 PO Box 40402, Olympia, WA 98504 | 360.786.7602 | Jim.McCune@leg.wa,gov
FOR ASSISTANCE, PLEASE CONTACT MY LEGISLATIVE ASSISTANT:
Matthew Smith | matthew.smith@leg.wa.gov | 360-786-7602
 March 16, 2025
2025 Session passes half-way point
 Dear friends and neighbors,
This has been a busy time as the House and Senate have been voting on bills.
Wednesday, March 12 was the last day for the Senate and the House of Representatives to act on their own bills. Policy committees have until April 2 to act on bills from the opposite chamber, and fiscal committees have until April 8 to act. Bills necessary to implement the budget are exempt from those deadlines and can be raised until the end of session.
Although we are now well past the halfway mark of the session we have yet to see a draft budget from the majority party. Instead of a serious budget, Democrats have tried to act as though our only choice is between a budget with drastic cuts to services or a budget that is built on the largest tax hikes in state history.
This is a false choice, and Republicans proved it by introducing a budget that funds our priorities, increases funding for law enforcement and doesn't raid the rainy day fund -- all with no new or raised taxes! You can read more about that below.
Thank you, as always, for the opportunity to represent you in Olympia. If there is anything I can do for you, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I am here to help.
Sincerely,
 Sen. Jim McCune, 2nd Legislative District
 $ave Washington budget plan funds priorities without new taxes
 WATCH VIDEO OF SENATE REPUBLICANS ROLLING OUT THE $AVE WASHINGTON BUDGET.
The budget proposal unveiled by Senate Republicans is proof that state lawmakers can adopt a new two-year operating budget that is better for education, protects our state’s most vulnerable citizens, and invests in public safety, without increasing the tax burden on struggling Washington families or irresponsibly raiding the state’s rainy-day fund.
The $ave Washington approach works by applying basic family-budgeting principles on a much larger scale:
- The $75.6 billion Republican plan represents a 5% increase in spending from the two-year budget that will expire June 30. State revenues are expected to grow 7.6 percent.
- Spending is focused on priorities: For the first time in six years, K-12 education would receive a larger share of the budget, with hundreds of millions more going to special education and classroom materials.
- The plan would preserve and maintain services for seniors, people with developmental disabilities, and those needing behavioral-health treatment.
- It would also make grants available to communities for hiring law-enforcement officers.
 To help make the additional investments in priorities, the Republican budget plan would freeze the rates and eligibility threshold for state-subsidized childcare, institute reforms at the Department of Children, Youth and Families to reduce administrative costs in favor of increasing front-line workers – “boots on the ground,” and avoid new Democratic spending that hasn’t gone into effect yet.
Additional savings come from a collection of reforms and efficiencies that make government work better.
This budget proves that there are solutions. Olympia simply has to get back to responsible budgeting and stop coming back to taxpayers with its hands out.
 On Air:
Sen. McCune Warns Against OSPI Overreach on KONA
 Click here to listen now.
I was recently on KONA Radio speaking about a really bad Democrat bill that would allow OSPI to penalize schools for not following certain ideological policies.
The Democrat-backed bill (SB 5179) would allow OSPI to cut funding, remove school board members, and enforce political agendas in schools. The bill violates federal law and the Constitution, and I expect legal challenges if it passes. We must reject this bill.
In The News:
Snitching on schools: Senate passes bill to tattletale on schools not following state education laws
BY MATT MARKOVICH, MYNORTHWEST | March 11, 2025
A bill that critics argue sets up a “snitch line” for reporting school districts that do not comply with state law has passed the Washington State Senate along party lines.
Senate Bill 5179, which cleared the chamber Monday with a 30-19 vote creates a new complaint process allowing students, parents, and even local community members to report schools for “willful noncompliance” with state education laws. Every Democrat voted in favor, while all Republicans opposed it.
...Republicans strongly opposed the measure, with Senator Jim McCune (R-Pierce County) condemning it as “socialism” and an attack on school autonomy.
“We’re putting a strong arm on schools that don’t want to teach the horrible sex-ed bill we have in the state of Washington,” McCune said. “They don’t want to teach gender ideology, they don’t want to teach DEI, and now you’re going to have a snitch line for them if they don’t do it.”
Click here to read more.
On Social:
Follow me on X (formerly Twitter) for the latest news out of Olympia
 BAD BILL ALERT:
 Democrats' troubling last-minute constitutional amendment
A constitutional amendment proposed at what amounts to the last minute is cause for concern because it would allow minors to get irreversible gender-altering surgery at any age without parental notification or consent.
Senate Joint Resolution 8204 was introduced this past Monday, with 28 Senate Democrats signed onto it as cosponsors.
SJR 8204 would prevent the Legislature from enacting laws in the future that would protect children from predatory medical ideology. Such bills would "interfere" with the individual's [child's] choice to undergo mutilation of their genitalia and other reproductive organs.
No other state in the country has a constitutional amendment like what SJR 8204 would implement.
The good news is that SJR 8204 doesn't have a chance of passing in the Legislature. Because it would amend the state constitution, it would require two-thirds support to pass. In the Senate, that would mean three Republicans would have to vote for it. In the House of Representatives, it would mean seven Republicans would need to vote yes.
That's not going to happen.
CALL TO ACTION
Tell Senate Democrats how terrible this bill is and call on them to let it die before ever getting a vote.
Find Senate Democrat members here.
If this bill gets a hearing, we will notify you so you can sign in CON on the bill, testify against it or submit written testimony. Let the majority know that your children will not be victims of reckless medical intervention.
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Stay in touch!
 At the Yelm Community Center
(301 2nd St SE, Yelm, WA 98597)
I hope you will stay in touch. We look forward to joining many of you at our upcoming town hall meeting. I am interested to hear your thoughts about state government and bills moving through the legislature this session.
If you can't make it, I hope you will still share your views and ideas by contacting my office. I can be reached by phone at (360) 786-7602 and by email at Jim.McCune@leg.wa.gov.
It is an honor to serve as your voice in Olympia.
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