As Ferguson details budget concerns, Washington legislators see mixed signals; Critics warn WA bill could raise gas prices by 40 cents by 2031

As Ferguson details budget concerns, Washington legislators see mixed signals

Washington State Standard — Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson has let House and Senate lawmakers know some of the concerns he has with the spending plans they’ve crafted. A nine-page letter penned by his budget director reiterates Ferguson’s clarion call for maintaining strong reserves, restraining new spending and squeezing savings from state-funded programs before considering new revenue. Budget writers said this week that the level of granular detail in the letter didn’t surprise them. But the absence of advice from the governor on where they could make a bigger dent in addressing a multibillion-dollar shortfall did.

Critics warn WA bill could raise gas prices by 40 cents by 2031

The Center Square — The Senate Ways & Means Committee voted to advance a bill revising Washington state’s Clean Fuel Standard law amid concerns among critics who warn that the expedited schedule could jack up state gas prices even higher. “The more aggressive schedule that this bill would impose would add another 40 cents by 2031,” Sen. Keith Wagoner, R-Sedro Woolley, told the committee prior to Monday’s vote on Second Substitute House Bill 1409. “We’re not even sure where this new clean fuel is coming from or whether we can manufacture it or not.”

HOUSE & SENATE REPUBLICAN MEDIA AVAILABILITY

• Democrats’ budget proposals to drive up costs and hurt working families

AGRICULTURE

• Washington state spud farmers will be mashed by Trump’s tariffs, Sen. Murray warns (KUOW Radio)

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• WA agency tightens workplace safety rules for student learners (Cascade PBS)
• Microsoft again world’s most valuable company amid market turmoil (The Seattle Times) $

COMMUNITY & FAMILY ISSUES

• OPINION: We can’t go back: Fund the community reinvestment program (Virla Spencer, co-founder and CEO of the Way to Justice/The Spokesman-Review) $

CONGRESS

• Trump fails to sway many House GOP holdouts as his ‘big’ bill of tax breaks and spending cuts stalls (AP)
• Washington’s Cantwell pushes plan to rein in Trump’s tariff power (Washington State Standard)
• Baumgartner aims to transform college sports with bill that would dissolve NCAA (The Spokesman-Review) $
• Rep. Baumgartner asks Trump to safeguard Ukrainian refugees amid Homeland Security error (MyNorthwest)
• EDITORIAL: Will tariffs prompt Congress to finally fulfill duty? (The Columbian) $

CORRECTIONS & JAILS

• WA Senate passes bill to exclude juvenile facilities from prison riot laws (FOX 13)
• WA wants to close some inmate reentry centers. Tri-Cities supporters push back (Tri-City Herald) $
• Federal jury awards $25M to man who lost his leg after Pierce County jail stay (The News Tribune) $
• Books behind bars: A personal mission for change (The Everett Herald) $

COURTS (FEDERAL)

• Trump won’t have to reinstate thousands of federal workers, as Supreme Court blocks order (AP)
• Man who killed Colville tribal elder in ‘truly senseless’ unprovoked attack gets 17 years in prison (The Spokesman-Review) $

COURTS (STATE)

• King County prosecutors charge another alleged graffiti vandal amid ongoing crackdown (MyNorthwest)

CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY

• Lacey police investigating damaged Tesla charging station (The Seattle Times) $

DRUG CRISIS

• King County establishes permanent sobering center in Seattle (The Center Square)

EDUCATION

• WA schools superintendent resists Trump’s DEI order (The Seattle Times) $
• Washington Superintendent pushes back against federal civil rights certification request (KXLY TV)
• Schools rely on digital surveillance but security still takes a human touch (The Seattle Times) $
• La Center School District appeals OPSI ruling on its gender pronoun policy (Clark County Today)
• Budget crisis likely to force a Tri-Cities school district to go to 4-day weeks (Tri-City Herald) $
• OPINION: Puyallup schools are underfunded despite public support. The legislature must act (Maddie Names, president of the Puyallup School District Board of Directors; John Polm, Puyallup Schoo District superintendent; and Bob Horton, president of Puyallup Education Association/The News Tribune) $

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS & SERVICES

• Trump admin’s $84M clawback could sink Grays Harbor levee plan (Cascade PBS)

ENERGY & UTILITIES

• After Trump cuts, utility bill help for poorer WA residents uncertain (The Seattle Times) $
• Benton REA awarded $3M to boost grid reliability in Eastern Washington (KNDO/KNDU)

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT & THE WHITE HOUSE

• Trump’s latest round of tariffs are poised to go into effect. Here’s what we know (AP)

FISH

• WDFW closes Sauk, Skagit Rivers for all fishing (KGMI Radio/My Bellingham Now)

GOVERNOR’S OFFICE

• List: These bills signed into law by Gov. Bob Ferguson (KOMO TV)

HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS

• Hospitals warn Legislature’s budget plans would deal them a financial hit (Washington State Standard)
• Are Washington’s kids all right? Report ranks best, worst states for children’s health (Kitsap Sun) $
• PeaceHealth employees say changes to hospital’s health insurance limiting access to care (The Bellingham Herald) $

HIGHER EDUCATION

• 14 student visas revoked at UW, Seattle University, and Gonzaga (KUOW Radio)

HOUSING

• Port fights Seattle’s SoDo housing plan (Axios – Seattle)

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• ‘It’s OK to have these conversations safely’: Spokane Police shifts how it interacts with demonstrators to be more engaging, conversational (The Spokesman-Review) $
• COLUMN: Cops’ snarky ‘this is Seattle’ slogan misses their own big news (Danny Westneat/The Seattle Times) $

LEGISLATURE

• WA Legislature passes bill allowing pregnant women to die on their own terms (The Center Square)
• EDITORIAL: Bills requested by WA insurance commissioner bypass transparency (The Seattle Times) $

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• Tacoma receives ethics complaint about mayor’s paid trip to Israel. What’s next? (The News Tribune) $
• Vancouver sells part of parking lot next to City Hall for $1 for affordable housing project (The Columbian) $
• Edmonds mayor talks fiscal emergency at Q&A (The Everett Herald) $

MILITARY & VETERANS

• Puyallup soldier killed in 2017 awarded Silver Star after new video surfaced (The News Tribune) $

OPERATING BUDGET

• Tearful WA lawmaker begs Dems not to close schools for developmentally disabled (The Center Square)
• OPINION: Rethinking how we govern, not more taxes, will pave the way forward (Michael Cathcart and Jonathan Bingle, members of the Spokane City Council/The Spokesman-Review) $
• OPINION: Olympia’s budget blowout – The taxpayer gets the bill (Nancy Churchill, Dangerous Rhetoric/Clark County Today)

OTHER STATES

• Oregon bill would mandate police swab felony suspects’ DNA upon arrest, not conviction, joining more than 30 other states (The Oregonian) $

SPORTS

• COLUMN: Here’s the fatal flaw to Democrats’ baseless argument on trans athletes (Jason Rantz/MyNorthwest)

STATE GOVERNMENT

• Advancing bill would require WA Dept. of Ecology to produce annual emissions data (The Center Square)
• Ferguson names three to Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission (The Spokesman-Review) $
• Ferguson reshuffles Fish and Wildlife Commission, brings back rancher (Capital Press) $

TAXES

• Online dating tax bill would fund efforts to fight domestic violence in WA (The Center Square)
• Vacation rentals may face new taxes as WA lawmakers eye housing fix (The Center Square)
• New Washington bill targets nicotine pouches with expanded tax plan (KHQ TV)

TRANSPORTATION

• Drivers beware: Highway speed cameras go live this week in Washington (MyNorthwest)
• Snoqualmie neighborhood worries over road safety from WSDOT construction (KIRO TV)
• New e-bike rebate programs start up in Tacoma and Washington state (KIRO TV)
• Sound Transit’s looming money crunch prompts a request in Olympia (The Seattle Times) $

WATER

• WA faces drought emergency for a third year after middling snowpack (The Seattle Times) $
• Drought declared for Kittitas, Yakima and Benton counties for third straight year (KING TV)

WILDLIFE

• Coyotes are here to stay in Seattle’s urban core. So how can we coexist? (KUOW Radio)
• Another baby orca spotted with Northwest’s endangered J Pod (KUOW Radio)

WOLVES

• Washington wolf report: Fewer wolves, more mauled cattle, no westward movement (Capital Press) $

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