Sen. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, has introduced legislation to address growing privacy concerns stemming from a new state rule that loosens access to gender-specific facilities at public and private organizations. The rule change, quietly adopted by the state Human Rights Commission on Dec. 26, permits persons to use locker rooms,...

Update from Olympia – January 21, 2015 Greetings Friends and Neighbors, I hope your new year is off to a wonderful start. Things are already busy here in Olympia in the second week of the 2016 legislative session. With only 60 days in this “short” session, the Legislature must focus...

Controversial abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, has again garnered national attention with the release of another undercover video that indicates the organization may be continuing to skirt federal law with illegal abortion practices and by selling human body parts. The videos, four in all, appear to show conversations that could suggest...

A critical piece of legislation for Washington State’s economic health has been resurrected during the 2015 second special session. For two years Sen. Judy Warnick has been working to boost rural economic development. Wednesday the Senate approved Senate Bill 5442 which makes needed changes to the Community and Economic Revitalization...

Today, on the final day of the Legislature’s special session, the Senate unanimously voted to allocate $18 million to the State Drought Preparedness Account, allowing the state Department of Ecology to begin emergency drought response as soon as the bill is approved by the House of Representatives and signed into...

This post originally appeared in the leadership blog of the Senate Majority Coalition Caucus, Exit 105. What would you say if you were presented with an agreement over which you had no say, was negotiated in secret and cost you millions — and the only thing you could do was turn thumbs-up or...

Update from Olympia – May 19, 2015 Greetings Friends and Neighbors, The special session is scheduled to conclude on May 28. Budget negotiators have been working to bridge gaps in the respective proposals for the state’s two-year operating budget. The governor released his budget in December which called for increased...

Update from Olympia – May 6, 2015 Greetings Friends and Neighbors, The Legislature adjourned the 2015 regular session on Friday, April 24, two days before completing the 105 days for which it was scheduled. Because House Democrats continue to delay negotiation on a complete budget, we have now entered a...