Inside Olympia

We dig into the Supreme Court's "Blake" decision decriminalizing drug possession, and the Legislature's response. Guests: Sens. Manka Dhingra and Ron Muzzall, Reps. Lauren Davis and Gina Mosbrucker.

Majority Democrats and minority Republicans offer starkly different reviews of the 2021 legislative session. We sit down with Democratic House Speaker Laurie Jinkins, Senate Democrat Majority Leader Andy Billig, Senate Republican Leader John Braun, and House Republican Leader JT Wilcox.

Rep. Melanie Morgan, chair of the Members of Color Caucus, on Democrats' focus on equity in the 2021 Legislature. Plus, first-term state Reps. David Hackney and April Berg.

We go in-depth with Steve Sinclair, who is retiring as secretary of the Washington Department of Corrections. Plus, Joanna Carns, the director of the state's recently created Office of Corrections Ombuds.

This week on Inside Olympia we talk with two first-term Republican representatives, Peter Abbarno of Centralia and Mark Klicker of Walla Walla.

It's budget time at the State Legislature, as lawmakers look to approve three state budgets: operating, capital, and transportation. This week we cover two of the three: we go into the details of the state operating budget with Senate budget leads Christine Rolfes and Lynda Wilson, and talk about the capital or construction budget with State Reps. Steve Tharinger and Mike Steele.

We discuss adult and juvenile criminal justice with Senators Jeannie Darneille and Chris Gildon. Plus, an interview with first-term State Representative Tarra Simmons, who went from incarcerated felon to law student to attorney to the State Legislature.

We talk with UW Associate Professor Kate Starbird about her research on the spread of misinformation and disinformation on social media. Plus, Senators Lisa Wellman and Brad Hawkins discuss school challenges during COVID, including learning loss, and what the 2021 Legislature is doing to help public schools.

We go in depth with Sens. June Robinson and Ann Rivers on foundational public health; plus, Capitol journalists Joe O'Sullivan of The Seattle Times and Sara Gentzler of McClatchy newspapers recap the 2021 Legislature at its halfway point.

He moved from Texas and took the reins of the state's Department of Health amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: meet Washington's new Health Secretary, Dr. Umair Shah. Plus, we continue our interviews with first-term lawmakers -- this week, two Republicans new to the Legislature: Sen. Jeff Wilson of Longview and Rep. Cyndy Jacobsen of Puyallup.