Road damage from WA flooding to cost at least $40M
[Jake Goldstein-Street]—Last month’s heavy flooding inflicted at least $40 million to $50 million of damage on Washington’s highways, state transportation officials estimated to lawmakers Monday. The state Department of Transportation has responded to dozens of locations due to flooding, officials told lawmakers. The state has signed 16 contracts for emergency repairs. A few more are […]
WA state wrongly gave 685 noncitizens a CDL, including Florida trucker who killed three
[JAKE GOLDSTEIN-STREET]—Washington state mistakenly issued nearly 700 commercial licenses to drive trucks and buses to noncitizens who don’t qualify over the past seven years. This issue has drawn heavy criticism from the Trump administration and others after a semitruck driver, Harjinder Singh, allegedly made an illegal U-turn and killed three people in Florida. Singh wrongfully […]
Washington lawmakers want to regulate license plate readers
OLYMPIA [Jake Goldstein-Street]—Washington state lawmakers next year hope to rein in law enforcement’s use of automated license plate readers amid revelations federal immigration authorities are using the data. The readers are mounted everywhere from street poles to police patrol cars. They take pictures of vehicles and use artificial intelligence to analyze the data. Police can […]
Trump admin moves to gut Washington’s new medical debt protection
OLYMPIA [Jake Goldstein-Street]—Just months after Governor Bob Ferguson signed a Washington law to keep medical debt off consumers’ credit reports, the Trump administration is looking to block such policies. The federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau now says federal law preempts laws like Washington’s. The federal agency’s position is a reversal from the Biden era. Backers of Senate […]
Billions of dollars in new sales tax on services take effect on Oct 1
A contentious new sales tax on services that Democratic state lawmakers relied on to pay for Washington’s latest 2025-2027 biennium state budget—former Governor Jay Inslee (D) last proposed state budget before leaving office— is set to take effect Wednesday, October 1. Senate Bill 5814 is one of the biggest moneymakers used to bring in an estimated […]
Washington denies federal request for personal data on recipients of food stamps
(WASHINGTON STATE STANDARD)—Washington state refused to comply with the federal government’s recent request for personal data on residents who receive or apply for food stamps. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, early last month, told states it wanted records of all applicants and recipients for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, since 2020. The records include names, […]
Ferguson signs $77.8 billion budget with largest tax hike in WA state history at $9.4 billion
Washington Governor Bob Ferguson entered office warning that a $16 billion dollar budget shortfall over the next four years would require spending cuts and, as a last resort, higher taxes. On Tuesday, the first-term Democrat appeared satisfied with lawmakers’ work to close the financial gap, signing a two-year state budget and a tax package to produce […]
Latest deadline in Washington Legislature fells more bills
More legislation fell by the wayside Friday, February 28, in the Washington Legislature, including bills on signature gathering for ballot initiatives, free school meals and ballot box tampering. Friday was the deadline for bills to pass through fiscal committees, like Senate Ways and Means and House Appropriations. With a multibillion-dollar deficit hanging over the session, […]
RIP: Bills that didn’t survive the WA Legislature’s Policy Committee deadline
OLYMPIA—Bills dealing with cow burps, the state flag, and changes to police traffic stop standards are among the first to land in the legislative graveyard this year in Olympia. This session, lawmakers in the state House and Senate have introduced nearly 1,800 bills. To stay alive, much of that legislation needed to get voted out […]
