Articles written by senator mark schoesler, ninth district
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 52
Legislative Commentary
As a farmer whose wheat crop gets water only from the heavens, I like to say that when it comes to rain, there’s no such thing as “bad” rain. But I almost had to rethink that earlier this month, when rain arrived while we wer... — Updated 8/24/2017
Legislative Commentary
More than once in this column I’ve mentioned the eternal optimism I have, being a dryland wheat farmer, and how that spills over to my work as a state legislator. But I don’t remember Olympia testing my optimism like it has... — Updated 8/3/2017 Full story
Legislative Commentary
By now I had hoped to be back home, with all of our legislative business completed. We approved a new state budget on June 30 along with the long-awaited plan for fully funding public schools, which is in line with the Supreme Cour... — Updated 7/20/2017 Full story
Legislative Commentary
It’s one thing for the news media to report on the possibility of a state-government shutdown, but now organizations with political agendas are trying to make hay out of the situation. The Washington State Democrats and the... — Updated 6/29/2017
Legislative Commentary
A newspaper in Tacoma recently suggested several ways that lawmakers are supposedly “killing time behind the scenes” of this overtime session. Some of the examples were absurd enough (“performing car-tab burning rituals”) t... — Updated 6/15/2017 Full story
Legislative Commentary
The Legislature is now in a second special session. The governor made it official on Tuesday, May 23. That’s frustrating, because it means more time away from my loved ones and the farm. But Tuesday is also when the commander of... — Updated 6/1/2017
Legislative Commentary
Most lawmakers are back home while those involved in negotiations, and leaders like me, have spent much of these past four weeks at the Capitol. Once the negotiating teams reach agreements that are ready to go before the full Senat... — Updated 5/25/2017
Legislative Commentary
The Senate passed a new operating budget on Friday after debating amendment after amendment for the better part of six hours. Our balanced plan would support critical constitutional reforms of the state’s school-levy approach,... — Updated 3/30/2017
Legislative Commentary
A year ago at this time the Legislature’s regular session was over, because it is limited to 60 days in even-numbered years. However, we already had been called into a “special” session to iron out disagreements related to... — Updated 3/23/2017
Legislative Commentary
Washington’s constitution does not clearly prohibit a state income tax, contrary to what many think. I’d like for the voters of our state to finally have the chance to shield themselves from an income tax – at both the state... — Updated 3/16/2017 Full story
Legislative Commentary
Last week was the busiest week of our session so far. We spent each day in the Senate chamber, with all 49 members present and voting on legislation that has come forward from the Senate policy and budget committees. While voting... — Updated 3/9/2017
Legislative Commentary
After today all legislative committees will take a break until mid-March. The Senate’s policy committees wrapped up work on Senate bills a week ago, and our two budget committees did the same. We will then have through March 8... — Updated 3/2/2017 Full story
Legislative Commentary
One of the realities of coming up with a new state budget every two years is that the cost of the things which are “must do” and “nice to do” always exceeds the amount of revenue available. It forces the Legislature to... — Updated 2/23/2017 Full story
Legislative Commentary
Our 2017 session will pass the one-third mark on Sunday – President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. Not only was Lincoln among our greatest presidents, and the author of the Emancipation Proclamation, and the founder of the... — Updated 2/16/2017
Legislative Commentary
This week the Senate approved a bill that would fully fund K-12 education in a way that upholds the state constitution and addresses the state Supreme Court’s McCleary decision from 2012. The Education Equality Act is certainly... — Updated 2/9/2017 Full story
Legislative Commentary
The state senator for much of northeast Washington, Brian Dansel, stepped down from the Senate three days ago to accept a job in Washington, D.C. It was not a surprise, as his name has been mentioned in a Trump-administration... — Updated 2/2/2017
Legislative Commentary
The section in the state constitution about legislative sessions does not give lawmakers a break on national holidays, so we were at work on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day (and will be again on Presidents Day next month). The... — Updated 1/26/2017 Full story
Legislative Commentary
This year’s legislative session is under way at the Capitol. It began at noon on Jan. 9 with many of us, me included, taking the oath of office. Two days later the governor and the executive branch’s other elected officials... — Updated 1/19/2017 Full story
Legislative Commentary
There’s nothing like a winter bird-hunting trip to offset all the activity that goes with celebrating Christmas and the coming of the New Year. I managed to put farming chores and the Legislature on the back burner long enough... — Updated 1/12/2017
Legislative Commentary
I am glad to be sharing legislative updates with you again. From July to December, I and other senators who were seeking re-election had to follow limits set by the Legislature on sending information to constituents. Now that the... — Updated 12/29/2016 Full story
Legislative Commentary
Fishing season in our local lakes opened this past Saturday, and like many others, the Schoeslers took to the water hoping to land enough trout for dinner – except in our case, it was four generations of our family: Dad, me,... — Updated 5/5/2016
Legislative Commentary
The 2016 legislative session has been over for a little more than three weeks. It has been a joy to be back in Adams County and on the farm, although I have made sure to also keep an eye on the governor’s signing of bills we... — Updated 4/28/2016
Legislative Commentary
Twenty-four years as a state legislator and two years as Senate majority leader have put me on a first-name basis with people with some pretty impressive résumés: leaders of the biggest industries and companies in our state,... — Updated 4/21/2016 Full story
Legislative Commentary
The term “unintended consequence” is mentioned from time to time in the Legislature. It generally refers to a negative aspect in a new law – something no one had foreseen until the law went into effect, which needs to be... — Updated 4/14/2016 Full story
Legislative Commentary
The Legislature has adjourned for the year. We wrapped up our voting late Tuesday night, on the 20th day of an overtime session that would not have been necessary if my leadership counterparts in the House of Representatives had... — Updated 4/7/2016