WA state budget gets $105M boost, Ferguson warns of “Deep Financial Challenges” still ahead

OLYMPIA [Jake Goldstein-Street]—Washington state budget writers got a mild dose of good news on Tuesday, but are still looking at a strained balance sheet. Revenue projections show collections up $105 million for the current two-year state budget compared to the last forecast in September. That amounts to a 0.1% increase, a change from previous reports […]
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 […]
Convention chaos after WSRP attempts to pull gubernatorial endorsement vote

SPOKANE—The Washington State Republican Party (WSRP) candidate committee had a chaotic endorsement process for its statewide gubernatorial candidate at the political organization’s state convention in Spokane on April 19, moving to pull the endorsement vote of candidates Semi Bird and Dave Reichert from the race for Washington State Governor. The crowd of nearly 2,000 delegates […]