Washington in Focus

(The Center Square) – “This is a beautiful, coordinated action to take back our country and to show Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and these Republicans who are just spineless in this moment that we intend to fight back against unelected billionaires,” U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said to roughly 25,000 demonstrators at a Saturday protest in Seattle. Jayapal was one of 21 speakers at the Seattle rally, which itself was one of more than 1,300 demonstrations as part of the nationwide “Hands Off!” event by civil rights organizations, labor unions, LGBTQ+ advocates, veterans and other activists. 

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(The Center Square) – Dozens of people turned out for a spirited public hearing Friday before the state Senate Ways & Means Committee on controversial legislation to cap yearly rent increases. Engrossed House Bill 1217 caps rent increases to 7% annually for most residential tenants, prohibits rent hikes during the first year of tenancy, and requires landlords to provide 90 days’ notice before raising rent in most cases. The bill passed the House of Representatives on March 10 and is now being considered by the Senate. 

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(The Center Square) – Less than a week after the Washington State Senate adopted a rule change restricting credentialed members of the media from accessing “the wings” and adjacent rooms of the Senate, unless invited by a lawmaker or staff member, journalist Jonathan Choe received his credentials. He was denied access anyway. Choe, a journalist and senior fellow with Discovery Institute's Center on Wealth and Poverty, was denied access to Tuesday's weekly media availability event held by legislative Democratic leaders despite his newly issued one-week pass. The press rule change came after the Capitol Correspondents Association decided to return press credentialing authority to the Senate and House. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com

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(The Center Square) – Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown last month filed an amicus brief in support of Perkins Coie, a private law firm that filed a lawsuit in response to President Donald Trump’s executive orders seeking to end federal contracts with the firm and revoke its security clearance. Although The Center Square reported that the AGO had recently subcontracted with Perkins Coie, it has now obtained documents showing that the contract with the law firm was renewed and set to expire later this year, which was not disclosed in the amicus brief. 

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(The Center Square) – Less than a week after the Washington State Senate adopted a rule change restricting credentialed members of the media from accessing “the wings” and adjacent rooms of the Senate, unless invited by a lawmaker or staff member, journalist Jonathan Choe received his credentials. He was denied access anyway. Choe, a journalist and senior fellow with Discovery Institute's Center on Wealth and Poverty, was denied access to Tuesday's weekly media availability event held by legislative Democratic leaders despite his newly issued one-week pass. 

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Read more: https://www.thecentersquare.com/washington/article_9b85d70a-e2e1-4986-91ae-f33aa8bb4e59.html

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(The Center Square) – The Seattle Police Department saw the number of lateral officer candidates in 2024 nearly double from the previous year, as city leaders tout progress in addressing the department’s post-pandemic staffing shortage. A lateral officer is an experienced, sworn law enforcement officer who transfers from one police department to another rather than being a new recruit. According to data collected by The Center Square, 34 lateral Seattle Police Department candidates passed the public safety civil service exams and were referred to the department for pre-employment screening. 

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(The Center Square) – With the Washington state legislative session scheduled to adjourn one month from Thursday, lawmakers are getting down to the nitty-gritty work on massive budget proposals that will impact taxpayers. This week, majority party Democrats in the House and Senate unveiled competing transportation budget proposals. Both budgets call for increased gas taxes tied to inflation, and new fees to pay for ongoing projects and new priorities. The Senate plan calls for a 6 cents per gallon hike at the pump. That hike would bring the total state tax to 55.4 cents per gallon, before being tied to inflation. Beginning the following year, the state tax would then rise by 2% annually to account for inflation. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com

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(The Center Square) – Washington state lawmakers are contemplating an increase in a variety of taxes and fees, including the gas tax and electric vehicle registration fee, to finance its proposed 2025-2027 transportation budget. While local government advocates spoke in support of it at a Tuesday public hearing in the House Transportation Committee, one person testifying pushed back against a provision that would cause taxes and fees to automatically increase without a legislative vote. 

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(The Center Square) – Backers of Initiative 2066, which protects natural gas as an energy choice in Washington state, say they will take their case to the Washington Supreme Court after a judge’s ruling last week that I-2066 is unconstitutional. On Friday, King County Superior Court Judge Sandra Widlan ruled the scope of I-2066, approved by voters in November, was too broad and violated the state Constitution’s single-subject requirement. 

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(The Center Square) – After months of gridlock and stalled proposals, the Spokane City Council made good on its word to propose new policies around homelessness on Monday. Picking up the “Ban The Address” ordinance, the council floated the idea after a similar “Homeless Bill of Rights” failed last year. Councilmember Paul Dillon proposed the measure more than six months after asking residents for feedback on how the city handles the issue. 

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