By: Jeanie Lindsay, Northwest News Network After hours of public speeches, the Washington Legislature decided Monday to once again make changes to the state rules around police car chases. Lawmakers […]Read More
By: Jeanie Lindsay / NW News Network A majority of lawmakers in the Washington Legislature decided Monday to approve three voter initiatives, after weeks of uncertainty and plenty of tense […]Read More
Farmworkers, farmers and advocates gathered at two events – all working to get lawmakers’ attention about the agriculture overtime law. An annual tribunal defended farmworkers’ rights and the overtime law. A separate rally focused on the negative impacts of it. Read More
Kaiser Permanente is set to remove its First Fill requirement for large group plans in Washington next year. However, the program will remain in place for some small group plans. Rachel Sun reports.Read More
Larch staff have pushed back against the closure of the minimum security since plans were announced this summer, including filing a lawsuit that they hoped would pause the closure. A […]Read More
A court battle over gas stoves in California is sowing seeds of uncertainty for energy policies in the West, as cities in Washington and Oregon seek to limit the use of natural gas in new homes and buildings.Read More
When Travis ComesLast was 20 years old, he was on the run from juvenile detention. He and a friend were looking for ways to get some cash so they could skip town. But during what he describes as a drug deal gone bad, ComesLast shot and killed a man.Read More
A Washington committee studying options for a new regional airport location met for the final time Friday, and will disband at the end of this month without recommending a single site to the Legislature.Read More
Washington is getting a new drug possession and addiction treatment law, after the state legislature approved a final deal during its one-day special session Tuesday. But many lawmakers call it a hard compromise that represents just one step toward tackling the state's drug crisis.Read More
The Washington State Legislature is reconvening Tuesday, as lawmakers aim to finalize new drug possession penalties and addiction treatment resources in the state.Read More
(Credit: WSDOT / tinyurl.com/yddspl8b) Read By Jeanie Lindsay The Washington Legislature will attempt to wrap up its unfinished business on drug possession this month. Gov. Jay Inslee announced Tuesday he’s […]Read More
By signing into law House Bill 1512, Washington state will create an online toolkit meant to assist families and law enforcement seeking to locate and recover missing persons.
The act, known as the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Persons and Lucian Act, is in part named after Lucian Munguia, who was 4 years old when he went missing in Yakima last September. His Read More
Washington's legislature adjourned its 2023 regular session with a new two-year state budget, alongside dozens of policy changes focused on housing, health care and public safety – and a surprising last-minute bill failure.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
In an unexpected development, the Washington state Legislature adjourned for the year late Sunday night having failed to put a new drug possession law on the books.Read More
On April 20, Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee signed into law House Bill 1177 that establishes a cold case unit specifically for missing and murdered Indigenous women and people in the state.
“This legislation will ensure that Indigenous victims of crime receive robust, thorough investigations, and potential prosecution,” Inslee said. Read More
Over the next two years, Washington State is likely to bring in less revenue than previously expected, according to the latest revenue forecast officials released Monday. But lawmakers say it's cause for caution, not necessarily concern.Read More
Every new car ferry added to the Washington State Ferries fleet over the past fifty years was built at a Puget Sound shipyard. Now, state lawmakers are considering a break from past policy in order to obtain new vessels faster and cheaper for the troubled state ferry system.Read More
File photo of solar panels. Credit: Sarah Swenty, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Listen (Runtime 1:02) Read In the Pacific Northwest, conversations about renewable energy can get pretty heated. Residents […]Read More
WA lawmakers pass housing, firearm bills ahead of cutoff, leave rent control, recycling bills behind
Washington lawmakers are getting back into the swing of working on legislation in committees following a key cutoff deadline. Wednesday marked the final day for legislators to pass bills from the chamber they originated in, meaning most bills that didn't receive a vote on the floor will no longer be considered this session.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
A bill that would effectively do-over Washington's search for a new commercial airport has passed a key committee vote in Olympia.Read More
There's a rallying cry at various bays and beaches up and down the West Coast; it's "Help the kelp!" The towering brown seaweed with the floating bulb on top is in steep decline. That's alarming because underwater kelp forests provide shelter and food for a wide variety of sea life. The crew now answering the call runs the gamut from seaweed farmers to hammer-wielding Read More
Proposal bill 5476, designed to authorize an agricultural flexibility overtime period in Washington, has not advance in Legislature. Read More
A bill inspired by the case of missing child Oakley Carlson is stalled in the Washington Legislature. But supporters hope it can still be revived.Read More
Farmers, workers and advocates testified on the proposed bill 5476 in Olympia. Credit: Scheen capture from TVW.org. Listen (Runtime 1:12) Read Thousands of farmworkers, advocates and farmers testified at the […]Read More
Legislators in Washington state are joining more than a dozen other states that are considering whether to restrict or ban foreign entities from buying farmland. The initial hearing on Olympia's version of the foreign ownership restrictions however drew more criticism than support on Tuesday.Read More
Forested area in Washington. CREDIT: Connor Henricksen Listen (Runtime 1:07) Read In the eyes of the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, one big thing is missing from the state’s […]Read More
Washington lawmakers are weighing bills to place new restrictions on the sale and transfer of guns as new gun laws in Oregon make their way through the courts.Read More
The Washington Legislature has a lot of prickly problems on its plate. But there's a new one that may be the prickliest of all: Should lawmakers designate an official state cactus?Read More
Over 100 people participated in a hunger strike last week at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, known colloquially as the Northwest Detention Center.
The strike ended on Feb. 5 after four days according to detention abolitionist group La Resistencia. Read More
Sólo un año después de que la ley de Washington concediera a los trabajadores agrícolas el derecho a ganar horas extraordinarias, los legisladores estatales vuelven a debatir el tema. Read More
Only a year after a Washington law gave farmworkers the right to earn overtime, state lawmakers are discussing the issue again. If Washington lawmakers pass Senate Bill 5476 and House Bill 1523, agricultural employers could choose 12 weeks each year when farmworkers could work up to 50 hours without getting paid overtime wages.Read More
Legislators in Olympia are considering a host of bills to address the housing crisis, and Tuesday, members from both parties announced they're finding common ground.Read More
The battle against a new two-runway airport in Pierce or Thurston county ramped up on Wednesday, when a hundred or so rallied on the north steps of the Capitol Building in Olympia.
Lawmakers were there to listen, and express their own objection to the proposed sites, or at least a need to restart the process for choosing a site for a new airfield. Behind closed doors, Read More
Numerous Democrats in the Washington Legislature are backing a new proposal to make voting in elections compulsory. Citizens are required by law to cast ballots in about 25 counties, but in no other U.S. states.Read More
A warning light blinks on a wind turbine at night. Credit: naql, Flickr Creative Commons Listen (Runtime 1:09) Read Tri-Cities area residents have called the blinking red lights on top […]Read More
En los meses que siguieron a la anulación del caso Roe contra Wade, muchas personas—entre ellas pacientes, proveedores de atención sanitaria y organizadores del derecho al aborto—se enfrentaron a cambios extremos en sus vidas y sus medios de subsistencia. Estos son algunos de los cambios que se produjeron en nuestra región desde entonces.Read More
Everywhere they look, Pacific Northwest scientists find teeny-tiny plastic pollution. Broken down particles are in our water, falling out of the air, in salmon, shellfish and in our own bodies. Scientists, environmental advocates and Democratic lawmakers in Olympia and Salem have seen enough to make them seek more regulations.Read More
In the months following the overturn of Roe v. Wade, many people — including patients, health care providers, and abortion rights organizers — faced extreme changes in their lives and livelihood. These are some of the changes that took place in our region since then.Read More
The Washington State Capitol building in Olympia. CREDIT: Austin Jenkins/N3 Listen (Runtime 1:06) Read You’ve probably heard of state flowers or state trees. In addition to such flora, Washington soon […]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
Washington state voters and lawmakers appear to be in close alignment on their top priorities for the incoming Washington Legislature. The 2023 session gavels to order at noon on Monday, January 9.Read More
Should the top elections official in Washington state officially be a nonpartisan? That's one difference between the top two finalists running for Washington Secretary of State.Read More
A quartet of independent candidates on the ballot this November in Oregon and Washington state will test voter appetites for a centrist “third way.” They are experienced contenders running for state senate, Oregon governor and Washington Secretary of State. Unaffiliated candidates are popping up around the nation too, with a common theme of being fed up with a divisive Read More
An investigation by the King County Sheriff’s Office into a ballot drop box surveillance effort organized by conservative activists has wrapped up without criminal charges.Read More
Earlier this summer, the Washington State Patrol did something it’s never done before: close one of its eight regional communication centers used to answer 911 calls and dispatch troopers and other first responders to emergencies.Read More
Democratic incumbent Steve Hobbs and independent challenger Julie Anderson were leading Washington’s top two primary for Secretary of State after the initial ballot count Tuesday night. Republican Bob Hagglund, who has never held public office, was in a close third place.Read More
Washington legislative Republicans were taking stock Wednesday of their less than dazzling performance in the initial returns of the August primary.Read More
For nearly six decades, Republicans held Washington's top election post — Secretary of State. That streak ended last November when Kim Wyman resigned to take an election security post with the Biden administration, and Gov. Jay Inslee appointed Democratic state Sen. Steve Hobbs to the post.Read More
