Washington State employees will no longer be required to get a COVID-19 vaccination in order to keep their jobs.Read More
Surrounded by gun reform advocates, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed three new gun control bills Tuesday morning, including a ban on the import and sale of high capacity and semiautomatic firearms.Read More
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., leads the panel during an organizational meeting for the 118th Congress, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023. […]Read More
The president of Finland kicked off a five-day visit to the U.S. with a stop in Washington's capital Monday, where he made history as the first foreign head of state to address the State Legislature.Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee emphasized housing construction and homelessness response during his 2023 State of the State address on Tuesday. The issue is a bipartisan priority for the state Legislature, but approaches differ among the lawmakers who convened in Olympia this week.Read More
Farmworkers and environmental justice advocates want Washington Governor Jay Inslee to declare a climate emergency in the state.Read More
A much-awaited report said removing the four Lower Snake River dams shouldn't happen right now, but dam removal is the best way to protect Snake River salmon.Read More
Protesters gather in Seattle after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade CREDIT: Casey Martin / KUOW Photo Listen (Runtime 4:16) Read While the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned […]Read More
Georgia On My Mind-Margot Massey Listen (Runtime 1:00) Read In the Tri Cities, a Kamiakin High School rising senior won a statewide art award. Margot Massey’s painting is titled “Georgia […]Read More
Breaching the dams would be the best way to remove Snake River salmon runs from the Endangered Species List and the best way to maintain treaty and trust obligations with tribes, according to the report. It could cost from $10.3 billion to $27.2 billion.Read More
A measure backed by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee that would have made it a crime for elected officials and candidates for office to incite lawlessness by making false statements about elections appears to have died in the state Legislature.Read More
As states from Oregon to New York announce plans to end mask mandates, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Wednesday announced that he’s lifting outdoor masking requirements and plans to announce next week a date when the face-covering rules for public indoor spaces and schools will be lifted.Read More
Washington’s COVID-19 state of emergency is approaching its two-year anniversary. Under current law, the governor has broad emergency powers. But the Legislature is considering new restrictions on that authority.Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee says the state is racing to expand access to testing, masks and vaccines, but has no immediate plans to impose new rollbacks, mandates or restrictions in the face of an unprecedented wave of new COVID-19 cases driven by the omicron variant.Read More
For the second time, Washington lawmakers are suing Gov. Jay Inslee over his use of the veto pen. In a lawsuit filed Monday in Thurston County Superior Court, the Legislature asserts Inslee exceeded his veto power earlier this year when he line-item vetoed parts of the state transportation budget and eliminated a subsection of a low carbon fuels bill.Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Democratic leaders in the Legislature announced Friday a delay in the collection of a payroll tax to pay for a new long-term care insurance benefit for workers.Read More
Fossil fuel use in buildings looks to be the next frontier for climate activists at the state and local level. There's a convergence of activity in the Pacific Northwest aimed at phasing out natural gas furnaces and water heaters. Cities from Eugene to Bellingham have teed up bans on natural gas in new commercial buildings. But natural gas has its defenders, too, who have Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said Thursday that he would support a delay in the implementation of a new payroll tax to fund a first-in-the-nation long-term care benefit program called WA Cares.Read More
For months, minority Republicans in the Washington Legislature have called for limits on the governor’s emergency powers. But now even some Democrats are expressing concerns about the open-endedness of the COVID-19 state of emergency and the limited role of state lawmakers.Read More
Washington’s state vehicles soon will plug in instead of gas up.Read More
Potential candidates to replace Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman are already stepping forward after Wyman, a Republican, announced she will resign next month to take an election security position with the Biden administration. Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, will appoint Wyman's replacement. That could spell the end of a nearly six decades Republican lock on the Read More
Washington Sen. Patty Murray and Gov. Jay Inslee said they'll listen to diverse viewpoints with open minds to recover salmon and potentially breach the four Lower Snake River dams.Read More
Roughly nine in 10 employees of the state of Washington are now vaccinated against COVID-19. Gov. Jay Inslee considers that a huge success and a win for public health. But his vaccine mandate has also led to the departure of hundreds of state employees. Now there are questions about the implications for some state services.Read More
Washington Governor Jay Inslee’s vaccine mandate has survived an 11th hour court challenge. On Monday, Thurston County Superior Court Judge Carol Murphy denied a motion for an injunction to block the mandate from taking effect.Read More
Monday is the deadline for Washington state employees, healthcare and long-term care workers and those working in the education field to be fully vaccinated. Those who aren’t could be out of a job by day’s end. Some of the state employees who face termination got exemptions, but not a workplace accommodation so they could stay on the payroll.Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee says a report should come out this summer on the four controversial dams on the Lower Snake River.Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Thursday announced a statewide requirement that attendees at large events show proof of being vaccinated against COVID-19 or proof of a negative test taken in the 72 hours before the event.Read More
Washington Governor Jay Inslee’s vaccine mandate covers more than 800-thousand workers in education, state government and healthcare. But there’s one group of hands-on caregivers it doesn’t apply to.Read More
COVID-19 related deaths are trending much higher in Republican counties than in Democratic ones in Washington. That’s according to a new legislative analysis.Read More
A woman was able to enter the secure grounds of Washington's governor's residence on Wednesday before being stopped by the Washington State Patrol. Gov. Jay Inslee and First Lady Trudi Inslee were not home at the time. The security breach follows a much larger incident on January 6 when a group of pro-Trump supporters forced open a gate and spilled onto the mansion lawn, Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has expanded his statewide mask order to include larger outdoor events with 500 or more attendees.Read More
The state of Oregon has set an ambitious goal to prepare more families in earthquake country to be "two weeks ready" after a disaster. Washington's emergency management agency is also seeking more funding to prepare people in a similar way. Read More
The Washington Federation of State Employees announced a tentative deal with Gov. Jay Inslee early Saturday morning.Read More
Following the lead of several other states, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Monday issued a requirement that state employees along with private health care and long-term care workers get the COVID-19 vaccine or face termination from their jobs.Read More
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris attend a virtual wildfire briefing with seven governors. CREDIT: Https://Www.Youtube.Com/Watch?V=PzvDeLvcQ7U The federal government is asking how it can help better fight wildfires […]Read More
Tribes across the Northwest called for immediate action to remove the four Lower Snake River dams during a two-day Salmon and Orca summit in western Washington. The group called on President Biden and congressional members to “take bold action, now.”Read More
First a drought. Then record heat. Now Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has declared a statewide wildfire state of emergency. Read More
Renters who are behind on their rent in Washington will get a few more months of protection from eviction. On Thursday, Gov. Jay Inslee announced a new eviction moratorium that will run through September 30. The current moratorium expires June 30 — the same day the state is set to fully reopen.Read More
Calling it a "moral mandate,” Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday signed into law a dozen bills that backers hope will improve policing in Washington, reduce the use of deadly force and ensure that when deadly encounters do occur the investigations are thorough and independent.Read More
Gov. Jay Inslee signed the Climate Commitment Act, environmental justice legislation, a clean fuels standard and bills related to reducing Washington’s single-use plastic waste and hydrofluorocarbon pollution.Read More
Washington state went all in on expanding public broadband this year. So much so, that the Legislature passed two different bills aimed at extending high-speed internet to people in rural areas.Read More
Washington is on track to fully reopen its economy by June 30, and a full reopening could happen even sooner if 70% or more of residents ages 16 and older have gotten at least one dose of vaccine by then, Gov. Jay Inslee said Thursday.Read More
Openly carrying guns and other weapons are now prohibited at the Washington state Capitol and public protests statewide, under a measure signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Jay Inslee.Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday signed into law a new tax on capital gains aimed at the state’s wealthiest residents. But the future of the tax is uncertain.Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday said all of the state’s counties will remain in their current phase of the state’s economic reopening plan and won’t face more restrictions because new COVID cases are levelling off after a recent spike.Read More
Just days after the Washington Legislature gave final approval to a new capital gains tax aimed at the state's wealthiest residents, the conservative Freedom Foundation has filed a lawsuit on behalf of five individuals and one couple to overturn the tax. Read More
On Sunday, Democrats adjourned the session having accomplished much of what they set out to do, including passage of a number of sweeping bills that Gov. Jay Inslee, in a statement, called “historic” in nature.Read More
As Washington braces for a fourth wave of coronavirus and spread from a more infectious variant, Gov. Jay Inslee is urging residents to continue to follow health rules, and take the vaccine.Read More
The Billy Frank Jr. statue would replace one of Oregon Trail pioneer Marcus Whitman. The larger-than-life bronze of Whitman has stood in the U.S. Capitol's Statuary Hall for nearly 70 years.Read More
Gov. Jay Inslee announced Monday that Whitman, Pierce and Cowlitz counties would be affected. It comes after Inslee changed the criteria last Friday, saying counties had to fail two key metrics in order to revert backward.Read More
