Lawmakers return to Olympia for meetings ahead of 2025 session; Legislative leaders differ on causes of and solutions to Washington budget hole

Lawmakers return to Olympia for meetings ahead of 2025 session

Washington State Standard — Child care affordability, crime trends, environmental protections, access to addiction treatment and housing costs. These are some of the issues on Washington lawmakers’ agenda this week. Starting Monday, legislators convene in Olympia for their annual “committee days,” a chance to get up to speed on issues that may arise during next year’s session and to get situated with any committee changes. And with 20 new faces roaming the halls following last month’s election, it’s also an opportunity for lawmakers to meet their colleagues.

Legislative leaders differ on causes of and solutions to Washington budget hole

The Center Square — With the 2025 session just around the corner, legislative leaders from the four caucuses have expressed their varying views on the causes of Washington state’s projected $10 billion to $12 billion operating budget deficit, including how to address the gap. Those differences were articulated during a legislative preview at Tuesday’s Washington Observer 2024 Re-Wire Conference in Tacoma, which brought together state elected officials and others to discuss political hot topics.AGRICULTURE

• Nationwide milk testing ordered for bird flu. Why isn’t WA first on the list? (Tri-City Herald) $
• Roundtable mulls ways to force wide buffers on Washington farmland (Capital Press) $
• Budget concerns prompt pause of Sustainable Connections’ local fruit program in 2025 (The Bellingham Herald) $

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

• After nine months of research, a Washington State University sociologist concludes rural clinics aren’t ready for artificial intelligence (The Spokesman-Review) $

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• How much you need to make to be in Washington’s top 1% (Axios – Seattle)
• Saving Boeing is the hardest job and biggest opportunity in business (The Seattle Times) $

CORRECTIONS & JAILS

• EDITORIAL: When it comes to youth justice, what kind of state do we want to be? (The Seattle Times) $

COURTS (STATE)

• After 2 years and $33.8 million, see inside the renovated Temple of Justice in Olympia (The Olympian) $
• Family of 2-year-old girl killed in Pierce County sues South Hill day care, DCYF (The News Tribune) $
• OPINION: Why appointment is only part of the solution for a better WA judiciary (Dave Larson, has been a judge for 17 years and was a candidate for the state Supreme Court/The Seattle Times) $

CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY

• Crime victim advocates in WA face funding ‘cliff,’ rally for reform (The Seattle Times) $
• Advocates rally in Seattle for victim services funding amid federal cuts (KING TV)
• Seattle reduced disorder downtown. But it didn’t go far (The Seattle Times) $
• Federal Way sees 11% drop in overall crime as drug arrests surge by more than 402% (KOMO TV)

CYBERSECURITY

• Cyberattack on Washington’s court system was nearly ‘catastrophic’ (KING TV)

DRUG CRISIS

• Child welfare system tries to adapt as fentanyl overdoses climb (The Seattle Times) $
• Rep. Jim Walsh targets fentanyl crisis with legislation to crack down on distributors (KVI Radio)
• Could Ozempic treat addiction? (The Washington Post/The Seattle Times) $

EDUCATION

• Seattle schools must post list of union discrimination violations (The Seattle Times) $

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS & SERVICES

• Rumbles from WA’s Mount Adams pulls scientists from ‘high-threat’ volcano (FOX 13)

ENERGY & UTILITIES

• Washington natural gas initiative backer files suit to force state to comply (The Center Square)

ENVIRONMENT

• Republican AGs sue BlackRock, other investment firms over ‘woke’ climate efforts (States Newsroom/Washington State Standard)
• Wine woes not yet affecting Snohomish County glass recycling (The Everett Herald) $
• EDITORIAL: Protect WA forests from being turned into pellets for energy (The Seattle Times) $

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT & THE WHITE HOUSE

• OPINION: Next EPA administrator must clean house in Region 10 (Ben Tindall, executive director, Save Family Farming/Capital Press) $

FISH

• Governor Jay Inslee signs executive order in support of salmon recovery (KNDO/KNDU)

HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS

• Washington hospitals climb in patient safety ranking (Puget Sound Business Journal) $
• Patty Murray, at UW Medicine, sounds alarm on RFK Jr. and vaccines (The Seattle Times) $

HIGHER EDUCATION

• Washington to guarantee college tuition for low-income families (The Seattle Times) $

HOMELESSNESS

• Spokane props up homeless dashboard showing how many leave shelter, exit services (The Center Square)
• COLUMN: Legislators can learn from Pierce County’s bipartisan effort on homelessness (Sen. John Braun/The Chronicle) $

HOUSING

• Cities cut red tape to turn empty offices into housing (Stateline.org/The Columbian) $
• Clark County Council OKs certain multifamily housing in commercial or mixed-use zones (The Columbian) $

IMMIGRATION

• Many targeted for removal by Trump can’t be deported, ICE data shows (The Washington Post/The Seattle Times) $
• Trump is threatening mass deportations. What would that mean for ICE lockup in Tacoma? (The News Tribune) $
• What will Trump’s immigration policy mean for Snohomish County? (The Everett Herald) $

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• Area police officer stabbed while assisting WA state DOC. Here’s what happened (The Olympian) $
• State agency recovers firearm from scene of fatal Vancouver police shooting (The Columbian) $
• Kamala Harris recognizes Bellevue officer injured in motorcade (KIRO TV)
• COLUMN: City of Edmonds may close police department; officers are livid, public in the dark (Jason Rantz/MyNorthwest)

LEGISLATURE

• New 2025 WA laws include minimum wage increase, expanded paid sick leave (FOX 13)
• Lawmakers push to end daylight saving time despite 2019 law to keep DST year-round (The Center Square)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• Thurston County must repay up to $668K in fraudulent rental aid (Cascade PBS)
• Former aide to Commissioner Clouse speaks out. Thurston County releases investigation report (The Olympian) $
• Talk turns to bankruptcy: Cle Elum owes $22M to land developer, passes $24M budget (Daily Record) $
• ‘Live within our means.’ Franklin County trying to avoid up to $7M budget hole (Tri-City Herald) $
• EDITORIAL: Balancing Tri-Cities government budgets isn’t as easy as you think (Tri-City Herald) $

OPERATING BUDGET

• Gov.-elect Bob Ferguson’s early approach to fix WA $10B budget deficit (The Seattle Times) $

OTHER STATES

• Some state legislatures working to undermine election results (AP)
• Greater Idaho movement asks Trump for his support (Oregon Capital Chronicle/The Spokesman-Review)

PARKS

• OPINION: Mount Rainier reservation system is no paradise for locals (Dani Ehlinger, Seattle University senior majoring in finance and minoring in environmental studies/The Seattle Times) $

POLITICS

LOCAL

• Why Seattle leaders are reacting to Trump differently this time (The Seattle Times) $

SOCIAL MEDIA

• Federal appeals court upholds rapidly approaching TikTok ban (States Newsroom/Washington State Standard)
• COLUMN: Bob Ferguson on making Meta play by the rules (Brier Dudley/The Seattle Times) $

STATE GOVERNMENT

• Washington Gov.-elect Bob Ferguson reappoints these 3 directors to state agencies (The Olympian) $
• Sandison to stay as Washington agriculture director (Capital Press) $

TAXES

• COLUMN: The GOP went all-in on taxes — and lost. It’s shaking up WA politics (Danny Westneat/The Seattle Times) $

TRANSPORTATION

• Consumer Reports survey finds electric vehicle reliability improving but lagging gas models (AP)
• How to teach bike safety to kids: What Seattle is doing as traffic deaths rise (The Seattle Times) $

TRIBAL ISSUES

• EDITORIAL: Reservation Roots is planting seeds of hope (Yakima Herald-Republic) $