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Report from Olympia | January 30, 2018
 Sen. Padden at the annual March for Life in Olympia
Dear
Friends and Neighbors,
We are now well into
the 2018 legislative session. There was plenty of activity last week, including
hearings and voting on a handful of bills Wednesday and Thursday. There were
also a number of events on campus, including the annual March for Life and a
visit by leaders and researchers from the Washington Policy Center. You can
learn more about both those events below.
Lawmakers will
continue working hard to deal with the issues we face as a state, as we reach
an important deadline in the legislative calendar. This Friday, Feb. 2, is the
last day for Senate committees to take action on their own bills, except for
bills with a cost attached that will affect state budgets (those bills have
until Feb. 6 to see committee action). I look forward to reporting to you on
which bills were able to advance, and which ones failed to meet this critical
deadline.
Thanks to those who have
taken the time to contact me about issues that are important to you. If there
is anything else I can do for you, including updates on issues before the
Legislature, please let me know. I’m here to help!
Sincerely,
Senator
Mike Padden
 Click image above to watch this week’s video.
Last week I spoke on the Senate floor, urging my colleagues to vote
no on the confirmation of Stephen Sinclair’s appointment as head of the state
Department of Corrections.
One of the most terrible scandals in our state’s recent history
– a true example of malfunctioning government – was DOC’s improper release of 3,000
felons. While this scandal happened prior to Mr. Sinclair’s appointment by the
governor, the bottom line is that he has failed to take action on many of the
recommendations made in both the governor’s report and as a result of the
Senate’s historic investigation. You can hear my detailed comments by watching
the video above.
SCC student leader TJ Mohammed
Sen. Padden with SCC student leader TJ Mohammed
TJ Mohammed is a
Running Start student at Spokane Community College. Last week, he visited our
Olympia office as part of his involvement with SCC’s student government.
I really enjoyed
learning about TJ’s personal journey. He is a new U.S. citizen, having
originally came from the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan. He is one of the
founders of the SCC Young Republicans. TJ is majoring in criminal justice and
plans to transfer to Gonzaga University.
We spent much of our
meeting discussing the CTCLink project, and how the mismanagement of that
project has been hurting students the most.
If you or someone you
know is planning a trip to Olympia on behalf of a local organization, please
contact my office. We would love to hear your views on current issues before
the Legislature!
On Monday, January 22,
a crowd of more than 5,000 gathered on the steps at the Capitol for the 40th
Washington State March for Life. The date marked the 45th anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision that
decriminalized abortion.
Rally participants
came from all over the state for what is the largest gathering to regularly occur
at the Capitol – something they have done for four decades since the March for
Life was established. Those assembled in Olympia this year braved the rain in
numbers so large that they easily lined the steps outside the Legislative
Building and spilled into the streets.
I was honored to be
one of the lawmakers to address the crowd this year, as I have done before. And
also as in past years, there are a number of bills aimed at making it easier to
destroy life in the womb.
One of the bills I am
working hard to oppose is the Abortion Insurance Mandate, which is referred to by its supporters as the Reproductive Parity Act. Senate Bill 6219 would require all insurance providers to include abortion-insurance
coverage. Although they claim to be pro-choice, advocates for this bill would
give pro-life and religious business owners no choice but to pay for their
employees’ abortion coverage.
On
Thursday the Senate approved our bill aimed at increasing access to
small-claims courts, by raising the jurisdiction of the courts from $5,000 to
$10,000.
This
is an important update in the jurisdiction of small-claims courts, and it’s
well overdue. Small-claims courts have jurisdiction for disputes of $5,000 or
less – a threshold that hasn’t changed in nearly a decade.
Many
people choose to file in small-claims court because they either can’t afford to
hire an attorney, or do not want to hire one. Yet when they do that, they may
be unable to recover their actual damages. By doubling the amount of allowed
damages, this bill would give more Washingtonians access to justice, while also
reducing the burden on our other district and superior courts.
Senate
Bill 5989 was approved by a vote of 49-0, and now heads to the House of
Representatives for its consideration.
Spokesman-Review
| Rachel Sun
Washington is one step closer to ending the
death penalty after a Senate panel approved a bill Thursday to repeal capital
punishment. …The committee considered an amendment to allow the state to impose
the death penalty for the aggravated first-degree murder of police officers,
and a second amendment to also allow it for the murder of correctional
officers.
Ultimately, the two exceptions were not
included in the bill that passed the committee.
Sen.
Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley, also proposed an amendment that would have
sent the decision to voters through a referendum.
Click here to read the full
Spokesman-Review story.
|
 The Washington Policy
Center is one of the best resources lawmakers in Olympia have. The independent,
non-profit think tank promotes sound public policy based on free-market
solutions. Through its research centers, Washington Policy Center focuses on eight
core areas of public policy:
- Education;
- The Environment;
- Government Reform
(budget & taxes, open government);
- Health Care;
- Small Business;
- Transportation;
- Agriculture; and,
- Workers’ Rights.
In addition, WPC
operates WashingtonVotes.org, a website the public can use for tracking bills
in Olympia, finding objective, plain-English summaries of legislation, and
offering quick access to legislators' voting records.
Last week our office
attended an event held by WPC to discuss its latest research and connect with
policymakers and staff. It was a great experience
that gave our team the opportunity to learn and make useful connections.
Our staff had the
added benefit of bumping into an old friend. [See photo above: Our 2018 intern Karlie Lodjic (left) and 2017 intern
Irina Dolbinina (right) at the WPC Legislative Day event.] Irina Dolbinina, as many of you
know, interned with our office last year. She is currently attending WSU-Vancouver,
after working in Washington, D.C. for U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, who
serves our state’s Third Congressional District.
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If you have a question or concern about state government, please do not hesitate to contact our office. We are here to serve you!
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