In the News

Washington taxpayers are funding a great experiment in sustaining local journalism. It’s already off to a good start. The state’s new biennial budget includes $2.4 million for “a journalism fellowship program focused on civic affairs.” This will place eight graduating journalism students per year at local news outlets across the state. The gigs last two years so the roster will grow to ...

Gov. Jay Inslee signed five new pieces of legislation into law on Thursday aimed at protecting reproductive health-care rights in the state of Washington. “We are here to proclaim very vocally and very forcefully that we will not allow any state, or any Trump-appointed judge, to jeopardize a woman’s right of choice in the state of Washington,” Inslee said. “We ...

OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Washington State Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 5111, first introduced by Senator Karen Keiser (D-Wash.), aimed at helping short-term construction workers earn paid sick time. Currently, state law outlines a 90-day minimum at one job before a worker can take paid sick leave, according to a press release from the Washington Senate Democrats. This leave ...

OLYMPIA — Washington employers would be prohibited from refusing to hire a potential worker solely because of a drug test showing they had used cannabis under a bill that passed the state Senate on Wednesday. Washington voters approved recreational marijuana in 2012 through Initiative 502. More than a decade later, though, as more states have moved to legalize the drug, Washington ...

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Washington state senators have introduced a senate bill this legislative session that aims to focus on retail theft and business assistance. SB 5259 is summarized as, “ensuring commerce and workplaces are safe from product theft,” and aims to create a retail theft task force and help businesses with security expenses through a tax break. ...

Employers saved roughly $2.5 billion in state unemployment insurance (UI) premium payments over the last three years because of legislation passed in 2021 and 2022 in Olympia, according to a new report from the Washington State Security Department.

It was a year ago this month when Haven Hepner, 10, was flown by medevac from her home in East Wenatchee to Seattle Children’s hospital. After a case of COVID-19, she had a headache and was very lethargic. When the doctor measured her blood sugar, it was nearly off the charts. She had diabetic ketoacidosis, a life-threatening condition caused by a ...

This is the second year that farmworkers are eligible for overtime. Right now, if they work more than 48 hours in a week, they get paid time and half. Next year, they’ll be the same as everyone else — anything past 40 hours would count as overtime. But new proposed legislation in Olympia is trying to re-negotiate that.

Washington state Democrats want to add abortion rights to the state's Constitution, but they need Republican votes to make that happen. A resolution to amend the state Constitution is currently winding its way through committees in Olympia. The resolution would need to win a two-thirds vote in both the state Senate and House before it can be put on a ballot ...