Washington

Many coastal towns along the West Coast can’t afford to build lifesaving structures in the event of surging waves, putting homes and residents in jeopardy.

You’ve seen Law & Order. You’ve heard the Miranda Rights. You know that if someone charged with a crime cannot afford an attorney, all US states have a constitutional obligation to provide one. But, because of the backwards way we fund it, the public defense system in Washington has been destitute for decades.

Complicating things further, last year the Washington State Supreme Court set new caseload standards, stating that public defenders could only take on a fraction of the cases they currently see now, which will make it impossible to cover everything that needs covering with current staffing levels. That creates a new monetary problem and a constitutional crisis.

Former Attorney General Rob McKenna and the Citizens Action Defense Fund have officially filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Washington’s newly passed income tax on high earners, also known as the “millionaires tax.”

Opponents of Washington’s new income tax asked the state Supreme Court on Friday to allow them to pursue a referendum in hopes of giving voters a shot at repealing the controversial new law this November.

Brian Heywood, founder of the conservative political committee Let’s Go Washington, filed an emergency petition that asks justices to direct Secretary of State Steve Hobbs to process the referendum paperwork submitted Monday.

If successful, Heywood’s group must submit signatures of 154,455 voters by June 10 to qualify for the fall ballot.

“Time is already running out. Not granting accelerated review of this matter would unfairly render the entire process moot by significantly limiting the time available” to collect signatures, Heywood argues in court documents.

Heywood filed a referendum on Senate Bill 6346 shortly after Gov. Bob Ferguson signed the legislation known as the “millionaires’ tax.” It imposes a 9.9% levy on household wage income above $1 million starting in 2028.

But, as expected, the secretary of state’s office on Tuesday declined to process it, citing the Legislature’s inclusion of language that the new tax “is necessary for the support of the state government and its existing public institutions.” Democratic lawmakers put this so-called “necessity clause” into the law to prevent a referendum.

Reminder that Heywood moved here to escape what he would describe as a leftist hell hole (California). When he realized WA state was even more progressive, he formed a PAC to abuse the ballot initiative process in our state and mislead voters about tax reform and pricing of utilities. He's a shitty person, and he should move to Idaho where he'd get the keys to the government.

The DOE just ordered the TransAlta coal plant to keep running. But it has been offline since December, and a new state law would make it too costly to turn back on.

The bill imposes a 9.9% tax on income of over $1 million a year, with the first payments due in 2029. It would raise an estimated $3 billion to $4 billion annually, helping to fund schools and other state services.

Archived copies of the article:

• web.archive.org
• ghostarchive.org

Washington state is poised to ban employee noncompetes and related repayment agreements under a bill that’s headed to Gov. Bob Ferguson (D) for his signature.

The failure of HB 1175 to make it to the state Senate floor mirrors a similar fate two years ago. Bill sponsor Mark Klicker placed the decision to let the neighborhood cafe bill die squarely on Local Government Committee Chair Jesse Salomon.

The proposed state House operating budget would zero out the Washington State Urban and Community Forestry program, which cities across the state rely on to leverage federal dollars for trees. The effects of those cuts could be wide-reaching.

The $2 billion in new bonding in the Senate's transportation budget would help bolster the state's highway and bridge maintenance spending, which has lagged due to longstanding prioritization of new highway projects. But the debt load could create problems for future budget writers.

Archived copy of the article

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.today/post/45949436

Reviews are in for Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson’s debut budget blueprint. They are mostly two thumbs down.

In the course of six hours of public hearings over three days last week, dozens of people criticized the governor’s approach to closing a projected $2.3 billion shortfall.

They booed his push to cap access to a coveted child care program, cut funding for public schools and colleges, and redirect climate dollars away from pollution reduction and toward tax credits for low-income working families.

There was applause for Ferguson’s embrace of an income tax on millionaire-earners. But because it could be years before it might generate revenue, testifiers urged members of the House and Senate budget-writing committees to find ways to raise money sooner.

A recurring theme was the lasting negative effects of further paring public resources after the widespread reductions made last year to plug a budget hole that Ferguson pegged at $16 billion over four years.

Tyler Muench of the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction said “significant cuts” proposed to popular programs like Running Start and cancellation of a planned funding boost for rural school districts carry longer-term consequences.

“OSPI cannot continue to absorb cuts and still deliver services that Washingtonians expect and deserve,” he said.

Ferguson’s budget director foresaw the negative response and empathized with lawmakers who are crafting their own spending plans in the House and Senate.

“It’s a very difficult set of budget decisions that we dealt with and that you all will have in front of you as well,” said K.D. Chapman-See, Ferguson’s chief budget writer, in presenting the governor’s proposal at hearings in the House Appropriations and Senate Ways and Means committees.

More in the article.

Studying tree rings helped scientists pinpoint when Mount Rainier last sent a lahar down its steep slopes, which could help planners anticipate future mudflows.

https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=2112&Initiative=false&Year=2025

To hell with this.

The first public hearing is this Friday, January 16, in-person and online. If you live in Washington, you can file a comment in advance rather than attend the hearing. Follow the link above and hit the "Send a comment to your legislators" button.