Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
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OLYMPIA (March 8) - In a last-minute effort lawmakers, cops, and community activists reached a deal on lowering the legal standard for prosecuting officers who kill in the line of duty. The bill, HB 3003, is a product of a surprise agreement between law enforcement representatives and the backers of I-940, a pending ballot initiative that would reform Washington’s police use-of-deadly-force laws. HB 3003 would alter I-940 in the event it passes to make it more palatable to law enforcement. Washington state has long held a high legal bar for p...
OLYMPIA (March 2) -- When Governor Jay Inslee vetoed Senate Bill 6617 on Thursday night, March 1, he had some time to spare. But not much. The governor had until 11:59 p.m. to decide whether to sign the controversial bill, veto it entirely, veto it partially, or let it pass without his signature. He faced the prospect that legislators might override his veto with a supermajority vote, a reasonable threat considering that the bill had been passed with an overwhelming majority on Feb. 23. It wasn’t until 9 p.m. that Inslee’s office sent out a p...
In a last-minute effort lawmakers, cops, and community activists reached a deal on lowering the legal standard for prosecuting officers who kill in the line of duty. The bill, HB 3003, is a product of a surprise agreement between law enforcement representatives and the backers of I-940, a pending ballot initiative that would reform Washington’s police use-of-deadly-force laws. HB 3003 would alter I-940 in the event it passes to make it more palatable to law enforcement. Washington state has long held a high legal bar for prosecuting police o...
On the final day of the legislative session, lawmakers approved a last-minute supplemental budget deal that funnels roughly $1 billion to K-12 public education and a $400 million one-time reduction in state property taxes. For the entire 60-day legislative session, lawmakers had two issues looming over them stemming from the over $7 billion K-12 education funding reform package they passed last summer to meet the state Supreme Court’s 2012 McCleary ruling that the state fully fund Washington’s public school system. One issue was a November 2017...
OLYMPIA, Feb. 20 -- Democrats in both chambers of the state Legislature are at odds over adding more funding to public education and how to cut property taxes across Washington. Banking on a promising tax revenue forecast, Senate Democrats want to use excess tax revenue to fund public K-12 teacher salaries and cut state property taxes. House Democrats, however, declined to invest more in salary compensation this year despite a court order that they do so. They also proposed a capital gains tax to pay for future property tax cuts. The supplement...
OLYMPIA (Feb. 6) -- A bill that would tax oil in pipelines to fund oil spill prevention planning passed out of a state Senate committee —but only after a proposed tax hike was dropped. The legislation, SB 6269, would levy taxes on oil transported in Washington state, including oil that travels by pipeline, to fund oil spill prevention and response programs. But moving the bill out of committee on Jan. 31, came at a cost: In addition to expanding the tax to oil pipelines, the original legislation would have also hiked the fee rate from four c...
OLYMPIA (Feb. 1) -- A tax on carbon emissions proposed by Governor Jay Inslee has taken a big step forward. On Feb. 1, the state Senate Energy, Environment, and Technology Committee passed a revised version of Inslee’s carbon tax plan with a 6-4 vote. In early January, Gov. Inslee proposed a $20 per ton of emitted carbon tax, with exemptions for certain manufacturers, agricultural industries and airplane jet fuel. His plan would have funnelled the revenues into clean energy infrastructure projects, forestry and assistance for low-income f...
OLYMPIA (Feb. 1) -- Washington state’s health insurance market is increasingly volatile. While the number of people without insurance has decreased every year since 2013, monthly premium rates have spiked and only one insurer is available in some counties, according to state officials. Prospects for consumers don’t look better in the coming months. According to data from the state Office of the Insurance Commissioner, premiums are slated to increase in 2018 by roughly 34 percent, up from a 14 percent hike in 2017 and negligible changes in 201...
On the heels of the state House approved bill to reduce car tab taxes, Sen. Steve O’Ban, R–University Place, and Rep. Mark Harmsworth, R–Mill Creek, called for steeper cuts and lambasted Democrats for not joining them. Last week, the House passed a Democratically-sponsored bill that would change the way Sound Transit—a public transit authority in the central Puget Sound—estimates vehicle values when levying car tab taxes to pay for mass-transit projects. The bill, HB 2201, was a response to constituent and lawmaker complaints that Sound Transit...
OLYMPIA (Jan. 31) -- Despite the passage of last year’s bipartisan agreement to fully fund K-12 public education with a property tax hike, the state Legislature is still wrestling over the issue. In November, the state Supreme Court ruled that the Legislature needs to ramp up funding for teacher and other school staff salaries to meet its imposed September 2018 deadline, despite the billions that have already been allocated to public education. However, some lawmakers believe that they’ve already provided adequate funding public education, and...
OLYMPIA (Jan. 24) -- Six hundred ninety-four. That’s how many separate tax breaks and exemptions saved taxpayers—but cost the state—a little over $100 million from 2015 to 2017, according to the state Department of Revenue. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle differ on whether so many exemptions are necessary to economic growth in Washington. On the skeptical side, Sen. David Frockt, D-Seattle, is sponsoring legislation that would require the state Department of Revenue, the governor, and lawmakers to review the hundreds of tax breaks on the b...
OLYMPIA (Jan. 25) -- Legislators are once again pushing for an across-the-board manufacturing tax cut that was vetoed during the previous legislative session by Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee. The bill, which is sponsored by four Republicans and two Democrats, would hew the manufacturing business and occupation tax rate by 40 percent over four years, according to proponents. The reduced rate would be equal to that paid by Boeing and other aerospace companies as a result of a roughly $9 billion tax cut that was approved in 2013 with bipartisan...
OLYMPIA (Jan. 26) -- The state House of Representatives passed a bill Jan. 24 that would reduce car tab taxes that help finance regional transportation projects. The bill, HB 2201, would require Sound Transit to change its formula for valuing cars and, by extension, tab rates- -a move that mass transit advocates say will stymie the development of the region’s transit infrastructure. The Legislature’s move comes a year after lawmakers complained that Sound Transit uses a dated valuation formula that sometimes inflates the value of cars—and deval...
OLYMPIA (Jan. 19) -- The state Senate passed several bills aimed at expanding access to voting and promoting minority representation in local governments through redistricting. On the evening of Jan. 17, in a reconvened Senate floor vote session, the body passed SB 6021, which would allow voters to register for elections in-person up until 8 p.m. on the day of an election and eight days before if registering online or by mail. The bill passed 29-20 and now goes to the House. The Senate also passed the 2018 Voting Rights Act: a bill which allows...
OLYMPIA (Jan. 19) --With environmental activists threatening a carbon tax ballot initiative, some manufacturing and energy companies are opting to work with lawmakers on Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee’s recently proposed tax rather than flat out oppose it. On Jan. 9, Gov. Inslee rolled out a sweeping proposal to tax carbon emissions from power plants and transportation fuels at a rate of $20 per ton starting in July, 2019. The tax is estimated to raise $3.3 billion over three years, which would be reinvested in sustainable energy infrastructure, f...
OLYMPIA (Jan. 19) -- The state Senate passed several bills aimed at expanding access to voting and promoting minority representation in local governments through redistricting. On the evening of Jan. 17, in a reconvened Senate floor vote session, the body passed SB 6021, which would allow voters to register for elections in-person up until 8 p.m. on the day of an election and eight days before if registering online or by mail. The bill passed 29-20 and now goes to the House. The Senate also passed the 2018 Voting Rights Act: a bill which allows...
OLYMPIA (Jan. 19) --With environmental activists threatening a carbon tax ballot initiative, some manufacturing and energy companies are opting to work with lawmakers on Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee’s recently proposed tax rather than flat out oppose it. On Jan. 9, Gov. Inslee rolled out a sweeping proposal to tax carbon emissions from power plants and transportation fuels at a rate of $20 per ton starting in July, 2019. The tax is estimated to raise $3.3 billion over three years, which would be reinvested in sustainable energy infrastructure, f...
OLYMPIA (Jan. 19) --The state Legislature passed a capital budget on Jan. 18—a day late for affordable housing projects across the state to receive crucial funding. Affordable housing developers had until 5 p.m. on Jan. 17 to apply for federal low income housing tax credits from the Washington State Housing Finance Commission. But in order for projects to qualify for the tax credits, developers must show that they have enough funding lined up. And without a capital budget funding the crucial Housing Trust Fund before the Jan. 17 deadline, p...
