Join Me for Town Halls Friends and Neighbors, We’re past the half-way mark of the 2023 legislative session, so there’s a lot to discuss. I look forward to giving you an update on where things stand related to my work on your behalf for our district and larger issues facing our state like housing, transportation,... Read More...
Second Amendment Watch I want to thank everyone for sharing their concerns and any efforts being made to slow or stop these unnecessary infringements on law-abiding citizens. Here is a brief update on where some of these proposals are in the legislative process. I share the frustration and oppose efforts to further restrict... Read More...
Senate adopts Fortunato’s proposal to find government waste State employees eligible for bonuses  Politicians often talk about cutting government waste. The question is, how to find it? State Senator Phil Fortunato argues that one of the best ways is to rely on front-line state workers. His proposal to re-establish the state Productivity Board, Senate Bill 5015, would do... Read More...
Senate approves Fortunato’s continued efforts to clean state roadways In 2021, Fortunato passed the “”Welcome to Washington” litter act, directing the state Department of Ecology and the Department of Transportation to work together to tackle the state’s litter problem with increased cleanups and education. However, there are additional hurdles to keeping our roadways clean, so Fortunato sponsored Senate Bill... Read More...
Restricting Your Rights It has been a challenging week on the Senate floor. While the majority of our work is bipartisan, there are certain areas of sincere disagreement that I have to speak up about, especially concerning what I view are fundamental rights. Parents Rights Late Wednesday night the legislative majority rushed through... Read More...
More Restrictions on Law-abiding Citizens My office is being inundated with constituents concerned about what is going on in Olympia with respect to our Second Amendment rights. I want to thank everyone for sharing their concerns and any efforts being made to slow or stop these unnecessary infringements on law-abiding citizens. I thought I’d share... Read More...
Fortunato bill would restrict sex offender placement after Enumclaw debacle Residents in the city of Enumclaw are outraged after learning that the state is placing unsupervised sex offenders in their community. As part of legislation that was approved in 2021, local jurisdictions have to provide what is called “less restrictive alternative” or LRA housing to accommodate offenders where they were... Read More...
Democrats switch course, adopt Republican-led homeless approach Gov. Jay Inslee recently held a news conference in Spokane, touting the work of a new approach to dealing with the state’s daunting homelessness crisis. The only problem? The policies being touted as effective were originally part of a package that homeless advocates and Democratic lawmakers sought to kill. The... Read More...