resolution here.

Earlier this morning, before the resolution was read on the floor, former Mariners catcher Dan Wilson came to the Capitol to meet with fans, sign autographs and have photos taken. I enjoyed chatting with Dan and hearing his thoughts on the current Mariners team and a couple of fun stories about his playing days.

This newsletter covers several other issues and events happening in Olympia in this past week.

If you have questions about how to participate in state government this year or thoughts to share on anything in this e-newsletter, please give me a call or send me an email.

Thank you, as always, for the honor of serving as your state senator!

Best Regards,

Senator Mike Padden

Legislature passes two Padden bills this week

I was pleased that the Legislature this week approved two of my bills.

Senate Bill 5218 would make the sale of motorized wheelchairs and other mobility-improving equipment tax-exempt. The House unanimously passed it on Monday after the Senate unanimously approved it on March 31. It has been sent to the governor for his signature. No signing date has been scheduled yet, but bills passed by the Legislature that are delivered to the governor more than five days before the Legislature adjourns must be acted on within five days (not counting Sundays) – otherwise they automatically become law. The governor has 20 days (except Sundays) to act on bills that are delivered fewer than five days before session ends.

Senate Bill 5096 would aid businesses looking to adopt an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) corporate structure. The House unanimously passed an amended version of this bill on Monday. The Senate yesterday voted 48-0 to concur with the House’s changes, so this bill has been approved by the Legislature and soon will go to the governor.

Last week, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 5058, which would help encourage home ownership in our state by making it easier for smaller condominium buildings to be constructed. It specifically would exempt buildings with 12 or fewer units that are no more than two stories from the definition of multiunit residential building. It was sent to Governor Inslee on Tuesday.

DUI lookback bill is still alive as part of HB 1493

House Bill 1493, which deals with impaired driving, includes language from SB 5032, my bipartisan proposal that would expand the period for reviewing prior convictions of impaired driving to 15 years, from the 10 years now in state law, when determining whether a new offense of impaired driving is charged as a felony. Under SB 5032, any person who has three or more prior DUI offenses within that 15-year lookback period would face a felony, rather than the current penalty of a gross misdemeanor. SB 5032 would give offenders a chance to undergo a highly structured treatment program.

After the Senate last week passed the version of HB 1493 that includes the language in SB 5032, the House on Monday refused to concur with the Senate’s changes to that bill, so the Senate today amended the measure in a way that will result in the House giving its final approval. Once that happens, the bill will go to the governor.

Updated 4th District government guide still available

Every year or two, our office produces and mails a 4^th District government guide to residents of our legislative district. With the help of my staff, we recently produced and sent out an updated government guide that includes helpful contact information on your local, state and federal government elected officials, as well as other government services. The online version of the new government guide can be found here.

If you did not receive the new government guide and would like a printed copy, please contact my legislative assistant, Irina, in our Olympia office by either calling at 360-786-7606 or emailing her at irina.dolbinina@leg.wa.gov.

Controversial bills still alive as session nears end

Over the past several days, the Senate and House reached agreement on a large number of bills. Most of these compromise measures received strong bipartisan support in the Senate.

But there have been some bad bills that I could not support that either have been passed by the Democrat majorities in the House and Senate or are still alive at this point of session.

One very controversial bill that is still alive is Senate Bill 5599. Under this proposal, parents of runaway children seeking gender-affirming care would not be notified by a licensed shelter or host home if the child was taken in there. (The bill would require a shelter or host home to report to the Department of Children, Youth and Families within 72 hours of the child being there.) This proposal has caused a tidal wave of opposition from many people across the state. They have argued that the bill ignores the rights of parents to know where their children are.

After the Senate passed it 27-19 on March 1, the House amended and then approved the bill 57-39 on April 12, just before the House’s floor cutoff. (The Spokesman-Review published this story earlier this week on the House passing SB 5599.) The Senate yesterday voted along party lines, 29-20, to concur (or agree) with the House changes to the bill, so, unfortunately, it has been approved by the Legislature and soon will be sent to the governor.

Another controversial bill that is still alive this session is Senate Bill 5352, which deals with vehicle pursuits. As some of you know, the Democrat-controlled Legislature in 2021 severely weakened Washington’s vehicle-pursuit law by allowing law-enforcement officers to pursue a suspect only if they have probable cause to believe the driver has committed a violent or sexual crime, or escaped from jail. The 2021 law also allows pursuits for reasonable suspicion of DUI. But the law prohibits pursuits for auto thefts and burglaries.

Since the 2021 law went into effect, auto thefts in Washington have skyrocketed. According to a report by the National Insurance Crime Bureau, auto thefts rose 31% in Washington from 2021 to 2022, the second-largest increase after Illinois. The total number of vehicle thefts in our state last year was 46,939, which ranks Washington third after only California and Texas, the two most populous states in the America. (Washington is the 13^th most populous state.)

SB 5352 would lower the threshold for law enforcement to chase suspects from probable cause to reasonable suspicion of violent and sex crimes. Pursuits for domestic violence and vehicular assaults also would be allowed under the proposal.

I voted against this bill because it doesn’t get the job done in restoring officers’ ability to pursue suspects. For instance, under SB 5352, officers still could not chase after people suspected of auto theft or reckless driving. Because SB 5352 still restricts officers from pursuing auto-theft suspects, this crime will continue to be a huge problem here in Washington.

The Senate originally passed SB 5352 in March. After the House amended and then approved it 57-40 on April 10, the Senate voted 26-22 on Monday to concur with the House’s changes to the proposal, so it will soon go to Governor Inslee for his consideration.

A third bad bill that has passed is House Bill 1240, which would ban the sale or purchase in our state of modern sporting rifles. After the Senate had amended and then passed HB 1240 on April 8, the House refused to concur with the Senate’s changes, so the bill returned to our chamber, where Senate Democrats voted to remove the Senate’s original amendments and then adopt new amendments. Under the most recent amendment that was approved by the Senate Democrats, firearms dealers in Washington would be allowed to sell or transfer their existing stock of firearms affected by the ban – provided they were acquired before Jan. 1, 2023. However, the sales could only be to out-of-state customers, and only for 90 days after the governor signs the measure into law). The House yesterday voted 56-42 to agree with the latest version of HB 1240, so it will go to the governor.

I have voted against each version of HB 1240 because it restricts the rights of gun owners.

Bill to raise property-tax cap won’t pass this year, says Senate Democrat

In recent weeks, one of the more controversial bills to appear this session was Senate Bill 5770. It would triple the cap (to 3%, from the current 1%) on annual increases in the property taxes levied by state and local governments. The 1% cap was first implemented by the voters in 2001, through Initiative 747; after the state Supreme Court declared it invalid six years later, a Democrat-controlled Legislature quickly reinstated the 1% limit with the blessing of a Democratic governor (former Gov. Gregoire).

Following a huge outcry by Republicans and property owners, the bill’s prime sponsor, Sen. Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle, told The Center Square in an email that “SB 5770 will not be advancing this year.” (You can read The Center Square article here.) That is good news for homeowners and property owners. But as he specified “this year,” we must expect another push for this unpopular measure next year.

KVI Radio interview on transgender men housed in women’s prison

This morning I did a live phone interview with Seattle-based KVI Radio talk show host John Carlson. We discussed transgender men being housed in a state women’s corrections facility. I also provided an update on the legislative session. You can hear that interview here.

Fuel prices continue to rise, thanks to “cap-and-trade”

When the Democrat-controlled Legislature in 2021 passed the Climate Commitment Act, creating a “cap-and-trade” program that went into effect this Jan. 1, the governor claimed that “cap-and-trade” would raise fuel prices by only a few cents a gallon.

Anybody who has bought gas or diesel in the past few months will tell you the governor is very wrong. According to this story by the Washington Policy Center’s Todd Myers, since Jan. 1, our state’s “gas prices have increased between 35 and 52 cents more than neighboring state since the state launched a tax on CO2 emissions at the beginning of the year. (See chart above that was featured in the WPC story.) Despite the clear data, state politicians and agency staff refuse to acknowledge the cost of the increases and aren’t helping residents deal with the impact of the costs.”

Todd’s story points out that the difference between Washington’s gas prices and the average of Oregon and Idaho increased by about 44 cents per gallon since the beginning of this year. This significant difference will make it very tempting for some drivers living near the state border to cross into Idaho to fuel up. That would hurt Washington gas stations located near the border.

The Climate Commitment Act included language that would have exempted fuel for farming, barging, maritime and aviation from higher costs caused by the cap-and-trade program. However, farmers and others have not received this exemption. They continue to pay the extra cost created by cap-and-trade. Bills were introduced this session to implement this exemption, but they went nowhere. It is wrong for the Department of Ecology, which is in charge of the cap-and-trade program, to not fix this problem and make the expected exemption a reality. DOE and Governor Inslee need to fix this problem soon this year before wheat grown on eastern Washington farms is harvested and shipped via barge down the Snake and Columbia rivers.

Contact us!

Phone: (360) 786-7606

Olympia Office: 215 Legislative Modular Building, Olympia, WA 98504-0404

Email address: Mike.Padden@leg.wa.gov

To request public records from Sen. Padden, please contact Randi Stratton, the designated public records officer for the Secretary of the Senate and Senate members.

Bills passed by Senate don’t go far enough to combat drugs, allow police to pursue suspects

Note: The following e-newsletter was sent to Sen. Padden’s subscribers March 10, 2023. To subscribe to Sen. Padden’s newsletter, click here.

The Senate just passed a milestone for the 2023 legislative session. Wednesday was the “floor cutoff,” the last day for the Senate to vote on Senate bills, except measures that are considered necessary for the upcoming state operating, capital and transportation budgets.

With the “floor cutoff” behind us, the Senate has returned its focus to committee meetings, this time to hold public hearings on bills passed by the House. Meanwhile, House committees are holding public hearings on legislation approved by the Senate. The 105-day legislative session is scheduled to end April 23.

During the final days before the floor cutoff, the Senate passed two bills that try to address significant public safety issues. However, both measures failed to significantly improve public safety.

The first of these two measures is Senate Bill 5536. This proposal is the latest attempt to address a problem created by a controversial ruling by our state Supreme Court two years ago.

On February 25, 2021, the Supreme Court in State v. Blake ruled Washington’s felony drug-possession statute was unconstitutional because it criminalized possession even when a person did not knowingly have drugs.

The Blake ruling basically decriminalized drug possession or drug use. As you can guess, this decision by the Supreme Court caught the Legislature’s attention two years ago. Two months after the Blake ruling, the Democrat majorities in the 2021 Legislature passed Senate Bill 5476. Every Senate Republican opposed the bill on final passage, along with a couple of Democrats. This law reduced the criminal penalty for possessing an illegal drug like fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine from a felony to a misdemeanor. The language in the legislation prevented even the misdemeanor from being prosecuted.

The action taken by the Legislature two years ago in response to Blake did not work. Plus, the law created by SB 5476 expires this year, so the Legislature needs to take new action on drug possession this session or hard drugs will be legal rather than just effectively legal.

Last Friday night, the Senate voted 28-21 to pass Senate Bill 5536, which aims to provide a solution to the state’s drug laws after the Blake ruling. The bill declares that possession of fentanyl, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine would be charged as a gross misdemeanor after three diversions.

I was among the 21 senators (some were Republicans, others were Democrats) who voted against the proposal. This bill does not go far enough to provide the leverage needed to help people get off dangerous drugs. It’s disappointing that the Senate did not restore making possession of fentanyl and other hard drugs a felony, as it was before the Supreme Court upended our state’s drug laws in the Blake decision two years ago. The threat of a longer sentence is a needed motivation for drug offenders to undergo treatment. We need a balance between accountability and treatment that this legislation doesn’t achieve.

In recent years, our state has endured a startling increase in drug-overdose deaths, and two-thirds of these deaths involve fentanyl. Law enforcement in our state has pointed out the importance of tougher penalties for drug possession in order to incentivize drug users to get the treatment they need to hopefully become clean. I’m concerned that we are missing the chance to create a true ‘carrot-and-stick’ approach to combat drug use in Washington.

While Senate Bill 5536 is an improvement over the inadequate drug-possession law passed in 2021, it does not go far enough to make meaningful and needed changes to our state’s drug laws.

SB 5536 now goes to the House of Representatives for further consideration.

The second public safety measure passed by the Senate that I opposed is Senate Bill 5352, a proposal that deals with vehicle pursuits of suspects by law-enforcement officers. The Senate passed SB 5352 on a 26-23 vote. There were 16 Democrats and 10 Republicans who voted for it, while 13 Democrats and 10 Republicans voted against it.

SB 5352 fails to sufficiently fix the problem created two years ago. It is, however, a vehicle for the Legislature to address the inability of law enforcement to pursue criminals.

The Democratic majorities in the Legislature changed state law in 2021 to limit the ability of officers to pursue suspects. Before the change, officers needed “reasonable suspicion” to initiate a vehicle pursuit of suspects. The new law only allows such vehicle pursuits based on “probable cause.” As a result, officers have been forced to watch criminals drive off. It also has emboldened criminals to commit other crimes and victimize others and resulted in a loss of lives.

According to the Washington State Patrol, between 2014 and 2020 an average of 1,200 suspects per year fled from police. In 2022, after the pursuit standard was changed to probable cause, 3,100 suspects fled — an increase of more than 150%. Before the change in this law, the statewide record for stolen cars in a single year was 30,000. That climbed to nearly 47,000 stolen vehicles in 2022.

Under SB 5352 as approved by the Senate Wednesday, a vehicle pursuit can occur if there is reasonable suspicion, but only for suspicion of violent offenses, sex offenses, vehicular assault offenses, assault in the first-to-fourth degree involving domestic violence, an escape or a driving-under-the-influence offense.

During floor debate on the measure, I offered a floor amendment that would have permitted an officer to engage in a vehicle pursuit if the officer has reasonable suspicion a person inside the vehicle has committed or is committing theft of a motor vehicle. We are fourth in the U.S. for auto thefts per capita. The amendment was defeated along party lines 29-20.

This newsletter covers other issues and events happening in Olympia in this past week.

If you have questions about how to participate in state government this year or thoughts to share on anything in this e-newsletter, please give me a call or send me an email.

Thank you, as always, for the honor of serving as your state senator!

Best Regards,

Senator Mike Padden

Senate passes ‘DUI lookback’ bill for third straight year

For third year in a row, the Senate has passed legislation of mine that aims to decrease impaired driving.

Senate Bill 5032 , which was approved 48-1 on Wednesday, would expand the period for reviewing prior convictions of impaired driving to 15 years, from the 10 years now in state law, when determining whether a new offense of impaired driving is charged as a felony. The proposal would increase the penalty from a gross misdemeanor to a felony offense for any person who has three or more prior DUI offenses within that “lookback” period.

Our state has seen an alarming increase in traffic deaths over the past few years, and drunk driving and drug-impaired driving are two leading causes.

The Washington Traffic Safety Commission reported that road deaths in our state reached a 20-year high in 2021. There were 670 traffic deaths in 2021, including 272 fatalities involving drug-impaired driving and 155 deaths involving alcohol-impaired driving. In 2020, Washington had 574 traffic fatalities, including 214 involving drug-impaired driving and 135 involving alcohol-impaired driving.

The commission has a current preliminary estimate of 745 traffic fatalities in 2022. No 2022 figures on traffic deaths involving drug- or alcohol-impaired driving are available yet.

This bill would help get the most dangerous drivers off the road and into treatment. Our state has seen too many accidents and fatalities caused by drunk and drug-impaired drivers, especially repeat offenders. This bill could help reverse this tragic trend.

Many traffic fatalities in the state involve drivers who have had as many as eight DUI offenses, but the current 10-year lookback period is not long enough to allow the state to impose stronger punishment against such offenders.

Repeat impaired-driving offenders commit most of the vehicular homicides and vehicular assaults in Washington. This is a bill to try to prevent those horrible, senseless crimes.

SB 5032 would give offenders a chance to undergo a highly structured treatment program.

SB 5032 now goes to the House of Representatives for more consideration.

A similar proposal that I introduced, Senate Bill 5054, was passed by the Senate during the 2021 and 2022 legislative sessions, including unanimous approval last year. The bill later died in the House both years.

Custodial sexual misconduct bill receives House hearing

Sen. Padden talks to members of the House Community Safety, Justice and Reentry Committee during his testimony on Senate Bill 5033.

Senate Bill 5033, a bipartisan measure that I introduced that would impose longer sentences on sexually abusive jail and prison guards, received a public hearing yesterday in the House Community Safety, Justice and Reentry Committee.

This proposal would reclassify the crime of first-degree custodial sexual misconduct as a Class B felony, allowing a prison term of 10 years instead of the current five-year maximum.

Officers who work in our state’s correctional facilities are part of the law-enforcement community. Like all the other officers who serve the public, corrections officers must be held to a high standard, especially when you consider the unique level of authority they have over people in custody. Senate Bill 5033 would increase the punishment for corrections officers who sexually assault or abuse inmates in the course of their jobs.

The bill was inspired by a KING-TV investigation about a Clallam County jail guard, John Gray, who was convicted in 2021 of two felony and two misdemeanor counts of custodial sexual misconduct and served 13 months of his 20-month sentence.

Just as she did when SB 5033 received a hearing in the Senate Law and Justice Committee earlier this session, Dawn Reid testified in favor of the proposal during its House hearing. Reid is the mother of Kimberly Bender, a 23-year-old Quileute woman who died by suicide in her Forks jail cell in 2019 after reporting to city officials that Gray harassed her.

March 29 is the last day for House policy committees to pass Senate bills.

Chart reveals operating budget growth

As Democratic budget writers prepare to unveil a two-year state operating budget proposal in a few weeks, it is worth seeing how much the operating budget has grown in recent years. As this chart shows, the budget has experienced a 108% spending increase since 2015 if you factor in Governor Inslee’s $70.4 billion proposed budget.

Contact us!

Phone: (360) 786-7606

Olympia Office: 215 Legislative Modular Building, Olympia, WA 98504-0404

Email address: Mike.Padden@leg.wa.gov

To request public records from Sen. Padden, please contact Randi Stratton, the designated public records officer for the Secretary of the Senate and Senate members.

Despite Republican objections, committee passes incomplete ‘police pursuit’ bill

Democrats on the Senate Law and Justice Committee yesterday turned back new attempts by Republicans to fix a criminal-friendly flaw in Washington’s law regarding police pursuits of suspected criminals. They stuck instead to a partisan approach that would delay a solution for at least 18 months, and do nothing in the meantime to address the spike in crime seen since new pursuit restrictions took effect in July 2021.

As passed by the committee, Senate Bill 5533 would create a “model vehicle pursuit policy work group” within the state Criminal Justice Training Commission. The work group would comprise both community and law-enforcement stakeholders, including the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, the Washington Fraternal Order of Police, a community organization working on traffic-safety issues, and a statewide organization working on police accountability. The CJTC would be required to present the model vehicle pursuit policy to the Legislature by Oct. 31, 2024.

“This bill won’t fix the problems caused by not allowing law-enforcement officers to use ‘reasonable suspicion’ when they decide whether to engage in vehicle pursuits of suspects. Instead, it would basically kick this important issue down the road for 18 months, or maybe longer, by having the state Criminal Justice Training Commission start a work group on it,” said 4^th District Sen. Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley. “A key reason why Washington is seeing a spike in crime is because officers are not allowed to pursue suspects in most cases. We need to take action now on this matter, not study it for a year or longer.”

Before the committee passed Senate Bill 5533, Padden, who is the committee’s lead Republican, and another committee member, 39^th District Sen. Keith Wagoner, offered amendments to improve the proposal.

Wagoner’s amendment would have kept SB 5533, if passed into law, from taking effect unless the Legislature also passes a bill changing the threshold required for a law-enforcement officer to engage in a vehicular pursuit from probable cause to reasonable suspicion. Wagoner’s amendment was ruled “out of scope” by the Law and Justice Committee chair, 45^th District Sen. Manka Dhingra. After Padden challenged the ruling, the committee voted 5-5 on the amendment, which means it did not pass.

After his amendment was rejected, Wagoner spoke to the committee about SB 5533.

“We’ve been hearing from our communities, from our mayors, from our county commissioners, from our police departments, how important it is for us to fix this. I haven’t heard any calls to study it. I’ve heard many calls to fix it, and it is important that we get the fix right. That’s why I support the study and I support the idea of a model policy that protects everyone. But in the meantime, we are not keeping our communities as safe as we could. We can argue about cause and effect…but I know this for a fact: The switch went one way and things got worse. It might be prudent to switch the switch the other way and see if we can at least maintain the status quo or get things better while we study a model policy,” said Wagoner, R-Sedro-Woolley.

“Sometimes, when the Legislature doesn’t want to move on something, we kick it to a joint task force or a study. I don’t want to see that happen with something that is so critically important to the safety of our communities,” added Wagoner.

This video captures Wagoner’s remarks to the committee after his amendment was rejected.

Padden’s amendment would have added required members to the work group and also added additional factors the work group must consider in drafting a model policy for the training and use of vehicular pursuits for officers. The amendment was defeated along party lines. This video shows Padden explaining his amendment.

When James McMahan with the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs testified before the Law and Justice Committee on the bill Monday, he said the Washington State Patrol reports more than 3,100 people have fled from police stops since the 2021 pursuit statute went into play, and about 500 fewer people total have been pursued.