Frank Chopp, former WA House speaker and tireless advocate, dies at 71; WA Senate Dems’ proposed $17B revenue plan labeled ‘March madness’ by Republican

Frank Chopp, former WA House speaker and tireless advocate, dies at 71

The Seattle Times — Frank Chopp, the longest-serving House speaker in Washington state history and a fierce advocate for working families and low-income housing, has died. He was 71. With his trademark mustache and a penchant for backroom maneuvering, Chopp wielded his gavel to lead Democrats to stronger House majorities while racking up years of policy wins as the most powerful politician in the Capitol. $

WA Senate Dems’ proposed $17B revenue plan labeled ‘March madness’ by Republican

The Center Square — Republican budget leaders were critical of Senate Democrats’ proposal. “This is a new kind of March madness, especially the new attempt to do away with the 1% cap voters had put on property-tax growth,” Sen. Chris Gildon, R-Puyallup, said in a news release. “It would fall directly on the backs of families who are far from wealthy and also become a pass-through cost to renters across our state.”

THE WEEK AHEAD

• March 24-28, 2025

THE CURRENT | A WASHINGTON HOUSE REPUBLICAN EMAIL UPDATE

• Democrats unveil their tax proposals | March 22, 2025

AGRICULTURE

• WA ranchers deeply love their cattle, from birth to burger (The Seattle Times) $

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

• Doctors told him he was going to die. Then AI saved his life (The New York Times/The Seattle Times) $

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• Eyeing China threat, Trump announces Boeing wins contract for secretive future fighter jet (AP)

CAPITAL BUDGET

• Is it time to light up downtown Washougal? (The Columbian) $

CHILD CARE

• OPINION: Here’s how we’re tackling Washington’s childcare crisis (Nate Nehring and Jared Mead, Snohomish County Council Chair and member/MyNorthwest)

COMMUNITY & FAMILY ISSUES

• Remembering the deadly Oso landslide 11 years later (FOX 13)
• The leading cause of death among American youth has surged 50% since 2019 (Stateline.org/The Oregonian) $

CONGRESS

• OPINION: Newhouse promised to hold Trump accountable — then he fell in line (Scott Riseley, licensed mental health therapist/The Wenatchee World) $

CORRECTIONS & JAILS

• A second inmate overdosed Saturday at the Thurston County Jail, Sheriff Sanders says (The Olympian) $
• COLUMN: Obese inmates are smuggling fentanyl into jails thanks to new policy (Jason Rantz/MyNorthwest)

COURTS (STATE)

• Judge overturns Washington natural gas measure approved by voters (Washington State Standard)
• King County Superior Court judge rules natural gas initiative unconstitutional (The Center Square)
• Judge rules against I-2066, Washington’s natural gas initiative (KING TV)
• WA’s natural gas initiative unconstitutional, King County judge rules (The Seattle Times) $
• A baby left in a hot car died in Puyallup. Now, lawyers target WA agency for negligence (The News Tribune) $
• Thousands in Clark County eligible to have drug convictions vacated and legal fees refunded (The Columbian) $
• Yakima County coroner Jim Curtice faces court hearing for charges (KNDO/KNDU)

CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY

• Washington state car thefts in 2025 at lowest point in 15 years (KING TV)

DATA CENTERS

• Central Washington is among fastest-growing data center markets in US (Puget Sound Business Journal) $

DRUG CRISIS

• Mother accused of telling three-year-old to take fentanyl that led to overdose (KXLY TV)
• COLUMN: What we’re getting right in fighting the overdose epidemic (Lisa Jarvis/The Seattle Times) $

EDUCATION

• ‘They’re adults’: WA special ed bill advances amid budget fears (The Center Square)
• ‘Our mission has not changed’: Seattle schools on effort to close Dept. of Education (The Center Square)
• School officials brace for impact as future of US education department weighed (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin) $
• Mead School Board to discuss ‘noncompliant’ transgender students policy at Monday meeting (The Spokesman-Review) $
• MLSD suspends protections for trans students (Columbia Basin Herald) $
• EDITORIAL: Dear Seattle School Board: Seize this chance to make major changes (The Seattle Times) $

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS & SERVICES

• DOGE cuts could hamper PNW’s earthquake, volcano warning systems (The Seattle Times) $

ENERGY & UTILITIES

• Can the rush for clean energy overcome a legacy of pollution? (The Seattle Times) $

ENVIRONMENT

• ‘Absolute self-destruction’: David Suzuki has bad news about the environment (The Seattle Times) $

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT & THE WHITE HOUSE

• 14 Washington state federal buildings targeted for lease termination by Musk’s DOGE (KOMO TV)
• Elon Musk’s DOGE puts government agencies in Spokane Valley, Lapwai, Pomeroy on notice for building lease terminations (The Spokesman-Review) $
• Trump wants to log more trees. He’ll need states’ help. (Stateline.org/The Columbian) $
• ‘Fight like hell’: Hundreds of postal workers statewide hold rallies against potential cuts within USPS (KING TV)
• Anybody home at the U.S. Dept. of Education Office of Civil Rights in Seattle? (The Center Square)

HANFORD

• Update: DOGE to close Hanford, PNNL claims office, 5 other federal leases in Eastern WA (Tri-City Herald) $

HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS

• Unpacking the intersection of health care and religion (Northwest Public Broadcasting)
• Health care workers battled a raging storm during the pandemic, but some parts of the health system have changed for the better (The Inlander)
• Microsoft working to help protect IT systems of rural hospitals (Columbia Basin Herald) $
• Filling a prescription in the Seattle area? Put on comfortable shoes and be ready to wait (The Seattle Times) $
• ‘Are we just left to die?’: Spokane health care providers, patients consider Medicaid cuts in roundtable (The Spokesman-Review) $

HIGHER EDUCATION

• CWU vows to safeguard funding following federal scrutiny of DEI practices (Daily Record) $

HOMELESSNESS

• Bills limiting how much cities can regulate homelessness could return (The Seattle Times) $

HOUSING

• Bill in Washington state Legislature could expand housing options (Northwest Public Broadcasting)
• Why Gen Z buyers are looking beyond Seattle (Axios – Seattle)
• OPINION: More kinds of housing would help Seattle residents age in place (Marcia Peterson, retired health care planner/The Seattle Times) $
• OPINION: Washington’s housing crisis demands real solutions, not rent caps (Marcia L. Fudge, served as secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development during the Biden Administration, and Steve Stivers, president and CEO of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce/The Spokesman-Review) $

IMMIGRATION

• Lawsuits draw attention to role of local authorities in enforcing federal immigration policy (Northwest Public Broadcasting)

INSURANCE

• Homeowners in Washington could face challenges with insurance after natural disasters (KHQ TV)

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• Shooting involving Pierce County deputies and an alleged domestic violence suspect breaks out after police chase (MyNorthwest)

LEGISLATURE

• Chew on this: Lawmakers eye big tax on Zyn, synthetic nicotine pouches (The Center Square)
• WA bill mandating clergy report abuse clears Senate floor (Columbia Basin Herald) $
• 35th District lawmakers to host telephone town hall March 25 (The Chronicle)
• W.F. West sophomore Tyler Porter serves as page for Sen. Jeff Wilson (The Chronicle)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• EDITORIAL: Focus of annexation should be on residents (The Columbian) $

MEDIA

• OPINION: NPR faces a real threat in defunding fight that’s coming (Steve Oney, journalist and author/The Seattle Times) $

NATURAL RESOURCES

• Columbia Basin copper mining has clean-energy promise, risks (The Seattle Times) $

OPEN GOVERNMENT

• How a Washington city’s war with its own council member could chip away at public records access (Spokane Public Radio)

OTHER STATES

• More states requiring employers to offer paid medical leave (AP)
• Bill would require Oregon’s multi-unit property owners to provide tenants cooling devices (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
• Budget writers reject second ask to bump foster care ombudsman budget (Moscow-Pullman Daily News) $
• EDITORIAL: In a hole on housing, Oregon just keeps digging (The Oregonian) $

PARKS

• Mount Rainier rally part of nationwide push to protect parks, federal workers (KING TV)
• Something new: State Parks to allow same-day camping reservations (KONP Radio)
• EDITORIAL: Seattle Parks bathrooms: Many promises, many problems (The Seattle Times) $

POLITICS

LEGISLATURE

• Former Washington House Speaker Frank Chopp dies (Washington State Standard)
• Longtime former WA House Speaker Frank Chopp has died: ‘He led our march of progress’ (The News Tribune) $
• Former Washington State House Speaker Frank Chopp passes away (KING TV)
• Washington mourns as former House Speaker Frank Chopp leaves enduring legacy (KOMO TV)

SPORTS

• Seattle Mariners president on new streaming service: ‘We heard from our fans’ (Puget Sound Business Journal) $
• Golf course project on Washington coast offers economic promise, environmental concerns (KING TV)

STATE GOVERNMENT

• Victim’s family pleads with Ferguson to block release of murderer granted clemency by Inslee (The Center Square)
• Gov. Ferguson to review scheduled release of three-time killer (KING TV)
• WA keeps details of severe workplace injuries, deaths from public (Cascade PBS/The Columbian) $
• After fatal accidents, WA Fish and Wildlife workers press Ferguson on agency appointee (Washington State Standard)
• OPINION: WA AG Nick Brown on transparency, democracy and Trump (Nick Brown, Washington Attorney General/The Seattle Times) $

TAXES

• WA Democrats propose new property taxes, with key differences between House, Senate versions (KING TV)
• Republican budget leaders on Senate Democrats’ record-setting tax package: ‘a new kind of March madness’ (Clark County Today)
• State Senate Democrats unveil taxes to cover state budget deficit (The Chronicle)
• Microsoft president voices concern over WA tax proposal, warning of ‘lasting damage’ (Puget Sound Business Journal) $
• New taxes on the wealthy and Big Tech, and a sales tax cut for everyone (The Washington Observer) $
• Lawmakers could tax social media companies to fund local journalism (The Spokesman-Review) $
• Immigrants pay billions in taxes in Washington state (Axios – Seattle)
• OPINION: Senate Democrats’ ongoing effort to raise property taxes goes from bad to worse (Sen. John Braun/The Chronicle)

TECHNOLOGY

• Tech giants cozied up to Trump — his administration is still suing them (Bay Area News Group/The Seattle Times) $

TRANSPORTATION

• WA’s need for EVs comes at a cost for mining towns (The Seattle Times) $
• Washington’s Lewis and Clark Bridge on NTSB’s list of possible at-risk bridges (KOMO TV)
• Will this Pierce County city get license plate cameras? Privacy is part of the debate (The News Tribune) $
• BLOG: Got a text saying you have an unpaid toll? It’s a scam (Jim Camden/The Spokesman-Review) $

TRANSPORTATION BUDGET

• WA’s multi-billion-dollar transportation budget shortfall could ‘mean pausing a project’ (The Olympian) $

TRIBAL ISSUES

• Chinook Indian Nation critical of Gluesenkamp Perez over ‘broken promise’ for federal recognition (The Chronicle)

WATER

• Yakima water plan supporters ask Legislature to extend water storage deadline (Yakima Herald-Republic) $
• Chehalis Flood Authority announces support for $80 million state funding request (The Chronicle)
• Third straight year of snowpack drought raises water supply, wildfire concerns (KIRO TV)
• Keeping a lawn green will cost 18% more in Pasco this summer. More increases to come (Tri-City Herald) $

WILDFIRE PREVENTION & RESPONSE

• OPINION: WA must keep commitment to fire prevention on forestland (Darcy Batura, director of forest partnerships for The Nature Conservancy in Washington, and Jay McLaughlin, executive director and lead forester of Mount Adams Resource Stewards/The Seattle Times) $

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