Category Archives: In The News

07 Feb
0

Hundreds rally in Olympia for affordable housing and rent caps

As budget negotiations begin in the Washington state legislature, calls for action on affordable housing and rent caps from the annual Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Day are expected to ring in the ears of lawmakers. Hundreds of unhoused individuals, members ...

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06 Feb
0

AP: Washington state Senate unanimously approves ban on hog-tying by police

SEATTLE (AP) — The Washington state Senate unanimously approved legislation Tuesday that would ban police from hog-tying suspects, a restraint technique that has long drawn concern due to the risk of suffocation. The legislation came nearly four years after Manuel ...

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25 Jun
0

GOP-run states are eyeing abortion beyond their borders. Blue states are fighting back

The Planned Parenthood clinic in Spokane, Washington, is just a 30-minute drive from the Idaho border, and since May, when Idaho’s “abortion trafficking” law went into effect, it’s been sitting on a timebomb. Like many blue-state abortion clinics, the Spokane health center ...

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27 May
0

The Urbanist Podcast: An Oral History of Passing the Missing Middle Housing Bill

In this year’s legislative session, the Washington State Legislature passed extensive housing reform. House Bill 1110 compelled many cities in Washington to open up single-housing residential zones to long-banned duplexes, cottage courts, and small apartments. Such middle housing has been missing from ...

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26 May
0

‘It’s Not Moral’: A Wave Of Criminal Justice Reforms Is Leaving Out Those Already Convicted

Across the country, lawmakers are beginning to correct “tough on crime” policies. But many of these reforms explicitly exclude people who are already in prison. Growing up, Anthony Covert never felt like he belonged. He was a ward of the ...

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19 May
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Secretary of State Steve Hobbs applauds new laws improving Washington’s elections

OLYMPIA, Wash., May 19, 2023—New laws and funding requested and supported by Secretary of State Steve Hobbs during the 2023 Legislative session will help ensure the integrity of Washington’s elections and improve access to the ballot for eligible voters. The bipartisan elections ...

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07 Feb
0

Don’t believe the smears. A fact-based police pursuit law makes Washington safer

We have a duty to put people over politics and make fact-based decisions. In Federal Way in 2019, police chasing a “reckless driver” hit speeds over 70 miles per hour, resulting in the death of the driver and sending a ...

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31 Jan
0

Columbian: Missing middle housing bills back on Legislature’s table

Two bills aimed to close the housing gap known as the “missing middle” are up for legislative review this year. House Bill 1110, filed by Rep. Jessica Bateman, D-Olympia, aims to lift zoning laws prohibiting multiunit dwellings and, in effect, ...

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18 Jan
0

Axios: Washington lawmakers want to curb “bonkers” rent hikes

In an attempt to curb what they describe as runaway housing prices statewide, Democrats in Washington’s Legislature are debating whether to limit annual rent increases to no more than 7% for most residential buildings.

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12 May
0

Daily UW: OPINION: Empathize with living, breathing humans, not just the unborn

“I was actually at an event yesterday, at another political event, and I was there with my mom,” Yasmin Trudeau, a Washington state senator, said at the Kerry Park rally. “My mom and I are 14 years apart, and she ...

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