Washington in Focus

(The Center Square) – Let’s Go Washington, a political action committee founded by businessman Brian Heywood, launched two new initiatives to the state Legislature on Monday morning. One concerns parental rights, and the other concerns protecting girls in sports. “The first one will be a repeal of [House Bill] 1296 essentially; 1296 is the legislative gutting of [Initiative] 2081, which was the pa...

(The Center Square) – King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci is calling for a quick response from the county to address major fiscal oversight issues within the Department of Community and Human Services. On Aug. 26, the King County Committee of the Whole was briefed on recent county audit findings revealing that DCHS made policy choices amid an increase in fiscal responsibility without instal...

(The Center Square) - One month from Labor Day, a slew of Washington businesses will be subject to new retail sales taxes, which will be passed onto consumers. The 2025 Washington State Legislature passed Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill (ESSB) 5814, which added new business activities to the definition of retail sales. Those new taxes will be collected starting Oct. 1. Hosted by Simplecast, an Ad...

(The Center Square) - A Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council report found that the state’s commercial real estate excise tax revenue has fallen to pre-2020 levels before the Legislature altered the REET rate. Through 2019, the state’s REET imposed a flat rate of 1.28 % of the value of the transactions, though local governments could impose their own REET on top of that. During th...

(The Center Square) - One month from Labor Day, a slew of Washington businesses will be subject to new retail sales taxes, which will be passed onto consumers. The 2025 Washington State Legislature passed Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill (ESSB) 5814, which added new business activities to the definition of retail sales. Those new taxes will be collected starting Oct. 1.    Support this podcast: ht...

(The Center Square) – In less than a year, Seattle has conducted 34% of spot repairs to city sidewalks that were promised over the next eight years. In the first Seattle committee meeting in two weeks, the Seattle Department of Transportation briefed the city’s transportation committee on the work being done to improve sidewalks: a major goal of the eight-year, $1.55 billion Transportation levy. ...

(The Center Square) – A group of Washington state Republican senators, including 31st Legislative District Sen. Phil Fortunato of Auburn, are calling for the repeal of a state law that limits law enforcement's cooperation with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. The Keep Washington Working Act, adopted in 2019, restricts local law enforcement from using local resources to help f...

(The Center Square) – Washington Solicitor General Noah Purcell is the focus of a Washington State Bar Association complaint alleging misconduct for responding on Attorney General Nick Brown’s behalf in a separate bar complaint, and directly communicating with private law firm Perkins Coie without its attorney’s consent. The complaint comes right after news broke that Brown faces an inquiry by the...

(The Center Square) – A group of Washington state Republican senators, including 31st Legislative District Sen. Phil Fortunato of Auburn, are calling for the repeal of a state law that limits law enforcement's cooperation with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. The Keep Washington Working Act, adopted in 2019, restricts local law enforcement from using local resources to help f...

(The Center Square) – Just over two months after the largest protest in Spokane since the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement, the City Prosecutor’s Office has dismissed all misdemeanor charges for failure to disperse against the June 11 and June 14 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement protesters. The Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that it has also dropped all of those charges it fi...

(The Center Square) – Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson is defending the state’s noncitizen workers' protections law despite U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi’s threats of criminal charges against him if the state does not comply with federal immigration law. On Aug. 13, Ferguson and Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell received letters from Bondi identifying the state and city as jurisdictions that engage in san...

(The Center Square) – Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown was threatened with an interim suspension of his license to practice law for failing to respond to allegations made in response to an exclusive story by The Center Square about the AGO’s amicus brief filed in support of Perkins Coie.  Support this podcast: https://secure.anedot.com/franklin-news-foundation/ce052532-b1e4-41c4-945c-d...

(The Center Square) – Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson is defending the state’s noncitizen workers' protections law despite U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi’s threats of criminal charges against him if the state does not comply with federal immigration law. On Aug. 13, Ferguson and Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell received letters from Bondi identifying the state and city as jurisdictions that engage in san...

(The Center Square) – Building in Spokane County could become much more expensive soon, as local officials consider hiking several permitting fees for the first time in years, some by more than 1,500%. Spokane County Public Works charges a variety of fees to cover its costs, but many of those have sat stagnant for over a decade. While neglected for years, the Board of County Commissioners has a mo...

(The Center Square) – A new WalletHub report ranked Washington as the 36th best state to live in this year, with Idaho landing second overall due to affordability and law enforcement staffing per capita. Much of the West Coast fell below the bottom half of the charts, with California at 32nd and Oregon at 39th on the list . WalletHub Analyst Chip Lupo told The Center Square that rapid growth in Se...

(The Center Square) – A new WalletHub report ranked Washington as the 36th best state to live in this year, with Idaho landing second overall due to affordability and law enforcement staffing per capita. Much of the West Coast fell below the bottom half of the charts, with California at 32nd and Oregon at 39th on the list. WalletHub Analyst Chip Lupo told The Center Square that rapid growth in Sea...

(The Center Square) – For the first time in many years, the Pierce County Republican Party will not have a booth at the Washington State Fair in Puyallup, Wash. – better known to locals as the Puyallup Fair. Signature-gathering efforts for citizen initiatives and GOP merchandise are the purported reasons for Washington State Fair officials telling Pierce County Republican Party Chair Dave McMullan...

(The Center Square) – Seattle is expected to see a 27% drop in international overnight visitors this year, with generated sales tax revenue remaining flat. The Seattle Office of Economic and Revenue Forecast anticipates sales tax revenue to total $344.7 million in 2025, a 1.26% increase year-over-year from $340.4 million in 2024. The small bump in revenue comes as the city is set to address a $143...

(The Center Square) – Initial returns from Tuesday’s primary election in Washington state show an extremely tight race in the 26th Legislative District, which includes Gig Harbor, Port Orchard and Bremerton. Rep. Michelle Caldier, R-Gig Harbor, who has served six terms in the state House of Representatives, is running for the state Senate seat against Sen. Deb Krishnadasan, D-Gig Harbor. Krishnada...

(The Center Square) – Costs of renting office space for hundreds of employees in the Washington State Attorney General’s Office has more than doubled in the last decade, according to an analysis of fiscal data by The Center Square. The largest recipient of AGO spending, according to fiscal.wa.gov, for the past several biennia has been BPP 800 Fifth REIT LLC, which operates 800 Fifth Avenue in down...

(The Center Square) – Tuesday is primary election day in Washington state. Ballots must be postmarked or placed in a ballot drop box by 8 p.m. Tuesday to be counted. Washington has a top-two primary, which means that in candidate races, the top two vote-getters advance to the general election regardless of party affiliation.  Support this podcast: https://secure.anedot.com/franklin-news-foundation...

(The Center Square) – A Spokane native now overseeing much of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development across the Northwest says the Housing First model is failing American taxpayers. President Donald Trump issued an executive order at the end of July, rebuking the approach as his team brought HUD Regional Administrator Chris Patterson back into the fold. Patterson, who oversaw Region...

(The Center Square) – The end of a six-month suspension of a policy that for years allowed for the auto-deletion of Microsoft Teams or instant messages at Washington state agencies after one week is approaching. Microsoft Teams is a cloud-based team collaboration software that allows users to communicate, set up meetings, and share files within a workspace environment, typically via email. Hosted...

(The Center Square) – Washington state is currently forecast to run out of money by 2027 and experience a fiscal deficit by 2028 despite the largest tax increase in state history this session, in addition to record revenue levels. While some elected and appointed state officials have highlighted the impacts of President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act on Medicaid funding for the combined...

(The Center Square) – The end of a six-month suspension of a policy that for years allowed for the auto-deletion of Microsoft Teams or instant messages at Washington state agencies after one week is approaching. Microsoft Teams is a cloud-based team collaboration software that allows users to communicate, set up meetings, and share files within a workspace environment, typically via email.  Suppor...