Reps. Deb Manjarrez and Gloria Mendoza: Despite a contentious 2025 legislative session, we remain fighting for you and will not be silenced!
Mark Twain once said, “No man’s life, liberty, and property are safe while the Legislature is in session.” Unfortunately, that sums up the 105-day legislative session that ended April 27. It was a session of an emboldened Seattle-centric Democratic majority laser-focused on passing an agenda of higher taxes, bigger government, and progressive social programs. Sadly, they left families behind and ignored thousands of Washingtonians while trying to silence the voice of minority Republican lawmakers.
We came to the 2025 legislative session full of hope to work with majority Democrats to address some very important issues and fix Washington. Our intentions were spelled out by Rep. Mendoza in her Republican perspective speech: “We want to improve life for all Washingtonians. We want safer neighborhoods, cleaner air, better schools, more affordable housing, and shorter commutes.”
Indeed, the capital and transportation budgets had some great bipartisan achievements. We secured nearly $69 million for local projects in the capital budget.
However, Republicans were shut entirely out of state operating budget negotiations, as Democrats decided among themselves how much to tax and spend. There was no transparency. We had only 24 hours to read through the 1,366-page budget document before taking an up or down vote. We both voted no on the budget and against the highest tax increases in the history of our state — $9.5 billion over the next four years.
As new lawmakers representing the 14th District, we made every effort to get to know our counterparts across the aisle, make friends, help them understand the diverse needs of our district, and seek common ground on the issues that separate us. Unfortunately, the die was cast against bipartisanship in the first week of the session when House Democrats voted to overturn a 132-year-old rule that protected open, free debate. Their message to us through this change was — press us too hard and we will silence you.
We and our Republican colleagues were not intimidated. Night after night on the House floor, we stood firm against aggressive new taxes, costly climate mandates, reckless spending, and government overreach.
Battling in more than 16 late-night floor sessions, including seven that went past midnight as we proposed dozens of amendments, we killed a record number of bad policy bills.
We stopped legislation that would have required an insurance policy on each firearm and killed a punitive tax on ammunition and other firearm parts.
Despite our best efforts, a bill was passed that requires gun buyers to complete a specific firearm safety training program and undergo an extensive background check before they can obtain a government-issued permit that allows a gun to be purchased.
We also fought to protect parents’ rights, including access to records, review materials, and receive notifications. When they tried to silence us by ending debate with a simple majority, we fought back in ways that stopped other bad bills. Unfortunately, they had the votes to gut the parental rights initiative.
Although some of the longest-serving Republican lawmakers say the 2025 session was their most difficult, we are reminded of the old saying, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”
There is plenty left to do to fix Washington. We are just getting started. Our promise to you is that we will stand strong for the citizens we serve and the district we love. And we will not be silenced!
Editor’s note: Rep. Deb Manjarrez, R-Wapato, and Rep. Gloria Mendoza, R-Grandview, were elected in November to represent the 14th Legislative District.
