Category Archives: In The News

Washington state lawmakers will convene in Olympia next week for a 105-day marathon legislative session. Leaders offered a preview of their priorities Thursday as they gear up for lawmaking and budget writing, as the clock starts on the new fiscal cycle ...

Democratic state lawmakers are again pushing a proposal to restrict rent hikes across Washington. Despite the rent cap bill’s dramatic failure last session, backers say its prospects this year are better given new lawmakers, revamped legislative committees and growing public support. The road ...

OLYMPIA — Washington has a new governor, a mix of new lawmakers and a multibillion-dollar problem. The exact partisan makeup of the state Legislature is still fuzzy as ballots continue to get counted, but Democrats are expected to hold on to strong majorities when legislators ...

Washington Senate Democrats chose state Sen. Jamie Pedersen as their new majority leader on Monday. Pedersen, who represents the 43rd Legislative District in Seattle, replaces retiring Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig of Spokane. Democratic senators made the much-anticipated leadership decision in a ...

The state’s bipartisan Redistricting Commission has been a source of recurring drama the past two months. The four voting commissioners — who were charged with the once-per-decade task of redrawing the state’s political maps — eventually agreed on new lines ...

At a press conference Tuesday, Sen. Jamie Pedersen (D – Seattle) said that the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC) did not fully support ESSB 5226 until an amendment from Sen. Annette Cleveland (D – Vancouver) was added. ...

The Washington state Senate passed legislation in a 27-22 vote, during a virtual debate Tuesday, to reform police tactics and equipment. The bill will now return to the House to consider the Senate’s amendments. House Bill 1054 would ban the ...

SEATTLE (AP) — The Washington state Senate has approved a measure restricting certain police tactics and gear, including the use of neck restraints and tear gas, after police killings of Black people sparked tumultuous racial-justice protests last year. Majority Democrats ...

A coalition of 61 organizations, led by the ACLU of Washington, is continuing to press Democrats to make changes to Senate Bill 5226, legislation that aims to eradicate debt-based license suspensions. In a letter this week to House Speaker Laurie ...

SEATTLE (AP) — Lawmakers are on the cusp of overhauling policing and police accountability in Washington state, acting with unusual urgency to curb bad behavior by officers following last year’s turbulent protests for racial justice. As this week’s deadline for ...