Phil Fortunato

Devastating impacts to state economy underscore need for special legislative session Over the weekend, Gov. Jay Inslee announced a rollback of the progress on reopening Washington’s economy with renewed restrictions on small businesses in a modified lockdown right before the winter holidays. Among the changes are a slashing of retail...

As counties in Washington continue counting ballots cast in the 2020 general election, 31st District Sen. Phil Fortunato has asked Secretary of State Kim Wyman to wait on certifying the election results until her office is certain the number of ballots cast exactly matches the number of voters known to...

Legislature should convene in October Republican efforts to convene a special legislative session, led by state Sen. Phil Fortunato, R-Auburn, to address the state’s response to the COVID-19 epidemic since April have largely gone unheeded by Gov. Jay Inslee. Instead, the governor has chosen to sideline the Legislature, issuing executive...

Many are concerned over the governor’s use of emergency powers during this COVID-19 outbreak. Few remember that they were granted under the 2019 SJR 8200, which passed with voter approval by 65.5%. As usual the small change had an unintended consequence. The constitutional change was quite simple, it added: “catastrophic...

Senator wonders why governor didn’t personally meet with Taiwanese envoys   Representatives from the government of Taiwan Friday delivered hundreds of thousands of masks that will be given to medical workers and first responders working to limit the spread of COVID-19 in Washington. Sen. Phil Fortunato said what should have...

Greetings Friends, Although the Legislature is not in session, I’m still working hard for you. I’ve been hearing a lot from constituents asking what we as legislators are doing to push back on the governor’s executive actions. That has been challenging – because we are not in session, we can’t...

As a Senator, I can produce some materials that help inform my constituents. One thing I’ve done is print some pocket constitutions that folks can take with them when they visit my office in Olympia. I wrote a forward and have uploaded it here for your to read. I take...

Since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, I’ve had serious concerns about how the governor was implementing our state’s response. Initially, we did the right thing and came together to stop the spread of the virus. However, I took exception when the administration started picking economic winners and losers with...

Today, I had a briefing on how COVID-19 is impacting the state’s economy. The state’s Chief Economist unsurprisingly delivered some pretty devastating news. You can read the full report by clicking here.  

Sen. Phil Fortunato explains why the state needs to cut spending, now! Washington state’s COVID-19 response will leave the state budget in tatters come January. Hopefully leaders will do the right thing