In The News

A state Senate bill designed to provide incentives to create manufacturing jobs is receiving some support in Spokane, though it might reduce revenue for some public entities that were created to promote such job creation. Senate Bill 5901 would create a sale-and-use tax deferral of up to $400,000 for new buildings, machinery, and equipment used for manufacturing, research and development, commercial ...

Lawmakers in Washington state have started a new legislative session amid the backdrop of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and much of their work will be done remotely as leaders try to limit the possibility of exposure.

Since Friday, four Democratic senators — Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig and Sens. John Lovick, Mark Mullet ...

Construction began Wednesday on pharmaceutical manufacturer Jubilant HollisterStier’s $92 million expansion in Spokane that’s expected to create at least 200 new jobs. Jubilant HollisterStier makes pharmaceuticals used in the global fight against COVID-19, including vaccines and therapeutics. The company, a subsidiary of Jubilant Pharmma Limited, is the only such drug manufacturer in the state of Washington . The company has said the ...

Colleagues of Washington Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig will forgive him if he uses baseball metaphors in his speeches. Billig (D) is also a part owner of the Spokane Indians, a minor league baseball affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. In fact, his staff sometimes uses baseball phrases to communicate with him. “I had a senior staff member who was ...

The date was March 13, 2020, and Senator Andy Billig was driving home from Olympia when he got a call saying all Washington schools were going to shut down because of COVID. It was the end of the legislative session – a time Billig said he usually looks forward to because he gets a chance to reflect on the hectic session, ...

By Sen. Andy Billig, Rep. Timm Ormsby and Rep. Marcus Riccelli When a crisis bears down, you can panic, ignore it and hope for the best, or confront it head-on. We chose to confront the COVID-19 pandemic with every available legislative tool to protect and help workers, families, and small businesses that were hit hardest. That’s the story of the 2021 legislative session, ...

Although I’ve never been a big believer in the Cascade Curtain, more than a decade in Olympia has taught me that there is a certain West Side bias that results in somewhat rare recognition, let alone praise, for things Eastern Washington does right. So it was a pleasant surprise last week, when debate over a bill to restrict the use of ...

Last spring, a pandemic the likes of which the world hadn't seen in a century forced leaders to shutter their economies in ways few people living today had ever experienced. The impacts were swift. Soon after Washington Gov. Jay Inslee ordered people to stay home and restricted in-person services of nearly all kinds in March, the state saw a sudden, unprecedented ...

Washington’s once-in-a-decade process of redrawing congressional and legislative district boundaries gets underway Wednesday, with the first official meeting of the state Redistricting Commission. The four appointed commissioners – one each named by the leader of a legislative caucus – will have about 10 months to rearrange the state’s 10 congressional districts and 49 legislative districts to reflect changes in population that ...

State legislators have released their first plans for COVID-19 relief, an early action effort they hope will bring assistance to businesses and families within the next few weeks. House and Senate Democrats released a $2.2 billion proposal that would provide business assistance grants, school assistance and rental assistance, as well as fund vaccine administration, COVID-19 testing, and business and operation tax ...