Washington state lawmakers on Tuesday considered a bill that would impose even stiffer penalties on drunk drivers, including a provision that would require ignition-interlock devices be installed on a suspect’s car even before he or she was actually convicted of a crime. Washington state lawmakers may be back in town to work on a...
Read More »

Washington State Lt. Gov. Brad Owen said on Thursday one possible solution for the difference of opinion over the budget that’s made necessary a 30-special session would be for Democrats to stop extending the courtesy of a proxy vote to ailing GOP Sen. Mike Carrell. “At some point … you might have to say...
Read More »

Whoever it was who said you can’t fight city hall obviously knew nothing about public records requests. Bothell resident Todd Hodgen knew better when he filed an information request last month with the King County Housing Authority for some basic financial information and, in turn, found himself the object of a background search. An...
Read More »

It isn’t as eye-catching as the bigger-ticket items in the package, but a component of the transportation budget bill passed by the Washington State Legislature last week calling for a work group to study refinancing options for the Tacoma Narrows Bridge could ultimately save toll payers millions on that project and be a model...
Read More »

Twenty-sixth District Rep. Jan Angel wasted no time transitioning from governing to campaign mode on Monday, launching her active bid to claim the Senate seat left vacant in November when Gig Harbor Democrat Derek Kilmer was elected to Congress, succeeding longtime U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks. Incumbent candidates are banned from raising money while the...
Read More »

Gov. Jay Inslee was forced to order a special session of the Washington State Legislature when lawmakers adjourned on Sunday far short of an agreement on a two-year budget. Republicans had urged the governor to start the extra session on Monday to underscore the urgency of completing the task as soon as possible. Democrats...
Read More »

Even as the Washington State Legislature races to reconcile diametrically opposing views in the House and Senate regarding education, transportation and the operating budget in time to adjourn by Sunday, Gov. Jay Inslee signaled on Wednesday he still hasn’t given up on several pieces of social legislation that had been presumed dead. Asked if...
Read More »

A day after the House Transportation Committee endorsed a laundry list of tax increases to fund new road projects, the House Finance Committee on Tuesday approved an additional $900 million in tax hikes, ostensibly to fund education. Republicans on the committee, however, refused to concede either that the increases were necessary or that they...
Read More »

Washington State’s House Transportation Committee last week passed what its supporters called a bare-bones, no-frills budget. On Monday, the frills were added — as was a funding package to pay for them. At the heart of the $8.4 billion package was a proposed 10-cent gas tax, along with a proposal to increase various weight...
Read More »

Initiative activist Tim Eyman’s newest ballot measure follows a familiar theme. Like numerous Eyman initiatives in the past, the latest effort, announced on Monday morning, seeks to impose a two-majority requirement on the Legislature for all tax increases. The difference is, this time the standard would be included in the state constitution. “Five times,...
Read More »