Nikki Torres

OLYMPIA — Sen. Nikki Torres is speaking out against a proposal before the Washington State Supreme Court that would significantly change how pretrial release decisions are made, following a letter signed by several state lawmakers urging the Court to reject the changes. The proposal would amend Criminal Rule (CrR) and Criminal Rule for...

OLYMPIA… Leaders of the state Senate Republican Caucus have called on Gov. Bob Ferguson to veto the income-tax bill passed by majority Democrats during this year’s annual session. In their letter requesting the veto, the Republican leaders also urged the governor to call legislators back to the Capitol to produce a...

OLYMPIA — Legislation sponsored by Sen. Nikki Torres to address dangerous crash hotspots on Washington roadways was signed into law Friday during a bill signing ceremony in Yakima. Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill 6066 creates “crash prevention zones,” a targeted approach to improving safety on roadways with higher-than-expected rates of...

Dear Friends and Neighbors, Thursday, March 12, marked Sine Die, the final day of the scheduled 60-day legislative session. Like most sessions in Olympia, the past two months included long floor debates, late nights, and more bills than most people could keep up with. Some were good ideas. Others… not...

OLYMPIA… Today’s Senate vote on a final supplemental operating budget for the 2025-27 biennium gave Senate Republican budget leaders another opportunity to express their concerns about the inability of majority Democrats to restrain government spending. Like the separate versions approved in recent days by Senate and House Democrats, the $80.1...

OLYMPIA — Sen. Nikki Torres, R-Pasco, issued the following statement after the latest state operating budget proposal removed a previously approved public defense funding provision and bipartisan legislation aimed at addressing Washington’s growing public defense crisis stalled this session. Earlier this session, the Senate approved a proposal dedicating seven percent...

OLYMPIA — Legislation introduced by Sen. Nikki Torres to address dangerous crash hotspots on Washington roadways passed the House of Representatives with strong bipartisan support on Friday. The House approved Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill 6066 on March 6 by a 94–2 vote. The measure creates what Torres calls “crash...

OLYMPIA… Leaders in the Senate Republican Caucus offered these reactions to today’s announcement by Gov. Bob Ferguson that he will support the proposed state income tax if a rewrite suggested by House Democrats is approved. From Senate Republican Leader John Braun, of Centralia: “Washingtonians have voted down an income tax...

OLYMPIA… The Senate’s majority Democrats today adopted a supplemental operating budget that would raid Washington’s rainy-day fund and other accounts to push state spending above $80 billion for the remainder of the 2025-27 biennium. Republican budget leaders are disappointed that billions of dollars are being pulled from one-time sources to support...