The state is facing more than a dozen lawsuits involving at least 180 ex-employees who were allegedly forced from their jobs after asserting religious or other objections to the COVID-19 vaccination mandate.
Patients from abortion-banned states are traveling thousands of miles to receive the service in Washington state, where the procedure remains legal and where efforts are being made to protect abortion patients and providers.
BIPOC entrepreneurs, veteran- and women-owned businesses and small businesses in underserved regions of Washington state, including Walla Walla County, may be eligible to receive an impact grant of up to $100,000.
South Carolina will hold the first primary election but it isn't yet clear when the first five states' primaries will take place. Meanwhile, no one wants to run Seattle and redistricting never ends.
A group of bipartisan state legislators have announced support for 13 bills that would ease permitting, zoning or other regulations to increase housing availability. Some estimate Washington currently needs 150,000 new housing units.
The number of deaths on the state’s roads last year was the highest in more than 30 years. There is bipartisan support for legislation to increase Washington’s road safety and lower the blood alcohol limit.
Calls to the state’s Employment Security Department were answered just 12.5 percent of the time in December and problems left over from the pandemic continue to backlog the benefits system, delaying relief for residents.
Washington’s biggest county has proposed a requirement that retailers in unincorporated areas accept up to $250 in cash for a single transaction and would prohibit marking up prices for cash-paying customers.
Only 59 percent of homeless students in Washington state graduate from high school in four years. But North Thurston Public Schools has their more than 600 homeless students graduating at nearly the same rate as their peers.
The Washington state governor’s budget proposal for the next two-year cycle will fund a variety of programs across the state, including education, construction, salaries and public safety. There would be $2.6 billion left over.
The Legislature wants to create a pool of money that will give a minimum of $4,000 to every child born under the state’s Medicaid program. The program would cost about $150 million annually.
The Washington state Employment Security Department estimates that the state is set to lose as many as 18,000 tech or tech-related jobs over barely two months. But some are hopeful the layoffs will be short-lived.
The race for the state’s 26th Legislative District has attracted more money than any other legislative contest; already PACs across the state have spent more than $12 million this year. Here’s where and why the money is flowing.
Electric vehicles make up an average of 6 percent of new vehicle registrations each month in Washington, double 2020’s monthly average. But a recent poll found that 48 percent of residents do not support a gas-car ban.
While Washington state saw a 16 percent increase in road deaths between 2020 and 2021, Pierce County saw a 34 percent year-to-year jump, alerting officials of the dire need for road safety reform.
The election-denial movement has permeated into the state’s mainstream, perpetuated by leaders of some county GOP organizations and congressional candidates. But not all Republicans are pleased with the theories.
