In the News

WASHINGTON – Democrats moved Tuesday to revive efforts in Congress to change gun laws after two high-profile mass shootings less than a week apart, but a stubborn partisan divide threatens to block even modest reforms.

After a 21-year-old man shot and killed 10 people at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado, on Monday, congressional Democrats called for swift action on legislation to stem gun violence.

“What happened in Boulder yesterday is a tragedy,” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., wrote Tuesday on Twitter, “and unfortunately ...

Olympia, WA — Clean Cars 2030 (originally HB 1204), groundbreaking legislation that calls for all model year 2030 or later passenger and light-duty vehicles sold in Washington State to be electric vehicles (EVs), took one step closer to becoming law yesterday when it advanced out of the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy & Technology as an amendment to SHB 1287. The combined bill now heads to the Senate Transportation Committee.

Introduced in the legislature by Rep. Nicole Macri (D-Seattle), the target ...

The Washington State Senate will honor Washington Kids in Transition 12:30 p.m. Thursday, March 18, with a resolution for the good work it's done in local communities, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

From distributing federal CARES funds from the city of Edmonds to securing an Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction grant and supporting the Edmonds Hub, children and families in the Edmonds School District have benefitted greatly from their dedication.

OLYMPIA – A bill that would provide tax relief to Washington residents when rebuilding homes damaged by natural disasters passed the Senate unanimously.

The bill, sponsored by Ritzville Republican Sen. Mark Schoesler, began as an effort to help Eastern Washington residents whose homes were destroyed in Labor Day fires last year. After the Federal Emergency Management Agency denied individual assistance to Whitman County, Schoesler said he wanted to provide some assistance to people trying to rebuild.

(This article originally appeared on PubliCola and has been reprinted under an agreement.)

For the first time in Washington state history, state legislators had a floor vote on a long-proposed capital gains tax. Even more novel: They passed it.

On Saturday, March 6, the Senate Democrats, led by Sen. June Robinson (D-38, Everett) pushed SB 5096 through the senate. The bill passed 25 to 24 with most of the Democratic majority, including all of Seattle’s delegation, voting for it. The entire ...

No one would dispute that monetary fines — from a $136 speeding ticket on up to $2.6 million for violating state campaign financing laws — can be effective in keeping everyone in line. We can easily think of plenty we’d rather do with that $136 than send it to the court. Yet, for many, those fines — if they go unpaid and lead to a suspended driver’s license — become more than an annoyance, more than incentive to obey speed limits ...

You may be used to hearing a pushy car salesperson say, “What can I do to get you in this car?” But one big thing could be different in Washington state a decade from now. Proposals introduced this winter in the Washington Legislature would end sales of new gasoline-powered cars in the state by 2030. The Democrat-backed proposals face opposition from Republicans, the oil industry and auto manufacturers. A prior version failed to advance out of committee in Olympia last session ...

OLYMPIA — Relief for renters, schools, public health agencies and small businesses is rushing through the state Legislature, with the hope help can reach people by the end of February. Two COVID-19 relief plans are competing for approval, one by Republicans and one by Democrats, and this time the Republican plan is the one proposing the most spending. The Democratic plan, called the Washington Step One proposal, allocates $2.2 billion in federal funds for rental assistance, public health, education, small businesses and ...