The curse that haunts the Legislature This post originally appeared on the leadership blog of the Senate Majority Coalition Caucus, Exit 105. It’s one of the facts of political life: Whenever good times return, some people want to spend as though they’re going to last forever. Happy days are here again. Turn that frown upside down! Only... Read More...

Follow the breadcrumbs to a government shutdown This post originally appeared on the leadership blog of the Senate Majority Coalition Caucus, Exit 105. Last week, when there was still a chance for us to finish our business in Olympia on time and adjourn this weekend, we were flabbergasted by an argument we heard from our Democratic colleagues... Read More...

Senate passes Schoesler resolution honoring AgForestry leader Dave Roseleip   Senate Majority Leader Mark Schoesler today led the Senate in honoring Dave Roseleip, who will retire June 30 after 30-plus years as president of the Washington Agriculture and Forestry Education Foundation. The foundation, better known as AgForestry, administers a well-respected leadership-development program for Washington’s agriculture, forestry, and fishing industries.... Read More...

Majority Leader: ‘Troy Kelley has damaged public trust – time to resign’ OLYMPIA… Senate Majority Leader Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, released this statement in reaction to the federal indictment of state Auditor Troy Kelley. “The damage has been done and it’s time for Troy Kelley to resign immediately. There is nothing he can do to restore public trust given his evasion and silence on... Read More...

A no-new-tax Senate budget proposal points the way – again This post originally appeared on the leadership blog of the Senate Majority Coalition Caucus, Exit 105. For the last year our colleagues on the other side of the aisle have been saying we can’t avoid a tax increase — a head-bobbing consensus that seems to have been taken by many... Read More...

Auditor needs to come clean This post originally appeared on the leadership blog of the Senate Majority Coalition Caucus, Exit 105. What do you do when the state’s top investigator finds himself under investigation? That’s the uncomfortable question before us this week as state Auditor Troy Kelley hunkers down in his office and addresses enormous public... Read More...

Will House budget play by the rules? This post originally appeared on the leadership blog of the Senate Majority Coalition Caucus, Exit 105. Some things go without saying. It’s a good idea to obey traffic signals, you ought to pay your taxes, and you should always eat your vegetables. Some things here in the Legislature are just... Read More...

Senate delivers on college-tuition cap, jobs and critical transportation reforms OLYMPIA…Senate Majority Leader Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, offered this statement following today’s cutoff for voting on Senate bills, except for measures specifically tied to a new state operating budget: “The Senate continues to lead the way on this session’s most important and anticipated policy initiatives. We said we would deliver on... Read More...

Distaste for debate is ominous message from House This post originally appeared in the Majority Coalition Caucus leadership blog, Exit 105. Maybe this is the sort of thought that occurs when you’ve been at the statehouse for the last 23 sessions, like I have, and you’ve seen just about everything. But over the last week the state House... Read More...

Schoesler invites 9th District residents to March 11 telephone ‘town hall’ Senate Majority Leader Mark Schoesler will hold a telephone-based “town hall” with 9th Legislative District residents on the evening of Wednesday, March 11. The conversation will begin at 7 p.m. and last approximately an hour; Schoesler will participate from the state Capitol, where lawmakers are meeting for the 2015 legislative... Read More...