Young adult books at the Columbia County Library. Some people have requested to move the YA section into the adult section because of what they call “obscene” material in 100 […]Read More
A gray wolf. (Credit: William Campbell) Listen (Runtime 1:07) Read Some ranchers are saying it is time to find creative ways to deal with wolf attacks on livestock. That’s what […]Read More
Pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from the manufacture of fast fashion are growing just as fast as the industry. A new bill in Washington aims to help lessen the industry’s […]Read More
Starting in mid-2022, people in Washington will be able to dial 988 instead of 911 to access different types of services in a mental health crisis.Read More
In Washington, the working partnership between police and crisis mental health workers is being put to the test. The reason is a new police use of force law.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
In the middle of this year’s legislative session, the Washington Supreme Court dropped its Blake decision, declaring the law criminalizing drug possession in the state to be unconstitutional. What followed was a sprint by lawmakers to answer the justices’ enormous ruling — a balancing act between conservatives eager to make drug possession a felony again and progressives 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
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
The Washington House has approved a bill to institute a seven percent tax on capital gains over $250,000 from the sale of such things as stocks and bonds. The 52 to 46 vote followed an hours-long debate that spanned two days. Read More
Top Washington state legislators want to put a price on carbon to raise money for transportation projects. But with time running out, they can’t agree on the details.Read More
The Washington Legislature on Tuesday approved a measure requiring police to intervene if they see a fellow officer using, or attempting to use, excessive force.Read More
The Washington Legislature has approved a measure to ban the use of Native American names, symbols and images as school mascots, logos and team names at most public schools in Washington.Read More
Lowering the amount of carbon that comes out of your tailpipe has become a quest for some Washington lawmakers. Now, new standards that would promote biofuels over gasoline are closer to becoming law than ever before.Read More
A measure to honor the late Billy Frank Jr. with a statue at the U.S. Capitol cleared the Legislature Monday. On a 44-5 bipartisan vote, the Democratic-led Senate approved the bill that seeks to replace Washington’s Marcus Whitman statue in the National Statuary Hall Collection with a statue of Frank, a Nisqually tribal member who championed treaty rights.Read More
The two states are both led by strong Democratic majorities and face similar issues. Only one of them is successfully passing legislation.Read More
More folks from Northwest government and industry are jumping on the hydrogen bandwagon to test if the alternative fuel could be a viable and green replacement for diesel and gasoline in some situations. The potential converts include more than half a dozen transit agencies from Everett to Eugene, state legislators and Boeing's drone subsidiary in the Columbia River Gorge.Read More
Lawmakers in Olympia are scrambling to respond to a Washington Supreme Court decision that declared the state’s law criminalizing drug possession unconstitutional because it did not require prosecutors to prove intent.Read More
Washington state lawmakers have voted to automatically restore voting rights to people who have been released from prison after committing felonies,
even if they’re still on parole. With the support of majority Democrats, the state Senate passed the measure 27-22 Wednesday night, following earlier approval by the House. It now heads to Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee, who is Read More
A new state capital gains tax. An expanded and fully funded tax credit for lower-income families. Fresh investments in disaster preparation and foundational public health. And significant new spending in early learning and child care. Those are among the elements of a proposed $59.2 billion, two-year budget Washington Senate Democrats unveiled on Thursday.Read More
Washington’s improving fiscal picture isn’t an anomaly. A recent New York Times analysis shows that nearly half of states saw their revenues increase from April to December of last year. And many more experienced only slight declines. A key factor was federal aid that allowed even laid off workers to keep spending. Now, more federal money is headed to states from the Read More
Washington’s 105-day legislative session has crossed the halfway point and a key deadline for policy (non-budget) bills to clear their chamber of origin has passed. Majority Democrats are moving swiftly to enact a pandemic-era agenda focused on issues like tax reform, police accountability, racial equity and global climate change. Minority Republicans, meanwhile, are Read More
Profits on the sale of stocks and bonds in excess of $250,000 would be subject to a new tax on capital gains under a bill narrowly approved Saturday by the Washington Senate. The measure passed on a 25-24 vote after more than four hours of debate in the Democratic-led chamber. Three members of the Democratic caucus voted no: Sens. Annette Cleveland, Steve Hobbs and Mark Mullet.Read More
The police tactics measure, House Bill 1054, is a major plank in a sweeping police accountability agenda brought forth this year by majority Democrats. The focus on police reform follows last year’s protests nationally over the killings of Black people by police, includng George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville.Read More
Even as the state of Washington’s revenue picture improves, majority Democrats in the Legislature appear committed to a course that will, one way or another, involve raising taxes this year. Not necessarily to balance a recession-era budget, but instead to reform a tax code they view as regressive and to address gaps and inequities exposed by the global pandemic.Read More
Each of the proposals is different. But for many Democrats, as well as others on the political left, the goal is the same: Make the richest Washingtonians pay for COVID-19 relief programs and other services that would help people who are struggling. Democrats also say the state's current tax system is highly regressive, meaning lower-income people pay a larger share of Read More
A fresh round of federal aid will soon be flowing to Washington businesses and individuals hit hard by the COVID pandemic. On Friday, Gov. Jay Inslee signed into law a $2.2 billion relief package funded with money approved by Congress in December.Read More
Washington state senators have teed up a mileage-based tax for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles as the first step toward changing how the state pays for road maintenance and other transportation needs. Policymakers expect gas tax revenue to decline long term. Oregon has been experimenting with a per-mile charge for years.Read More
The Washington state Senate has overwhelmingly passed a bill to create a panel of arbitrators to review police discipline decisions and to better track law enforcement arbitration cases statewide.Read More
As majority Democrats in the Washington Legislature lay the groundwork for tax increases to fund the next two-year budget, minority Republicans are jumping out ahead by releasing their own tax-averse budget blueprints.Read More
This is the first academic year when districts in Washington are required to teach a stand-alone civics education course, not just something embedded in existing social studies classes. It’s the result of a bill approved by legislators three years ago.Read More
Groups representing women and sexual assault survivors are denouncing the appointment of former state Sen. Joe Fain to the state redistricting commission, a body that will shape Washington state politics for the next decade. Fain, 40, narrowly lost his reelection bid in November 2018, after being accused of raping a woman years earlier. The former Republican state senator Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee says he looks forward to signing a $2.2 billion COVID relief bill in the coming days. The measure cleared the Legislature Wednesday after a bipartisan vote in the state Senate. Read More
Washington billionaires would pay a “wealth tax” under a proposal in the state House that will get a public hearing on Tuesday. The bill is sponsored by Democratic state Rep. Noel Frame, who chairs the House Finance Committee, and would impose a one percent tax on intangible financial property, such as stocks and bonds, futures contracts and publicly traded options. A Read More
This year, the Washington State Legislature has welcomed a record number of lawmakers of color, including a record number of Black lawmakers who are all Democrats. The increasing diversity comes in the wake of last year’s civil rights protests and amid ongoing demands for police accountability and racial justice.Read More
You may be used to hearing a pushy car salesperson ask the timeless question, "What can I do to get you in this car?" But one big thing could be different in Washington state a decade from now. Proposals introduced this winter in the Washington Legislature would end sales of new gasoline-powered cars in the state by 2030.Read More
The open carry of guns and other weapons would be banned on the Capitol campus and at or near any public demonstration across Washington under a measure that received a remote public hearing Tuesday, with proponents calling it a common-sense measure amid heightened political divisions and opponents arguing it would infringe on constitutional gun rights.Read More
The 2021 session will be mostly remote, with COVID-19, tax reform and police accountability atop the agenda. An internet connection is all you’ll need to make your voice heard on these and more issues.Read More
The plan includes $618 million to boost vaccination efforts and contact tracing. It also includes $668 million for school assistance, $365 million to aid renters and landlords and $240 million for grants to businesses.Read More
This marks the second year the state Department of Natural Resources has pushed for legislation to expand Washington’s firefighting efforts. This time DNR is seeking $125 million every two years, during a legislative session complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic.Read More
A proposal to impose sweeping restrictions on police tactics and techniques in Washington is highlighting stark differences of opinion between police and reform groups. That divide was on display Tuesday in the House Public Safety committee during a lengthy, virtual public hearing on an omnibus bill sponsored by Democratic state Rep. Jesse Johnson. Read More
The Washington Legislature approved rules Monday that lawmakers to meet remotely because of the pandemic. The in-person votes in Olympia happened under tight security with strict COVID-19 protocols in place. The Washington State Patrol arrested two people outside the Capitol.Read More
The Washington Legislature kicks off its 2021 session today. It comes with heavy security outside the building amid threats of protesters trying to force their way in. Inside, lawmakers are meeting to approve the rules that will allow them to meet mostly remotely this year due to the pandemic. That could mean the session has fewer partisan policy disagreements – or more.Read More
Pro-Trump protesters broke through a gate at the Washington state governor’s mansion Wednesday afternoon and dozens of people gathered on the lawn. The crowd, some of whom were armed, touted repeated unfounded allegations of election fraud and it came the same day pro-Trump protesters stormed the U.S. Capitol.Read More
Amid the ongoing pandemic and threats by far-right protesters to "occupy" the Capitol, Washington lawmakers will convene Monday for what will ultimately be a mostly remote 2021 session with a focus on the ongoing response to COVID-19, police reform, addressing climate change and writing a two-year state budget.Read More
The COVID-19 pandemic is a recurring theme as Washington state lawmakers prepare to convene their 2021 legislative session. Some legislators are raring to get started and have already drafted and filed the proposals they plan to formally introduce once the opening gavel falls on January 11.Read More
COVID-related aid and police reform will be two of the major issues before the Washington legislature when it convenes next month. But newly-reelected Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz hopes legislators will also consider dedicating more funding for wildfire and forest health projects.Read More
The tax measures are contained in the governor's two-year, $57.6 billion operating budget proposal released Thursday in advance of the 2021 Legislative session. Separately, the Democratic governor also released proposed capital construction and transportation budgets.Read More
It was a little-noticed constitutional amendment to allow for the investment of long-term care trust fund dollars in private stocks. Voters soundly defeated the measure 54 to 46 percent. Now comes the surprise cost of that under-the-radar vote: an estimated $15 billion.Read More
Washington state lawmakers and activists are setting an ambitious agenda for police reform in the upcoming legislative session, saying they hope to make it easier to decertify officers for misconduct, to bar the use of police dogs to make arrests, and to create an independent statewide agency to investigate police killings.Read More
