April 15, 2015

Schoesler: ‘Senate holds the line on last minute projects adding $128 million’

OLYMPIA… Senate Majority Leader Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, released this statement as the Legislature passed an important deadline for passage of bills from opposite chambers, and entered the final phase of the 2015 session: “Today is Tax Day for thousands of Washington taxpayers. I think it’s fitting that to mark this day,...
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April 06, 2015

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...
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March 31, 2015

Senate delivers a ‘no-new-taxes’ budget proposal, cuts college tuition 25 percent

OLYMPIA…”This is a bold budget proposal that delivers on the promise to make education the top priority and to live within our means. The Senate budget delivers tax relief for families, fully funds K-12 education and protects the most vulnerable – all without raising taxes. “This budget sends the message...
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March 24, 2015

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...
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March 18, 2015

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...
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March 11, 2015

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...
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March 11, 2015

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...
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March 03, 2015

Senate delivers on transportation – can we avoid a political detour in the House?

It took three long years, but after bipartisan negotiations, public meetings in 10 cities, extensive study and much debate in Olympia, the state Senate delivered on its promise to reform Washington’s broken transportation system. With a bipartisan vote Monday we passed a statewide transportation package that creates 200,000 jobs, gets...
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March 02, 2015

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...
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