OLYMPIA…Sen. Mark Schoesler voted today against the new Senate majority’s supplemental operating budget, which makes adjustments to the 2017-19 operating budget adopted last year. He made this statement following the caucus-line vote on the spending plan. “I appreciate that the Senate Democrats’ budget is respectful of the state’s four-year balanced-budget...

OLYMPIA…Sen. Mark Schoesler says it’s ‘unconscionable’ that the Senate’s new Democrat majority is keeping Gov. Jay Inslee’s $1.2 billion energy tax alive a week after lawmakers learned that state revenues are coming in more than $2.4 billion ahead of expectations. He offered this statement after a majority of the Senate...

OLYMPIA… The first state revenue forecast for 2018 predicts state revenue collections will come in $1.3 billion higher than previously forecast for the next two budget cycles. Combined with $1.05 billion in added revenue growth since the end of the 2017 legislative session, and an anticipated $200-plus million in reduced...

OLYMPIA… Today the Senate paused to remember former Gov. John Spellman and former First Lady Lois Spellman and their service to the people of Washington. Senate Republican Leader Mark Schoesler led the remembrance, which concluded with the passage of a resolution honoring the couple. Mrs. Spellman passed away Jan. 25...

OLYMPIA…State government’s new two-year budget for public construction and other capital projects sailed through the Legislature recently, and Sen. Mark Schoesler says the plan contains plenty of investments to benefit communities and residents across the 9th Legislative District. “This budget addresses needs in our region that range from higher education...

OLYMPIA…In response to today’s announcement by Amazon.com that it has narrowed its search for a second-headquarters location to a short-list of 20 cities, Senate Republican Leader Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, issued the following statement.   “The fact that Amazon’s finalists for HQ2 only include one West Coast city and none from...

OLYMPIA…Senate Republican Leader Mark Schoesler today offered this remembrance of former Gov. John Spellman after learning he had passed away Monday night at age 91. “Out of all of John Spellman’s contributions as King County executive and later as governor, the one that never received enough credit was his support...

Senate Republican Leader Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, offered this comment about Gov. Jay Inslee’s budget released today:   “While it’s promising that the governor finally proposed a budget that balances over four years, I call on him to publicly commit to veto any budget that doesn’t. “I’m glad that undoing the...

Senate Republican Leader Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, offered this comment about Gov. Jay Inslee’s budget proposal, expected to be released Thursday: “In a year when a single political party will control the House, the Senate and the governor’s mansion, the governor’s budget proposal will set the tone for everything that follows....