Washington House Democrats have proposed nearly $1 billion in short-term property tax relief, followed by a longer-term tax cut funded by a new state capital gains tax on a minority of wealthier residents.Read More
Politics
Washington House Democrats on Tuesday proposed nearly $1 billion in short-term property tax relief, followed by a longer-term tax cut funded by a new state capital gains tax on a minority of wealthier residents.Read More
President Donald Trump is fueling many women's desire to run for office in 2018 — in the words of one analyst, he's "the gift that keeps on giving" to the resistance.Read More
The chief budget writer in the Washington state House of Representatives says it’s up to Democratic leaders whether he keeps his chairmanship following a rollover crash and his arrest for intoxicated driving last Saturday.Read More
A group of immigrant-rights advocates is calling for the head of Washington's Department of Licensing to step down.Read More
The Washington House of Representatives has voted to phase out farming of non-native fish in state waters, drawing the end of Atlantic salmon farming in Puget Sound one step closer.Read More
The former chief counsel for the Seattle office of a federal immigration enforcement agency has been accused of stealing identities of immigrants.Read More
Former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber allegedly violated state ethics laws 11 times during his third and fourth terms as governor, according to an investigative report.Read More
The Washington State House has passed a bill to end the statute of limitations for sex offenses. Currently, adults have a maximum of 10 years to press charges.Read More
Five people were arrested at a College Republicans rally on the University of Washington campus Saturday that attracted a large crowd of protesters.Read More
Washington lawmakers vowed to protect net neutrality after the Federal Communications Commission rolled back the Obama-era regulations. Now that effort is making progress.Read More
Efforts to address sexual harassment in the Washington state Capitol have suffered a setback. Legislative leaders had pledged to improve the workplace climate following reports late last year that revealed a history of misconduct at the Capitol. But finding a solution has proven more difficult than expected.Read More
An investigation into behavior by Oregon Sen. Jeff Kruse, R-Roseburg, released this week states Kruse had a pattern of “engaging in unwelcome physical contact toward females in the workplace.”Read More
A bill making its way through the Washington state House of Representatives would make campaign contributions more transparent. It passed the state Senate last month.Read More
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is taking input on the administration’s plan to open waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic Oceans to oil drilling. Oregon Senator Ron Wyden says that would endanger the Oregon Coast’s environment, tourism and fishing industry.Read More
A batch of late-arriving ballots is going out to nearly 7,000 Washington voters in advance of next Tuesday’s special election. That’s because of an error in the state’s Motor Voter system that allows people to register to vote when they get a drivers license.Read More
The 21 young people who are suing the federal government over climate change are waiting for an appeals court in Oregon to rule on whether their case can go forward. Read More
Washington state has tightened the screws—again—on an Atlantic salmon farming operation. The state Department of Natural Resources Saturday terminated the lease for Cooke Aquaculture's Cypress Island fish farm near Anacortes.Read More
Washington’s 60-day legislative session is approaching the halfway mark and majority Democrats are flexing their one-party control of Olympia. That’s especially evident in the state Senate where several priority Democratic bills have been put on a fast track.Read More
Uber and Lyft drivers may soon have to undergo tougher background checks in Washington state. Lawmakers are considering a proposal that would require drivers to pass a fingerprint background check before being allowed to operate.Read More
Affirmative action has been forbidden in Washington for the last 20 years, but now state senators are considering repealing the ban. After a vote of the people in 1998, state government bodies have been barred from giving preferential treatment to minorities in public education, hiring and contracting. Read More
Across the Northwest, thousands of people attended Women’s March events over the weekend. Marches happened in the region's biggest cities and much smaller towns and college campuses.Read More
The president is marking the first anniversary of his inauguration with a government shutdown. Lawmakers are back at the Capitol trying to break the impasse — and playing the political blame game.Read More
Uncertainty reigns about what federal public lands will be open if the congressional budget standoff leads to a partial government shutdown. Closed national parks and forest campgrounds were among the most visible effects the last time the federal government partially shut down in October 2013.Read More
A coalition of news outlets have won a partial victory in a public records lawsuit against the Washington Legislature. A judge in Thurston County said lawmakers are subject to the state’s public disclosure law.Read More
After a months-long standoff, Washington lawmakers say they’ve reached a bipartisan deal on a thorny water rights issue that will pave the way for quick passage of a $4.5 billion capital construction budget that’s been held up since last spring.Read More
The opioid crisis is front and center at the Washington Legislature this week. On Monday, lawmakers heard testimony on three bills aimed at preventing and treating opioid addiction and reducing overdose deaths.Read More
Hundreds of people crowded hearing rooms in the Washington state Capitol Monday to testify on proposed gun control legislation. Several of the people who testified in favor of a ban were victims of the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas.Read More
A group seeking to repeal an Oregon law on immigration says it will have to toss about 8,000 petition signatures. But the group's leader says that won’t deter them from moving forward with putting a measure on the November ballot that would overturn Oregon’s sanctuary law. The statute essentially prohibits local police from helping enforce federal immigration law.Read More
Gun rights activists from across Washington state rallied in Olympia recently. They came to protest proposed gun control legislation that supporters say will reduce mass gun violence. Most were openly carrying weapons including pistols and semi-automatic rifles.Read More
Bittersweet news is rippling through the Northwest immigrant community this week after a new judicial ruling affected DACA. That plus changing timelines for those with Temporary Protected Status has many nervous.Read More
A bill to ban the controversial practice of trying to change the sexual orientation of LGBTQ people is making its way through the Washington Senate. It considers so-called "conversion therapy" for people under 18 "unprofessional conduct” for health care providers.Read More
The Washington House passed its first bill on the third day of this legislative session. It would require high poverty schools to offer breakfast after the start of the school day and is a priority for Democrats.Read More
Losing a child is a devastating loss. But imagine if that death is followed by a legal battle. That’s what happened after a Mukilteo teenage died in 2016. Now her mom is trying to change state law.Read More
For the first time since 2013, Democrats will have one-party control of Olympia. The top issues for the 2018 legislative session include: education funding, a carbon tax and passage of a state capital construction budget.Read More
In wide-ranging press conference, President Trump said he hoped for bipartisan support on fixes to U.S. immigration laws and national welfare programs. Trump also hinted he was open to talks with North Korea.Read More
The Washington Legislature is set to open its 2018 session Monday, Jan. 8. Olympia correspondent Austin Jenkins lists his top five issues to watch, including gun safety, spending on public schools, and a state Voting Rights Act.Read More
Washington state lawmakers convene Monday, January 8 for a short 60-day election year session. Already lawmakers have pre-filed dozens of bills they’d like to see passed.Read More
Did you travel through an airport during the holidays? If so, chances are you saw these REAL ID signs at the airport warning travelers about updated ID requirements. Where does that leave the Northwest’s 32,000 DACA recipients for domestic flights? Read More
Washington Governor Jay Inslee is downplaying talk he might run for president in 2020. In an interview last week, Olympia correspondent Austin Jenkins asked Inslee if a bid for president was even in the realm of possibilities. Read More
Joyce Dorsey, whose son Che Taylor was shot by Seattle Police nearly two years ago, speaks in Olympia before the delivery of Initiative 940 petition signatures to the Washington […]Read More
The Alabama GOP Senate nominee's lawsuit was dismissed by a judge on Thursday as the secretary of state certified Democrat Doug Jones the winner of the special election earlier this month.Read More
