In the News

As police reform advocates look to sustain this summer’s public outrage, the state Legislature is taking a second look at overhauling Washington’s peace officer decertification system. That certification is required to be an officer in Washington, and revoking it can permanently take away a cop’s badge and gun. But due to weaknesses in the process, the state rarely takes that action, decertifying ...

Sen. Jamie Pedersen represents the 43rd District in the Legislature and serves as the chair of the Law & Justice Committee. He also serves on the Ways & Means Committee, the Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee, and the Rules Committee. I called Sen. Pedersen earlier this week for his take on a few topics animating the policy conversation surrounding economic recovery in Washington State. ...

Our community is reeling with anger and frustration following the killing of yet another unarmed, non-threatening black man by police officers, this time in Minneapolis. We are heartsick at the senseless killings of George Floyd, Manuel Ellis, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery and the sense that we have made so little progress as a country in combatting centuries of systemic ...

By  Jamie Pedersen Special to The Times

Fewer businesses will be asked to foot the bill for higher education programs after Gov. Jay Inslee signed Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 6492 on Monday. The bill will restructure the business and occupation tax and surcharges put in place by legislation passed last year to fund investments in public colleges as well as to provide grants that increase access for low ...

The Legislature has passed a bill changing the business-and-occupation tax to increase funding for a new program to make college more affordable to students across Washington. Democratic House lawmakers Wednesday night approved Senate Bill 6492, 52 to 45. No Republicans voted in favor of the bill; five Democrats from swing districts around the Puget Sound voted against it. The measure, which has ...

When Americans die, most are buried or cremated. Washington could soon become the first state to allow another option: human composting.

The novel approach, known as “recomposition,” involves placing bodies in a vessel and hastening their decomposition into a nutrient-dense soil that can then be returned to families. The aim is a less expensive way of dealing with human ...

State Sen. Jamie Pedersen is a smart, effective leader who should be re-elected by Seattle voters in the 43rd District. A Puyallup native, Pedersen is vice president and general counsel at McKinstry, a large Seattle-based construction and building engineering firm. The Democrat was elected to the House in 2006, appointed to the Senate in 2013, elected in 2014 and could be ...