Washington in Focus

A month full of events in Seattle resulted in over one million people using light rail, King County Metro buses and the water taxi during three notable days in July. Sound Transit saw record-breaking ridership numbers thanks in large part to the Major League Baseball All-Star game, multiple Taylor Swift concerts, the Capitol Hill Block Party music festival and a Seattle Mariners home series against the Toronto Blue Jays. 

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The Washington State Department of Ecology has announced the results of last week’s emergency carbon auction, and it seems the carbon business is booming with all $62.5 million in shares selling. The closed-bid, fixed price auction consisted of two 527,000 credit tranches, with the first tranche priced at $51.90 per credit and the second at $66.86 per credit.

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The Washington State Attorney General’s Office has filed a lawsuit in King County Superior Court against O’Reilly's for allegedly failing to accommodate pregnant employees as required by state law. The lawsuit seeks thousands of dollars in fines against the auto retailer for each alleged incident. Under state law, employers must make “reasonable” accommodations for pregnant workers unless they demonstrate it would impose undue hardship on the business itself.

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The Seattle City Council has passed an ordinance that repeals an annual license fee on various amusement devices owned by Seattle businesses. The Seattle Municipal Code defines an amusement device as any machine or device which provides recreation or entertainment with a charge for use of play. Examples include pool tables, shuffleboards, music machines, video games, pinball machines, riding devices, and peepshow devices.

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With prices at the pump soaring, the Washington State Department of Ecology held its first Allowance Price Containment Reserve auction on Wednesday for the cap and trade program that went into effect at the beginning of the year. Per the Climate Commitment Act passed by the state Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee in 2021, Washington’s cap and trade program requires emitters to obtain “emissions allowances” equal to their covered greenhouse gas emissions. Similar to stocks and bonds, these allowances can be obtained through quarterly auctions hosted by the Department of Ecology.

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The Washington Attorney General’s Office is being accused of an “unethical and probably illegal” act of ordering a private university that is not a client of the AGO to seize and preserve records in anticipation of a potential lawsuit, a process known as a “litigation hold notice.” The litigation hold notice is part of an ongoing dispute between Police Strategies President Bob Scales, a former King County prosecutor, and the AGO over various aspects of a request for proposal process to develop a public police use of force database. Scales intended to subcontract with Seattle University, which at the time was looking at bidding on the proposal but ultimately declined.

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Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant’s proposed rent control bill has been rejected by the city council, with the city’s divide on the topic evident throughout the meeting. The public comment section of Tuesday's city council meeting lasted more than an hour, and included tenants and landlords speaking for and against Council Bill 120606. The council meeting revealed a growing disdain from some residents who feel neither political party represents them. A couple people voiced their opinion through song, others called out members of the Seattle City Council. Advocates for the rent control trigger law also chanted “dump the elephant, dump the ass, we need a party for the working class.”

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In a presentation to the Joint Legislative Committee on Water Supply During Drought, representatives from the Department of Ecology went over what led to the recent drought declaration and what the corresponding $3 million in grant funding means for communities. “A main one is that we look at water supply seasonal forecasts. What is the volume of runoff expected, especially for that April through September period, which in our state is when water supply challenges are likely to arise?" asked Jeff Marti, Drought Coordinator for the Department of Ecology’s Water Resources Division, during Monday’s committee meeting.

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With funding commitments secured from both Washington and Oregon for the new Interstate 5 Bridge between Vancouver and Portland, the Joint Legislative Action Committee is now looking at potential designs for the replacement bridge that differ in their aesthetic style and functionality. Although Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek has yet to sign it, a bill passed this session by the State Legislature committed a total of $1 billion in the form of $250 million in bonds during this biennium and another three rounds of bond sales for each subsequent biennia. The Washington Legislature allocated $1 billion for the new bridge as part of the Move Ahead Washington transportation package.

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The Port of Seattle Commission has authorized the next phase of a $133 million multi-year sound insulation program to wind down in 2026. The Sound Insulation Program had its genesis in 1985 and to date has provided high quality sound deadening insulation to more than 9,400 single-family homes and five condominium complexes in the vicinity of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, according to a Port of Seattle Commission news release.

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