Local News in Washington
348 articles · Page 6 of 18
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A US Supreme Court ruling hammered voting rights. What happens next?
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision gutting the federal Voting Rights Act could upend American politics and trigger a new rush to redraw congressional districts. The opinion released on Wednesday, in a case called Louisiana v. Callais, holds sweeping consequences for how states and local governments draw district lines at all levels of government, from Congress to […]
State News – Washington - NewsWA
Plan to sweep $4B from WA police and firefighter pension fund spurs lawsuit
Retired police officers and firefighters in Washington, including former Congressman Dave Reichert, sued the state Thursday to block an attempt to raid their pension fund to help with ongoing budget shortfalls. The retired first responders argue the maneuver leaves their pensions vulnerable to market downturns and is unconstitutional. The new law, signed this month by […]
State News – Washington - NewsWA
Three shutdowns later, Trump signs bill that finishes funding the government
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed a bill Thursday that will fund almost every agency in the Department of Homeland Security for the next five months, ending the shutdown that began in mid-February. The House approved the bill, which doesn’t include additional spending on Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Border Patrol, on a voice […]
State News – Washington - NewsWA
US House passes ‘skinny’ farm bill that keeps big GOP cuts to food assistance
The U.S. House approved, 224-200, a five-year farm bill Thursday as members of Congress attempt to update major agriculture and nutrition policy after three years of extensions. The bill would authorize subsidy and nutrition assistance programs through fiscal 2031. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated an earlier version of the bill would not meaningfully affect discretionary federal […]
State News – Washington - NewsWA
DOJ decision puts deportation target on Dreamers, Hispanic Caucus says
WASHINGTON — Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus raised serious concerns Thursday about the impact of a recent Department of Justice decision that will make it easier to deport hundreds of thousands of people brought into the country unlawfully as children, referred to as Dreamers. Texas Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro said the April 24 decision from the Department […]
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Ferguson violated ethics law by letting ex-staffer travel on state plane
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson has admitted to violating state ethics law and accepted a $4,000 fine for allowing a former top adviser to travel with him on a state plane to the Tri-Cities last summer. Under an agreement awaiting action by the state Executive Ethics Board, Ferguson would pay half the fine, with the rest […]
State News – Washington - NewsWA
Tacoma housing activists push to strengthen renter protections
Housing activists in Tacoma are gathering signatures for a ballot initiative that could strengthen enforcement of renter protections. The initiative is a follow-up to the “Tenant’s Bill of Rights,” also known as the Landlord Fairness Code, passed by Tacoma voters in 2023. That ballot measure added a number of new renter protections, including a ban […]
State News – Washington - NewsWA
Judge blocks Washington’s new sheriff standards law
Washington’s new law setting stricter eligibility standards for sheriffs was partially blocked in state court on Wednesday, one day before much of it was set to take effect. The preliminary decision from a Thurston County Superior Court judge came in response to a lawsuit four eastern Washington sheriffs filed against the state. Senate Bill 5974 […]
State News – Washington - NewsWA
Matt Walsh, Michael Knowles headline Turning Point USA event at University of Idaho
This article was first published by FāVS News. MOSCOW, Idaho – Hundreds of local residents and students lined up more than an hour early Tuesday as Turning Point USA brought its national tour to the ICCU Arena on the University of Idaho campus, with Daily Wire commentators Matt Walsh and Michael Knowles headlining. One person in line […]
State News – Washington - NewsWA
US Supreme Court limits use of race in congressional district remaps, diluting Voting Rights Act
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office on Monday invoked an upcoming landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision on the role of race in drawing congressional districts to justify the Republican’s proposed gerrymander. “The use of race in redistricting should never happen,” the governor’s general counsel, David Axelman, wrote in a memo unveiling a map that aims to hand […]
State News – Washington - NewsWA
Millionaire taxes gain steam as states face budget crunches
While the idea of a special tax on millionaires is hotly debated across the country, Maine state Rep. Cheryl Golek characterized her state’s new tax as a modest and reasonable step toward fairness. That’s because, she said, working- and middle-class households in Maine — including teachers, firefighters and nurses — are paying effective state income […]
State News – Washington - NewsWA
‘They’re going to learn about Frank’: UW psychiatric hospital dedicated to Chopp
SEATTLE — In his record-breaking tenure as Washington House speaker, Frank Chopp never spearheaded legislation, preferring to work behind the scenes. So when, in 2019, he brought forward a bill to create a new psychiatric teaching hospital at the University of Washington, his fellow lawmakers quipped that he might not understand the legislative process. That […]
State News – Washington - NewsWA
WA’s latest emissions report shows small decline
State officials and environmentalists point to a new report on Washington’s greenhouse gas emissions as an indicator that the state’s climate policies are working. Others look at the same data and say it raises doubts about whether those policies significantly reduce carbon emissions at all. The Department of Ecology report shows emissions in the state […]
State News – Washington - NewsWA
US Senate spending panel hails Education programs Trump has targeted for cuts
WASHINGTON — U.S. senators across the aisle pushed back Tuesday against President Donald Trump’s proposal to eliminate funding for programs serving disadvantaged students. Education Secretary Linda McMahon defended those and other proposed cuts to her agency outlined in Trump’s fiscal 2027 budget request, which calls for $75.7 billion in new discretionary budget authority for the department […]
State News – Washington - NewsWA
Trump administration proposes rolling back gender identity protections in federal housing
A Trump administration proposal would end gender identity protections for people in federally funded housing and shelters. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development proposed rule would remove references to “gender” and “gender identity” from agency regulations and replace them with “sex,” defined as a person’s biological classification as male or female. That would […]
State News – Washington - NewsWA
In court, Pebble mine developer says 27 salmon stand in project’s way
No mining proposal in recent Alaska history has generated more concern for the state’s salmon runs than the Pebble project. The huge copper and gold deposit extends into multiple salmon-bearing watersheds, and sits upstream from Alaska’s most lucrative salmon fishery. But now, in a new court filing, Pebble’s developer says just a tiny number of salmon […]
State News – Washington - NewsWA
New delay looms for Homeland Security funding as US House GOP blocks vote
WASHINGTON — U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson wants to make changes to a Senate-passed bill that would end the shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security, a move that will further delay funding and prolong the stalemate that began in mid-February. The holdup could again interrupt paychecks for workers at the Transportation Security Administration and […]
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WA asks judge to force Tacoma immigrant detention center operator to let inspectors in
TACOMA — Washington state health inspectors have tried for months to investigate complaints at the embattled immigrant detention center in Tacoma, to no avail. Now the state is taking its frustrations to court, asking a federal judge Tuesday to force the hand of the facility’s operator. It’s the latest development in the yearslong saga to […]
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Recall effort against Washington governor ends
Campaign finance activist Conner Edwards’ quixotic quest to recall Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson from office was intended to prod the governor into filling two vacant seats on the state’s Public Disclosure Commission. It worked. Late Friday, Ferguson appointed Teebah Alsaleh of Seattle, a lawyer for Microsoft, to the commission. Her selection came a week after […]
State News – Washington - NewsWA
Sam Hunt, who represented Olympia in WA Legislature for over two decades, dies at 83
Longtime state lawmaker Sam Hunt, who represented Olympia in the Washington Legislature, died Saturday after a short battle with leukemia. He was 83. Hunt served 16 years in the state House, before moving to the Senate in 2017. He was chair of the committees overseeing state government and elections in both chambers. Hunt decided not […]
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