Inside Olympia

This week on Inside Olympia....Host Austin Jenkins sits down with House Leadership and discusses some of the hot topics in the State Legislature this year like housing, taxes, and the Climate Commitment Act.

Austin Jenkins sits down with Senate Transporttion Committee members Marko Liias (D-Edmonds) and Curtis King (R-Yakima) to discuss some of the hot button transportation issues in the state of Washington. Also State Traffic Enginner Dongho Chang talks with us about making roads and streets safer.

Host Austin Jenkins sits down with the chair and ranking Republican of the Senate Environment, Energy and Technology Committee: Democratic Senator Joe Nguyen and Republican Senator Drew MacEwen.

A full-hour, in-depth interview with Governor Jay Inslee. On the fentanyl crisis. Behavioral health. Housing and homelessness. Climate change, the Climate Commitment Act, and gas prices. Citizen initiatives regarding police pursuits, the capital gains tax and more. Recent escapes and other incidents at Echo Glen and Green Hill Schools. The I-5 Columbia River Bridge. The impact of inflation on tran...

This week on Inside Olympia ... It's been two years since lawmakers created an Office of Independent Investigations to investigate police deadly force incidents. How many investigators have been hired and trained and when will investigations begin? We get an update from Director Roger Rogoff.

This week: In-depth with Senator June Robinson, the new chair of the budget-writing Senate Ways & Means Committee. Plus, veteran State Senator Karen Keiser on her newly published "how to" book for beginning state legislators: "Getting Elected is the Easy Part."

On this episode of Inside Olympia Austin Jenkins sits down with retiring state economist Steve Lerch and Senate Republican Budget Lead Lynda Wilson (R-Vancouver).

We discuss the bi-state effort to build a new I-5 Columbia River Bridge with Project Administrator Greg Johnson, Washington State Rep. Paul Harris, and Oregon State Rep. Susan McLain.

This week Austin Jenkins sits down with Ingrid Ulrey CEO of the Washington State Health Benefits Exchange and Michael Furze with the State's Energy Office.

What role will hydrogen and nuclear have in the push to decarbonize Washington? How will federal infrastructure spending help with the transition away from fossil fuels? And what are the particular challenges to transitioning heavy industry to clean energy? On the program is Chris Green of the Washington State Department of Commerce.

A full-hour, in-depth interview with the director of Washington's Department of Labor and Industries, Joel Sacks.

We talk with the co-chairs of Washington's recently disbanded Tax Structure Work Group: Senators Noel Frame and Keith Wagoner.

On this episode of Inside Olympia ... We live in politically tumultuous and polarized times. What does that mean for the near and long term futures of the state's two largest political parties? And how are their new leaders charting choppy waters? On this week state Democratic Party Chair Shasti Conrad and Republican Chair Jim Walsh.

Washington is among the states with the highest credit ratings -- which is a sign of good fiscal health, and allows the state to get good interest rates on the bonds it sells. But the state also has a significant debt load. What does that right balance look like? Plus, why do so few Washingtonians have retirement savings, and what can be done about that? And what are the chances Congress will pass...

Recent studies show Washingtonians are dying in traffic fatalities at an alarming rate -- plus throwing out 38 million pounds of trash each year onto Washington's roads and public spaces. Host Austin Jenkins interviews Shelly Baldwin, director of the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, and Amber Smith-Jones, State Litter Prevention Coordinator with the Washington Department of Ecology.

An exit interview with now-Kitsap County Commissioner Christine Rolfes, who recently stepped down from the State Senate, where she led the state-budget-writing Ways and Means Committee. And, the new Ranking Republican on the budget-writing House Appropriations Committee, Representative Chris Corry.

The Washington Department of Corrections recently announced plans to close Larch Corrections Center near Vancouver. In addition, the department is pursing major changes in the use of solitary confinement, and wants to remodel Washington prisons based on prisons in Norway. A full-hour, in-depth interview with Washington Department of Corrections Secretary Cheryl Strange.

In-depth interviews with Mark Vasconi, director of the Washington Statewide Broadband Office, and Melodi Pazolt and Scott Tankersley on the state's new Apple Health "Housing as Health Care" program.

A full-hour in-depth interview with Washington's Adjutant General, Bret Daugherty, who commands the Washington National Guard.

State Representative Drew Stokesbary of Auburn recently was chosen by his colleagues to serve as leader of minority Republicans in the State House of Representatives. We discuss his plans as leader, and how he plans to work with majority Democrats. Stokesbary steps into the role filled until recently by State Representative JT Wilcox of Yelm. In our exit interview with Wilcox, we explore his decis...

Beginning in July, an estimated three million Washington workers will have an average of $24 per month deducted from their paychecks to help provide them care in their old age. The "WA Cares Fund" is a first-in-the-nation state operated long-term care insurance program. Host Austin Jenkins sits down with WA Cares Director Benjamin Veghte. Plus, State Actuary Matthew Smith on whether long-term the...

What is it like being a new state legislator? How do you learn to navigate the statehouse? How do you get a bill passed? What are the challenges and opportunities that come with being new? And after one session, what are the lessons learned? Host Austin Jenkins interviews first-term State Representatives April Connors of the Tri-Cities, Travis Couture of Allyn, Sharlett Mena of Tacoma, and Julio C...

In the 15 years from 2005 to 2020, one quarter of the newspapers in the U.S. shut their doors. The closures left 1,800 communities without a newspaper -- so called news deserts. Here in Washington, three daily newspapers and more than two dozen weeklies have shuttered since 2004. And there have been consolidations and buyouts. Today, six of Washington's newspapers are owned by hedge funds. These a...

We continue our look at Washington's sexually violent predator program. How should the state manage cases involving individuals with developmental disabilities? Plus we ask two state lawmakers how the state should balance the requirement to release individuals back into the community with the concerns of communities?