Tri-City State Senator Gets Important Position in Legislature

Another piece of political 'clout' has come to the Tri-Cities-Eastern WA area.

Senator Sharon Brown, R-Richland, has been named Deputy Leader of the Senate Majority Caucus for the 2017 legislative session and beyond. The Caucus is made up of 25 GOP and 2 Democratic Senators, and have played a VERY important role in state legislative issues.

Because of the Majority Caucus, many of Gov. Jay Inslee's controversial proposals have been kept from being implemented. They include the carbon gas tax that could have raised pump prices as much as $1.00 a gallon, and his efforts to sunset (or repeal) numerous business and economic tax breaks early in his administration. These tax rollbacks would have hurt many small and medium businesses. Some of them passed the Democratic controlled State House, but were stopped by the GOP controlled Senate, the Majority Caucus.

Brown will be the 'second in command' to Caucus Majority Leader Mark Schoesler of Ritzville. The Caucus is often referred to as The Senate Coalition, and their members hail from all over the state, from Ferndale and Republic, to Spokane, Tri-Cities and even Vancouver.

Brown has taken the lead on many energy independence issues, especially at Hanford and PNNL, and the need to develop technologies and jobs stemming from Hanford and related industries.