Nikki Torres

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...

With just two weeks left before adjournment on March 12, budget negotiations are taking center stage. Washington operates on three primary budgets — the operating, transportation, and capital budgets. The first two tend to grab the headlines, but today I want to focus on the one that quietly makes long-term...

OLYMPIA… The budget leaders for the state’s Senate Republicans offered this assessment of the supplemental 2025-27 operating budget from majority Democrats, which will have a public hearing this afternoon before the Senate Ways and Means Committee. The proposal would push state spending above the $80 billion mark for the first...

OLYMPIA… Sen. Nikki Torres, R-Pasco, and Rep. Travis Couture, R-Allyn, released the following statements after learning that Senate Bill 5977 will not be moving forward in the House of Representatives. Senate Bill 5977 would require the Department of Children, Youth, and Families to publish reports on child near-fatality reviews, bringing those...

OLYMPIA… The agenda for today’s meeting of the Senate Ways and Means Committee has Senate Republican budget leaders suggesting only one party in Olympia is committed to making Washington more affordable. If the seven tax or fee bills on deck for committee votes today all become law, the combined annual cost...

During Senate floor debate on Senate Bill 6346, Sen. Nikki Torres rises in opposition to the Democrats’ proposed income tax. Torres argues the measure would open the door to a broader income tax in Washington and disproportionately harm small and minority-owned businesses across the state. Drawing from her experience as...

OLYMPIA… Leaders in the state Legislature’s Senate Republican caucus offered these comments following the majority Democrats’ passage of legislation to create a state income tax. Senate Bill 6346 was passed with a 27-22 vote: From Senate Republican Leader John Braun of Centralia: “This income-tax bill clearly goes against our state constitution as well as 90-plus years of...

We depend on our roads every single day. They are the paths that carry our children to school, parents to work, grandparents to doctor’s appointments, and families home at the end of the day. When they work safely, we hardly think about them. When those paths become predictable sites of...

OLYMPIA — The Washington State Senate today unanimously approved Senate Bill 5977, sponsored by Sen. Nikki Torres, 15th Legislative District. The legislation would require the public release of child near fatality review reports conducted by the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families. The bill passed the Senate unanimously,...