Author Archives: brianzylstra
Sen. Mark Schoesler will return to the Senate committee that addresses agricultural issues when the Legislature’s 2025 session begins next month.
The 9th District senator today learned he has been appointed to the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.
Schoesler, a fifth-generation farmer who grows wheat, barley and fall peas and raises cattle, is pleased about coming back to the ag panel. For many years, his Senate leadership responsibilities prevented him from serving on that committee. Schoesler stepped down as Senate Republican leader in November 2020 after eight years.
“In addition to being a longtime farmer, I represent and serve a district that relies on agriculture,” said Schoesler, R-Ritzville. “Ag remains an important part of our region’s economy. I understand the challenges that farmers and ranchers face. I look forward to again offering an ag-friendly voice on this committee when session starts.”
Schoesler will continue his long streak of serving on the Senate Ways and Means Committee when the Legislature convenes Jan. 13 for 105 days. The 2025 session will mark the 21st straight year Schoesler has been a member of the budget-writing Ways and Means Committee since joining the Senate in 2005.
“I take great pride and responsibility in serving on the Ways and Means Committee and I’m pleased to continue doing so,” said Schoesler. “Tax and spending issues have always been among my highest priorities as a legislator. As a Ways and Means member, I watch out for families and businesses in my district and our state by working to keep taxes and spending in check.”
Schoesler will again be the Ways and Means Committee’s lead Republican on the capital budget, which helps fund construction projects for state government buildings, state parks and colleges and universities.
“In this role, I work with my fellow Republicans and lead Democrats on the committee to produce a list of worthwhile projects to include in the state capital budget for the next two years, including those impacting local school districts and higher education institutions like WSU and Eastern,” said Schoesler, whose district includes the Pullman-based Washington State University and Eastern Washington University in Cheney.
Schoesler also will continue serving on the recently renamed Senate Labor and Commerce Committee. He says he will continue advocating for regulatory reform and other issues that will benefit Washington’s job creators and working families.
“My years of experience in the business of farming have helped me understand regulatory issues, which along with workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance are among the key topics this committee addresses. I know how overzealous regulations imposed by government agencies can be as hard on employers as taxes,” said Schoesler.
Schoesler said the Labor and Commerce Committee should focus on shrinking and simplifying Washington’s vast, complex regulatory system.
“Washington’s regulatory code has over 196,000 separate regulations, which is more than all but five states have. That should tell you there is serious need for reform – and this committee is the place to start,” added Schoesler.
Schoesler represents the 9th Legislative District, which covers all or part of Adams, Asotin, Franklin, Garfield, Spokane and Whitman counties.
State Sen. Mark Schoesler applauded the final version of the state supplemental capital budget unanimously approved by the Legislature March 6, just before lawmakers adjourned for the year.
“While this compromise version of the supplemental capital budget is not as strong in some areas as the version developed and approved by the Senate earlier in the session, it is still a good capital budget that will help communities across Washington, and address many important needs,” said Schoesler, who is the lead Republican capital budget writer in the Senate.
As was the case with the Senate version, the final capital budget funds many projects located in the 9th District, noted Schoesler, R-Ritzville.
Several 9th District school districts receive funding through the small district and tribal compact schools modernization program, including $5.245 million for a school repair project in the Asotin-Anatone School District. Other school districts receiving funding include Creston, Freeman, LaCrosse, Palouse, Pomeroy, Steptoe and Wilbur.
Washington State University’s main campus in Pullman receives $10 million for a new digester at the Knott Dairy Center, maker of Cougar Gold cheese, and $3 million for its campus energy program.
Eastern Washington University in Cheney receives nearly $10 million for energy improvements to its sports and recreation center.
Other local projects in the 9th District that are funded by the supplemental capital budget include:
- Tristate Health Hospital in Clarkston ($1 million).
- Tekoa Parks and Recreation ($200,000)
- Davenport Senior Center capital improvements ($120,000)
- Latah water system rehabilitation project ($187,000)
- Regional Theatre of the Palouse (Pullman) preservation and maintenance ($77,000)
There also is $250,000 for a portion of the Odessa Pipeline project located in the 9th District.
The final capital budget funds several projects that are located near the 9th District:
- $46 million for the Tri-Tech Skills Center in Kennewick.
- $5.5 million for the Odessa Ground Water Replacement Program.
- $3.5 million in toxic cleanup funding for homes affected by the Grays Road and Oregon wildfires in Spokane County last August, plus another $975,000 for the Spokane Conservation District to implement wildfire recovery efforts.
“The Odessa ground water project and the wildfire recovery projects were initiated in the Senate this year and the Senate insisted that these projects stay in the final capital budget. I’m pleased that we succeeded in keeping these projects in the budget,” said Schoesler.
The 2024 legislative session ended March 7.
In the hours before a key voting deadline this session, the Senate unanimously passed three bills introduced by 9th District Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville.
Today is the first “floor cutoff” of the 2024 legislative session. Senate bills not approved by the Senate by 5 p.m. today are considered dead for the year. Bills that are deemed necessary to implement the state supplemental operating, capital and transportation budgets are exempt from this deadline.
SB 5344 – Helping school districts with construction-project costs
Senate Bill 5344 would create a public-school revolving fund that would be used to issue low-interest or interest-free loans to qualifying school districts for capital projects.
“We all know what a great success the state’s public works trust fund is,” said Schoesler, the Republican leader on the Senate capital budget, speaking before the vote on SB 5344. “We’re replicating that with this approach and hopefully improving access to very low-cost financing for at least a portion of our school construction. This will be good for small schools, medium-sized and bigger schools. It creates a place where we can place our money in the future and keep it recirculating back for school construction all across our state.”
SB 6162 – Excessive fees for locating abandoned property
Senate Bill 6162 would add a penalty for excessive fees for locating abandoned property held by a county. Under the proposal, someone who violates the prohibition on excessive fees for locating and recovering unclaimed property held by a county would be guilty of a misdemeanor and would face 90 days jail, a fine up to $1,000, or both.
Schoesler dubbed it a “technical clean-up measure” that is a fix to an unclaimed-property law from 2023 in which the penalty for predatory practices on unclaimed property was inadvertently left out.
SB 6215 – Improving tax and revenue laws
Senate Bill 6215 would make administrative and technical changes to the state’s tax and licensing codes.
“This is my annual clean-up bill for the state’s tax and licensing codes,” said Schoesler. “We always seem to discover a few codes here and there that need to be updated and this is the latest clean-up measure for those codes.”
All three Schoesler bills move to the House of Representatives for further consideration.
A bill prime-sponsored by 9th District Sen. Mark Schoesler that aims to help restaurants, taverns and other establishments navigate the state’s permitting process was approved 47-2 by the Senate yesterday.
Under Senate Bill 5291, applications for liquor licenses or license renewals would be automatically approved if the state Liquor and Cannabis Board fails to issue a decision within 45 days of the application date.
Schoesler introduced the bill after hearing about the trouble that three small businesses in the 9th District – Sonny’s Tavern and Grill in Washtucna, and Mi Jalisco and the Ritzville Golf Course Café in Ritzville – experienced while trying to receive a liquor license from the state.
“I watched two small, minority-owned businesses struggle for three to eight months for a simple liquor license,” Schoesler told other senators prior to the vote on SB 5291. “Imagine, all you want to do is move your Mexican restaurant from one side of the community to the other. They’ve never done anything wrong, great people. Eight months to get their license.
“With this bill, we can ensure permitting. Imagine you’re opening a restaurant and bar. You’re moving to a better location. You have to have certainty to order food, hire people, pay them, all these things. This bill simply makes it easier to permit a small business.”
Schoesler’s floor speech on SB 5291 may be viewed here.
The proposal would allow the LCB an additional 30 days to issue a decision on an application if it determines good cause for the extra time exists and issues a temporary license during the extended time period.
SB 5291 now goes to the House of Representatives for further consideration.