Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
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The question was straightforward: What happened with Senate Bill 5938 this year? The man who submitted the question at our recent legislative “town hall” meeting in Pasco wore a USS Nimitz hat, suggesting he had served our nation in uniform. The fact that SB 5398 is about property-tax relief for veterans with service-connected disabilities pretty much clinched it. As one of the sponsors of the bill, I knew the answer. Let’s get back to that in a moment. The march of techn...
The tide may be turning in the right direction for the four lower Snake River dams. I realize I’m applying a saltwater expression to a freshwater situation, but as the salmon at the heart of the dam conversation spend time in both saltwater and freshwater, let’s go with it. Those who believe salmon recovery depends on dam breaching have not gone away. But halfway through the 2025 legislative session, I’m sensing the leadership changes in Washington, D.C. and Olympia have...
Last week, the Legislature got a terrific piece of news. State tax collections have rebounded despite one of the worst economic situations we’ve ever faced. The latest projection adds $3.3 billion, and we’re right back where we were before COVID-19-related shutdown orders. The strange thing about it was the reaction of our Democratic colleagues. They said they wouldn’t let this good news stand in the way of their effort to impose an income tax on the people of Washi...
The meltdown at the state Department of Employment Security ought to teach us a lesson. It's easy for government to create problems, not so easy for the Legislature to come back in and clean up the mess. We ought to keep this in mind as the Legislature debates some of the big, bold ideas our liberal colleagues are bringing to the table this year - for an income tax, big increases in gas prices, greater government control of industry, and many, many more. Many of these...
