At a Monday morning press conference regarding the results of the state’s Climate Commitment Act, Gov. Jay Inslee sought to make a thinly veiled case for why voters should reject an initiative on the November ballot that would repeal the revenue-generating program. Though the CCA’s stated goal is to reduce carbon emission levels by 95% by 2050, Inslee said that “the basic fundamental purpose of this program, is to reduce pollution. The fundamental purpose of the Climate Commitment Act is to...

With hundreds of millions of tax dollars spent, the King County Regional Homelessness Authority is facing calls for accountability from city officials who look to the semi-governmental organization to get the area's chronic homelessness crisis under control. A senior KCRHA policy director says their efforts are working. KCRHA has served as the organization responsible for coordinating funding and services for unhoused people across all of King County since 2019. --- Support this podcast:...

There seems to be some confusion among certain state agencies about workers who received exemptions from WA Cares, Washington’s mandatory long-term care benefit program. The program is paid for by 58 cents out of every $100 earned deducted from workers' paychecks. WA Cares provided a one-time opportunity for people to opt out, if they could show they had private long-term care insurance in place before Nov. 1, 2021. This opt-out provision is no longer available to new applicants. Full Story:...

More than nine months since Washington state workers started paying into the state-mandated long-term care insurance program known as WA Cares, most working Washingtonians have contributed at least a few hundred dollars to the program. But if voters approve Initiative 2124 this November, workers can opt out of having 58 cents out of every $100 earned deducted from their paychecks. WA Cares opponents argue the maximum $36,500 benefit, not available until July 2026, is not adequate and may give...

There was no decision from the bench Wednesday afternoon in the Gators Custom Guns case regarding the state ban on high-capacity magazines for firearms.  State Supreme Court Commissioner Mike Johnston opened the hearing with remarks for what he said was, “the importance of a number of people watching this case.” “Personal side note, I’m a gun enthusiast. I know a lot about guns,” he said. Johnston is the court commissioner who last week granted a temporary stay of a ruling from Cowlitz County...

There is ongoing debate over a newly-enacted law and its effect on natural gas in Washington state. The state's largest utility provider says it does not affect natural gas for new or future customers, but others argue that the new provisions set the stage for turning the shut-off valve for good.  House Bill 1589 signed by Gov. Jay Inslee last month consolidates Puget Sound Energy’s planning for both electrical and natural gas. While opponents claim it bans natural gas, PSE recently put out...

Puget Sound Energy is challenging claims that a recent bill signed into law restricts or eliminates natural gas service, calling it "misinformation." This session, the Washington State Legislature enacted Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1589, which was signed last week by Gov. Jay Inslee. The bill was proposed during last year’s session, but failed to clear both chambers. Among its provisions are the consolidation of PSE’s planning process for both electric and natural gas services....

A new law signed by Gov. Jay Inslee allows illegal foreign nationals to obtain professional and commercial licenses to work a variety of jobs if they otherwise qualify or meet requirements. Under existing state law, a commercial vehicle license is needed from the state Department of Licensing to legally work certain careers, whereas other professions are regulated by a board of commission that determine the qualifications. --- Support this podcast:...

(The Center Square) – Passing the the bar exam will no longer be a requirement for becoming a lawyer in Washington, the state Supreme Court ruled in a pair of orders Friday. Washington becomes only the second state to officially approve alternatives to the bar, following its southern neighbor, Oregon, which is set to make the change in May. The state Supreme Court appointed a Bar Licensure Task Force to study alternative ways to show competency in 2020, after COVID-19-related modifications...

One of the most controversial bills passed by the Washington State Legislature this session has yet to be signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee. Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1589, dubbed by critics as the "natural gas ban bill," would allow utilities – that is, Puget Sound Energy – to start planning how to move away from natural gas. Inslee is expected to sign the bill, a cornerstone of Inslee's agenda to fight climate change, into law. --- Support this podcast:...

Scott Smith, a former economist with the Washington State Department of Transportation, spoke out Wednesday morning about the hostility and retaliation he says he faced after refusing to keep quiet about his calculations last year showing Washington’s cap-and-trade program would increase gas prices by 45 to 50 cents per gallon. “When I was preparing the estimates, the facts were so obvious that it was a matter of sixth-grade math,” he said during a virtual news conference the day after the...

Proponents of Initiative 2113 to reduce requirements for law enforcement to engage in vehicle pursuits expressed frustration at how a Wednesday morning legislative public hearing on the initiative was conducted. Testimony before both the Senate Law & Justice Committee and the House Community Safety, Justice & Reentry Committee did not begin until 30 minutes into the one-hour hearing due to majority party Democrats asking questions of committee staff members. One of the questions asked...

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell said that he would not look at new revenue streams to address the city’s $229 million budget gap. Harrell gave his State of the City address with an emphasis on improving public safety, increasing the city’s affordable housing stock, addressing the drug epidemic and replacing aging infrastructure. “The size of this deficit means that we will have difficult financial decisions ahead,” Harrel said. --- Support this podcast:...

The executive director of the Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council says the overall revenue picture for the state is “pretty good.” But the elephants in the room as Dave Reich began his revenue forecast presentation Wednesday morning were the state Department of Revenue's Tuesday announcement that it had made a series of errors in tallying the state's new capital gains tax and the recent departure of a billionaire to live in another state. The errors, he said came from "a...

Initiative 2117 to repeal Washington state's cap-and-trade law under the Climate Commitment Act could already be impacting the CCA's carbon credit futures market that is meant to reduce overall carbon emissions. Via forums like the Intercontinental Exchange, or ICE, traders can buy and sell Washington carbon credit futures. Closing prices have steadily declined since I-2117 was certified last month, though the December 2024 CCA contracts were dropping slightly in the months before the measure...

A group of Washingtonians turned out Wednesday afternoon at the steps of the Capitol building in Olympia to demand lawmakers follow the state's constitution and act on six certified initiatives. In December, the Let’s Go Washington voter advocacy group turned in 2.6 million signatures on initiatives to loosen restrictions on allowing police to pursue dangerous criminals, repeal the carbon tax, establish parental rights in public schools, abolish the capital gains tax, allow people who are...

A Washington bill would require a convicted sex offender be among the members of the State Sex Offender Policy Board, which would also be renamed “Sex Offense Policy Board.” House Bill 2177 sponsored by Rep. Tarra Simmons, D-Bremerton, would also require a victim of a sex offense serve in an effort to “diversify” the number of backgrounds represented on the board. While supporters maintain that it will allow greater representation in crafting policies for the conviction and release of sex...

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday morning declined to hear an appeal of a Washington State Supreme Court ruling from March 2023 that found a statewide capital gains tax to be lawful. The justices, as is their custom, did not offer a reason for not taking the case. Opponents of the tax – a 7% levy on individuals’ long-term capital gains exceeding $250,000 – had argued it was functionally an income tax that violated the state constitution’s strict rules on income taxes. --- Support this...

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee delivered his 11th and final state-of-the-state address Tuesday before a joint session of the state Legislature. “We will always be the strongest state in the nation; in fact, the state of our state is stronger than ever,” Inslee said as he opened his midday speech. The governor touted many accomplishments, including the increase in the state minimum wage while he’s been in office. --- Support this podcast:...

Gov. Jay Inslee has long known that a carbon tax could significantly increase gas prices in Washington state, contends the conservative Washington Policy Center think tank, which says it has the receipts to back up that claim. In a Thursday morning blog post, WPC Environmental Director Todd Myers notes that reports from Inslee’s 2014 Carbon Emissions Reduction Task Force, or CERT, showed a carbon tax could result in a significant hike in the price at the pump. --- Support this podcast:...

The Vancouver City Council approved a short-term rental ordinance that requires short-term rental operators to obtain a business license and a short-term rental permit. The operators will be required to pay $50 for the business license and $250 for the permit. Applicants will have to apply for a one-time permit by Feb. 15, 2024. Prior to the recently passed ordinance, the city’s land use and development code did not allow short-term rentals in residential zones except as expressly authorized...

Let’s Go Washington has sent a cease-and-desist letter to three organizations it’s accused of illegally interfering with its signature gathering efforts for initiatives to be placed on the November 2024 ballot. The letter, written by former State Attorney General Rob McKenna, accuses Fuse Washington, SEIU 775 and Washington D.C.-based Fieldworks of engaging in “a coordinated intimidation campaign against contractors for our client, Let’s Go Washington, and voters, to disrupt and prevent the...

Less than a month from the start of the next legislative session, Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee on Wednesday afternoon released his 2024 supplemental budget proposal. The governor’s supplemental budget would add $2 billion in spending to the $69.8 billion operating budget the Legislature passed during this year’s session. “There are some numbers attached to it, but the numbers aren’t important,” Inslee said at a press conference announcing his supplemental budget. “What’s important are the...

While the U.S. Supreme Court has yet to announce whether it will take up a case regarding whether or not a Washington state capital gains tax is an income tax, it is currently reviewing the legality of a federal tax that poses its own legal challenge. The lawsuit filed by a Washington couple disputes whether they owe $15,000 under a one-time tax enacted in 2017 that applies to the earnings of U.S. residents who generated income from shares in foreign companies. --- Support this podcast:...