The most fun deadline—for us anyway; Proposed fee hike may push hunting, fishing out of reach for WA families

The most fun deadline—for us anyway

The Washington Observer — This might be the week we find out just how new-look the 2025 Legislature really is. Tuesday marks the opposite-house fiscal committee cutoff, one of the most momentous of the procedural deadlines. Look for simmering House-Senate resentments to reach a boiling point. The list of interesting controversial stuff awaiting votes in House Appropriations and Senate Ways & Means promises a drama-filled couple of days, with lawmakers and lobbyists alike sweating bullets as they hustle to pass—or kill—key legislation in the waning hours. Let’s take a spin through the stuff in play. $

Proposed fee hike may push hunting, fishing out of reach for WA families

The Center Square — With less than three weeks left to fill a $16 billion shortfall, House Democrats advanced a bill on Saturday to increase the price of hunting and fishing licenses for the first time in over a decade. If passed, the 38% “inflationary adjustment” would take effect July 1 after Washington state put off any hikes since 2011. According to a fiscal note, raising the rate could generate more than $100 million by 2035, but not without pricing some families out of what puts food on their table.

AGRICULTURE

• Southwest Washington farmers mark milestone in reaching new customers (Capital Press) $

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

• Confluence Health using AI to improve health care in rural Washington (The Wenatchee World) $

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• Microsoft workers say they’ve been fired after 50th anniversary protest over Israel contract (The Seattle Times) $
• EDITORIAL: Giving striking workers unemployment is a risk WA can’t take (The Seattle Times) $
• EDITORIAL: Unemployment benefits for striking workers raises concerns (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin) $

CAPITAL BUDGET

• WA Senate unanimously passes $7.3B capital budget ‘for the entire state’ (The Center Square)
• 18th District lawmakers secure funding for local projects (The Reflector)

CONGRESS

• Rep. Newhouse backs school board’s Title IX complaint over WA’s ‘unacceptable’ trans athlete policies (MyNorthwest)
• Baumgartner, in bipartisan letter, asks Trump to continue protections for Ukrainian refugees (The Spokesman-Review) $

CORRECTIONS & JAILS

• Jail health care provider to pay $25 million to Washington man after leg amputation (Oregon Public Broadcasting)

COURTS (FEDERAL)

• Supreme Court allows Trump to deport Venezuelans under wartime law, but only after judges’ review (AP)

COURTS (STATE)

• Washington Supreme Court takes on Farm Bureau’s fuel suit (Capital Press) $

EDUCATION

• Wade Smith honored by state House for work as Walla Walla superintendent (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin) $
• With phones banned, WA school district keeps kids busy with real life (The Seattle Times) $
• More cuts for Richland schools. These positions are being eliminated next year (Tri-City Herald) $

ENVIRONMENT

• Spokane Riverkeeper sues Purina over fears of industrial contamination in waterway (The Spokesman-Review) $

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT & THE WHITE HOUSE

• How federal cuts are hitting Seattle (Axios – Seattle)

FISH

• Researchers look to larvae for answers about Washington’s most lucrative fishery (KNKX Radio)
• OPINION: State must act to protect salmon from sea lion predation (Sen. Jeff Wilson/The Chronicle)

GOVERNOR’S OFFICE

• Gov. Bob Ferguson signs 14 new bills into Washington law. Here’s what they are (KING TV)
• Washington restricts lethal chemical previously sold on Amazon (Washington State Standard)
• Washington bans substance used in suicides (KING TV)
• Washington state’s new governor: a man for the people or himself? (KONA Radio)

HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS

• Dementia care facilities would have to meet new state standards under WA bill (Washington State Standard)
• OPINION: Cuts to WA hospitals will hurt children statewide (Jeff Ojemann, M.D., chief medical officer and chief physician executive, Vanessa Carroll, M.D., chief medical officer, and Mike Barsotti, M.D., chief administrative officer/The Seattle Times) $

HIGHER EDUCATION

• UW students’ visas revoked without notice by Trump administration (The Seattle Times) $

HOMELESSNESS

• Under pressure from city, Everett homeless center finds new spot (The Seattle Times) $

HOUSING

• WA bill to cap rent increases passes out of Senate Ways & Means Committee (The Center Square)
• Senate committee to discuss Washington bill to cap rent increases (KIRO TV)
• Addressing a housing crisis | Regulations, density and possible solutions (The Wenatchee World) $
• Port of Seattle asks court to overturn City Council’s Sodo housing bill (The Seattle Times) $
• Boomtown: Spokane Business Association announces 1,000 new housing units in downtown core (KREM TV)
• OPINION: Two radically different approaches to short-term rentals (Amber Gunn, senior policy analyst for the Mountain States Policy Center/The Center Square)
• COLUMN: Data shows a growing number of empty bedrooms in Seattle-area homes (Gene Balk/The Seattle Times) $

INVASIVE SPECIES

• An uptick of ticks in Washington? Study of trail reports to help track sightings (The Olympian) $

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• Seattle settles with police captain who alleged discrimination (The Seattle Times) $
• ‘Running a criminal history is not in conflict with our immigration enforcement policy’: Vancouver police make arrests under ‘alien possession of firearms’ law (The Columbian) $

LEGISLATURE

• Cosmopolis student serves as House page for Rep. Joel McEntire (The Chronicle)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• COLUMN: City of Duvall makes mockery of sexual assault, argues jokes are as bad as rape (Jason Rantz/MyNorthwest)

OPERATING BUDGET

• State residential habilitation centers face potential closure (KNDO/KNDU)
• Recovery Navigator: Tried and true local resource faces an uncertain future with budget cuts looming (The Chronicle)
• Program offering free books for families at risk due to Washington’s budget deficit (The Columbian) $
• Washington lawmakers consider cutting off funding for Columbia River Gorge management agency (KING TV)
• OPINION: Washington legislators should follow the lead of small businesses (Kris Johnson, president of the Association of Washington Business/Kitsap Sun) $

OTHER STATES

• Bill that would require school districts to ban cell phone use ‘bell to bell’ clears key hurdle in Legislature (The Oregonian) $
• Bill that would require Oregon county election clerks to livestream voting processes sparks concerns (The Oregonian) $
• Bill would empower Oregon police to use drones to respond to 911 calls and chase suspects. Opponents are worried (The Oregonian) $

PARKS

• Lawmakers advance bill to raise price of Discover Pass (KIRO TV)
• Discover Pass fee increase considered by WA legislature (Columbia Basin Herald) $

POLITICS

STATE

• ‘We intend to fight back’: Jayapal, Inslee rally 25K in Seattle against Trump, Musk (The Center Square)

SOCIAL MEDIA

• Kids under 16 will no longer be allowed to livestream on Instagram without parental consent (AP)

SPORTS

• Washington school sports authority will not change policy on transgender student athletes (The Spokesman-Review) $
• Washington schools grapple with conflicting policy on trans sports (KUOW Radio)

STATE GOVERNMENT

• Washington State Library loses $3.9 million in federal funding, impacting several libraries statewide (KING TV)

TAXES

• Proposed bill would raise Washington’s property tax cap from 1% to 3% (KOMO TV)
• Proposed WA tax on social media platforms would fund support for youth behavioral health (The News Tribune) $
• OPINION: Washington state families need relief — not more taxes (Rep. Peter Abbarno/The Chronicle)

TRANSPORTATION

• Inflation worries drive WA lawmakers to jack up I-5 bridge borrowing plan by $900M (Washington State Standard)
• Tesla keeps its EV crown as Washington’s cleaner car goals sink (The Washington Observer) $

VAPING

• Last minute Washington bills ban flavored tobacco and nicotine, add $2 cigarette hike (MyNorthwest)
• Effort to ban flavored tobacco products in WA revived in legislature (FOX 13)

WATER

• 20th District lawmakers demand immediate mitigation for game farm contamination in letter to WDFW director (The Chronicle)
• Vancouver water test results for PFAS a mixed bag (The Columbian) $

WILDFIRE PREVENTION & RESPONSE

• Timber harvesting to increase in an effort to reduce wildland fires (KOZI Radio)
• EDITORIAL: Budget cuts may make wildfire season riskier (The Columbian) $

WOLVES

• Washington’s wolf count declines for first time in 16 years (Washington State Standard)
• Scientists genetically engineer wolves with white hair and muscular jaws like the extinct dire wolf (AP)

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