What should a 21st century public school system look like? Washington’s superintendent of public instruction says it’s time to have that conversation now that the state’s decade-long school funding legal fight is over.Read More
Washington House leaders are recommending that state Rep. David Sawyer, D-Tacoma, lose his chairmanship, not be assigned a legislative assistant and continue to have his access to staff restricted as the result of the findings of an investigation into his conduct that could also result in an ethics probe.Read More
Washington lawmakers passed over 300 bills during the 2018 legislative session in Olympia. This week, hundreds of new laws take effect, including several to address sexual misconduct in the workplace. With over 200 laws taking effect this week, here are a few highlights.Read More
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson is suing Facebook and Google for campaign finance violations. The lawsuits filed Monday allege the companies failed to keep records about who purchased political advertising from them.
Read More
Former Washington State Auditor Troy Kelley rejected a pair of plea offers from federal prosecutors that would have allowed him to avoid a second trial and his ultimate conviction on multiple felony counts related to his past business practices.Read More
On any given day, nearly half the civil, or non-criminal, patients at Western State are ready to be discharged, but there's nowhere to send them. That means they take up beds that patients in crisis, like Brian's daughter, may desperately need. In other words, there's a waitlist to get into Western State because there's a waitlist to get out.Read More
Two embattled Washington state representatives have filed to run for re-election—despite ongoing investigations into their conduct.Read More
Two of Washington top elected prosecutors say the state is failing to adequately address an epidemic of drug addiction. They say it’s a major contributor to crime, but also to homelessness.Read More
Washington House Democrats voted Wednesday to suspend state Rep. David Sawyer as chair of the Commerce and Gaming Committee pending the outcome of an investigation into workplace conduct.Read More
A Washington state trooper has accused a leader in the State Patrol’s aviation unit of ordering staff to illegally delete public records and lying to the Governor’s Office about the availability of planes.Read More
In an unprecedented move, the state of Washington is shutting down a major provider of in-home care for developmentally disabled adults in King, Spokane and Yakima counties because of repeated serious violations of care standards.Read More
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson is breaking with tradition and will endorse a ballot measure dealing with guns. Read More
Washington Governor Jay Inslee is making headlines for a quip he made about marijuana to HBO host Bill Maher.Read More
At the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla, inmates with mental illness are locked down in their cells for up to 16 hours a day, even if they pose little risk. That’s one of the allegations in a lawsuit Disability Rights Washington plans to file in federal court in Spokane on Monday.Read More
Just south of Washington state Capitol building you’ll find a neighborhood dotted with quaint, historic houses. But you won’t find families with children in many of them. Nearly one-third of the 62 homes found immediately south of the Capitol are owned or used by lobbyists, corporations or unions, according to a review of public records.Read More
Washington lawmakers tried, but failed this year to repeal the death penalty. Now, the Washington Supreme Court could decide whether it’s constitutional.Read More
After years of pleading with the state Legislature for more state funding, Washington's 39 counties could decide this year whether to file a lawsuit against the state over unfunded mandates.Read More
Amid warnings that Russian hackers may try to interfere in the 2018 midterm elections, top election officials in the Northwest say they are taking additional steps to protect voting systems from attack.Read More
Despite numerous requests for a veto, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed a controversial bill to privatize the state’s homecare provider system. The Democrat’s signing of the measure followed a contentious fight in the Legislature and accusations that it amounted to a power grab by the Service Employees International Union.Read More
Governor Jay Inslee signed the Washington Voting Rights Act recently. It’s a move that has long been awaited by Democrats but kept failing in the state legislature. The roots of the law begin in Yakima and a court case over how the city diluted votes of Latino residents.Read More
Three years ago, Betsy Deane's son was killed in an automobile accident. Now, the Pasco, Wash., grandmother hopes a new state law will allow her to reunite with the granddaughter she hasn’t been able to see since.Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has signed several measures into law aimed at tackling sexual harassment in the workplace and an update to the Equal Pay Act to help address gender pay gap in the state.Read More
It may still be wet and muddy out there, but it’s also the time of year when wildland firefighters start to gear up for hot, dry weather and wildfires. This year, the Washington Legislature approved $1.7 million in preventative fire management money (different from fire fighting) for the upcoming season. Fire managers are also waiting to see how much, if any, federal Read More
Youth age 16 and 17 will soon be able to pre-register to vote in Washington. That’s just one of several voting-related bills the governor is scheduled to sign into law soon.Read More
Several efforts to protect sexual assault victims failed to pass in Washington’s 60-day legislative session which adjourned last Thursday. Now lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are expressing frustration.Read More
Olympia correspondent Austin Jenkins joins Scott Leadingham to talk about what did and didn’t happen in Olympia this year, including a review of how the legislature addressed sexual harassment inside its own halls.Read More
After several tries, blood bank couriers and wheelchair taxis with just one person on board have won coveted access to carpool lanes in order to provide better service. The Washington Legislature gave those marked vehicles access for one year on a trial basis. Read More
After the recent mass shooting in Florida, Washington state lawmakers faced immense pressure to enact gun control legislation. But a bill to address school shootings made little progress, despite Democratic control of the House and Senate.Read More
The Washington Legislature has approved further study of a super-fast train from Portland to Seattle to Vancouver, BC. Lawmakers passed and sent to the governor's desk a supplemental transportation budget which includes $1.2 million for a consultant to prepare a "business case analysis" of bullet train service from Portland to Vancouver, BC with stops in between.Read More
Washington lawmakers are scheduled to adjourn Thursday after a short, 60-day election-year session during which Democrats flexed their new one-party control to pass a slew of legislation. Here’s a look at some of the bills that passed and some that didn’t.Read More
Washington homeowners would get some property tax relief in 2019 under a bill that passed the Democratically-controlled state Senate Wednesday night over Republican objections. The bill is part of a final budget deal reached with the House as the Legislature heads toward a scheduled adjournment on Thursday, March 8.
Read More
More than 100 Washington high school students rallied at the state Capitol Tuesday, March 6 demanding restrictions on purchases of military-style weapons and tougher background checks.Read More
An initiative backed by families of people who’ve been shot by police may not appear on Washington’s November ballot after all. That’s because sponsors of Initiative 940 and police groups have agreed on a new good faith standard for the use of deadly force.Read More
Your internet service should be free of slow lanes and corporate favoritism if legislation just signed in Washington state and awaiting the governor's signature in Oregon works as intended. The states' objectives were to block a federal rollback of Obama-era net neutrality rules.Read More
A new Washington state law designed to crack down on felons, domestic abusers and others who lie and try to buy a gun is already resulting in prosecutions.Read More
In the face of intense pressure from the public and media, and following hours of behind-the-scenes negotiations, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee vetoed a bill Thursday night that exempts the Legislature from the state’s voter-approved Public Disclosure Act. Read More
President Donald Trump has called on Congress to raise the minimum age to buy a rifle from 18 to 21. In Washington state, a proposal to do that passed a major legislative hurdle Thursday when it was voted through a powerful Senate committee.Read More
Lawmakers in Washington state continue to look for ways to prevent mass shootings in schools. On Wednesday, Republicans in the state Senate proposed creating a voluntary training program for school staff on how to respond to an active shooter.Read More
Will he or won’t he? That’s the question as Washington Gov. Jay Inslee faces immense pressure to veto a bill that exempts the Legislature from the state’s Public Records Act. Inslee has until midnight Thursday to decide.Read More
Washington lawmakers have passed legislation intended to restore net neutrality. Under the measure, internet providers are prohibited from blocking content or impairing traffic.Read More
Washington lawmakers have agreed to ban firefighting foam that contains harmful chemicals. Perfluorinated chemicals are used in firefighting foam to help contain petroleum fires. Firefighters have sprayed the foam around Washington’s military airstrips and fire-training facilities.Read More
Twelve newspapers across Washington ran editorials Tuesday demanding that Gov. Jay Inslee veto what they are calling a “secrecy” bill. It’s legislation that would exempt legislators from the state Public Records Act.Read More
The Washington Legislature has sent a ban on bump stocks to Gov. Jay Inslee for his signature. A bump stock is a trigger modification device that make a semi-automatic rifle function more like an automatic weapon.Read More
The Washington state House passed a ban on bump stocks Friday, Feb. 23. It's a gun modification that allows certain weapons to fire more rapidly. Legislators debated the ban under the shadow of last week’s school shooting in Parkland, FloridaRead More
In recent weeks, eight women interviewed by Northwest News Network, The News Tribune and The Olympian have said Washington state Rep. David Sawyer of Tacoma has crossed personal and professional boundaries, sometimes repeatedly, and accused him of engaging in behavior before and after he joined the Legislature that ranged from inappropriate to harassing.Read More
In the space of 20 minutes Friday, Feb. 23, Washington lawmakers voted to exempt themselves from the state’s voter-approved Public Records Act. The Senate first passed the bill and then sent it to the House where it was immediately taken up.Read More
Washington lawmakers are fast-tracking a bill to exempt themselves from the state’s voter-approved Public Records Act. The move comes after the Legislature lost a public records lawsuit filed by several news outlets, including public radio.Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is reiterating his call for state lawmakers to pass a series of what he calls “common sense” gun control measures. He made his comments Wednesday, Feb. 21 in response to the Florida shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School where 17 people were killed.Read More
An allegation against Washington state Rep. David Sawyer of Tacoma has led House Democrats to restrict his contact with staff. House Majority Leader Pat Sullivan said he can’t speak to the specifics or seriousness of the allegation, but that “it appears” it’s not “sexual in nature.” Read More
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
