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The 2024 legislative session is now in the history books. After 60 days, in which 201 House bills and 180 Senate bills passed the Legislature, we can report a mix of great successes and disappointments. We fought hard for public hearings on all six citizens’ initiatives to the Legislature. Closer to the end of the session, Democratic leaders in both the House and Senate reluctantly agreed to hear three of the measures but sent the other three initiatives to the November ballot. Public hearings were held on Initiative 2113, r...
As climate change concerns grow, researchers are turning to family tree farmers for assistance. They have been helping for a century, but their efforts have gone unrecognized. The American Tree Farm program has emphasized sustainability and managing lands for water quality, wildlife, wood, and recreation. In recent years, it has included climate change. According to the American Forest Foundation, families and individuals collectively care for the largest portion of forests in the U.S., more than the government or...
It is with a mix of encouragement and disappointment that the Senate majority leader says four of the six citizen initiatives to the Legislature "might" have public hearings scheduled before the end of the 2024 session. But don't hold your breath. We are now nearly two-thirds into a 60-day session, with only a handful of committee meetings remaining before adjournment March 8. Despite repeated efforts by Republicans asking for majority Democrats to hold hearings on the initiat...
Let me begin with some political realities about your state Legislature. Republicans, and I am one, are in the minority. The Senate Republican Caucus, of which I am the chairwoman, has 20 members. Our Democratic colleagues have a 9-vote majority in the state Senate, which makes our jobs representing rural values and needs a challenge. Most Senate majority members are from King County and Seattle. So, their world view is different. I do my best to communicate the very real...
Among the many problems plaguing Washington now, crime is perhaps the greatest concern for citizens and communities throughout our state. In fact, we have reached a crisis point in our state because of skyrocketing crime. Thanks to recent state laws that restrict law-enforcement officers and weaken public safety, criminals have become more emboldened. They are acting in a more brazen manner as they commit crimes. The result is many people throughout Washington have been...
As climate change concerns grow, researchers are turning to family tree farmers for assistance. They have been helping for a century, but their efforts go unrecognized. The American Tree Farm program has emphasized sustainability and managing lands for water quality, wildlife, wood and recreation. In recent years, it has included climate change. According to the American Forest Foundation, families and individuals collectively care for the largest portion of forests in the...
Eleven years ago, when we started debating the climate agenda in Olympia, I sat on a study committee we called the Climate Legislative Executive Workgroup and asked an unpopular question: How much good will these policies do and how much will they cost? How dare I ask a question like that? The fate of Mother Earth was at stake. No expense was too great. Today, we are starting to get an idea of the cost. How would you like to pay $20,000? How about $50,000 or more? This is how...
A special report urges the mobilization of civic leaders, organizations, businesses and all residents to work together to save the state’s Public Records Act. The report is available online for viewing and downloading at washcog.org. State lawmakers and the courts continue to whittle away at the landmark public records law, which was adopted overwhelmingly with a citizens’ initiative in 1972. Since then, state legislators have passed more than 650 exceptions and have tried repeatedly to exempt themselves. Residents argued in...
Funny how it took a move into the country before a Democrat would support efforts to clean up our forest floors. Last week, Senate Bill 6121 passed the Senate unanimously. The bill sponsored by Sen. Kevin Van De Wege — a Democrat who now lives at Lake Sutherland — encourages the removal of downed timber and other “fuel” that could feed a wildfire. He should be commended for being among the first Democrats to step out of the party box and recognize the importance of removin...
Make the public records ‘gotcha’ less lucrative I agree with Rep. Schmick, let’s take the “gotcha” out of public records requests. That can be done by helping jurisdictions with their filing system, not by prohibiting public disclosure. The Joint Legislature Audit and Review Committee has been tracking statistics on requests since 2017. It shows the number of court claims against reporting agencies declined slightly between 2018 and 2022. On average, less than 0.1% of records requests lead to court claims. Less than 1% of sta...
There was a time many years ago when our state was generally safe and did not have a serious crime problem. Unfortunately, that was then… and this is now. Washington is now among the nation’s leaders in several crimes, including auto and retail theft. While the nation’s violent crime rate dropped slightly from 2021 to 2022, our state saw an increase, according to the FBI. According to a report by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, there were 394 murders in Washington in 2022, an increase of 16.6% over 2...
We need to unite to tackle fentanyl As an emergency physician, I see too many patients and families destroyed fentanyl epidemic. This is a plague that we can only face united. Four decades ago, many dismissed the impact of secondhand cigarette smoke. History shows us they were wrong. Today, “educated experts” dismiss what they call trace amounts of fentanyl on public transportation – buses, light rail, and ferries. The difference? Fentanyl is considerably more toxic. The time for hiding the effects of addiction and leavi...
Vote ‘yes’ on Cheney school measures The Cheney School District is asking voters to support students by passing three separate financial initiatives. As a retired grandmother, I sought to understand why we needed to see a levy and two bonds. School funding can be very confusing. The levy is a continuation of a current maintenance and operations levy. These have to be renewed regularly and typically do not increase taxes or include small increases. They support ongoing education activities such as the arts and sports and sup...
When Washington’s voters adopted the state’s Public Records Act under Initiative 276 in 1972, they wanted to make sure that state, county, and city governments operate openly and are transparent to the people. They recognized the best way to ensure transparency and accountability to the citizens of Washington is to require that most government records are made available to the public. The PRA, however, was never intended to help some make money at the expense of gov...
As Washington stands at a pivotal moment in shaping its energy future, it becomes increasingly clear that adopting sensible, forward-thinking solutions is crucial for a reliable, cost-effective, and environmentally sound power grid. It’s time for our state to embrace energy policies that genuinely prioritize the well-being of its residents. The Power Washington plan, a comprehensive strategy I advocate for, is designed to confront and resolve critical issues within our energy landscape. The plan is led by Sen. Curtis King o...
Watch your language on climate change As climate disruption becomes more evident, more people are empowered to advocate for climate mitigation. This advocacy is positive, but climate advocates must choose their words carefully for their message to be most effective. Advocates need humility because we don’t have all the answers. For instance, while the climate science fundamentals are well-established, it is a relatively new field and probably still holds plenty of surprises. Humility is necessary because renewable energy d...
Each year Americans throw away more than three billion batteries constituting 180,000 tons of hazardous material. The situation is likely to get worse as the world shifts to lithium batteries to power a massive influx of electric vehicles (EV). It needs immediate attention. Everyday-green.com reported more than 86,000 tons of single-use alkaline batteries (AAA, AA, C and D) are thrown away yearly. They power electronic toys and games, portable audio equipment and flashlights a...
Two years ago, Washington State Parks bureaucrats in Tumwater hatched a plan to address so-called “overcrowding” at Palouse Falls. The plan was to close and relocate the campground to Lyons Ferry, require permits to visit Upper Palouse Falls and to end hiking and exploring in and around the main Palouse Falls basin. The effort also eliminated kayaking access on the upper Palouse River. And to make the effort sound legitimate, those city-dwelling bureaucrats called Palouse Fal...
It seems like every year the Democrats, who have voting majorities in the Senate and House, in Olympia introduce legislation to raise or create taxes, no matter how much revenue the state is already collecting from you and other hard-working taxpayers. The Ds are at again this session. The latest proposal from the other side of the aisle that should cause all of us to hide our wallets is Senate Bill 5770, the Senate Democrats’ very costly and long-term property tax increase proposal. The version of Senate Bill 5770 that r...
It seems like every year the Democrats, who have voting majorities in the Senate and House, in Olympia introduce legislation to raise or create taxes, no matter how much revenue the state is already collecting from you and other hard-working taxpayers. The Ds are at again this session. The latest proposal from the other side of the aisle that should cause all of us to hide our wallets is Senate Bill 5770, the Senate Democrats’ very costly and long-term property tax increase proposal. The version of Senate Bill 5770 that r...
“The possibility of a global environmental apocalypse has been dominating headlines and exercises a powerful hold on the imaginations of millions of people,” according to optimist and author Marion L. Tupy. Headlines of imminent catastrophe are resulting in public policy driving our nation and our state as well as many other western economies to the brink. The Clean Energy Transformation Act, passed in 2019, and the Climate Commitment Act (CCA) of 2021 form the architecture for the radical decommissioning of all pet...
There are at least 216 gray wolves in 37 packs in our state. Thirty-one of those gray wolf packs are in North-Central and Northeastern Washington. Senate Bill 5939 – relating to protecting livestock from wolf predation – seeks to give affected livestock raisers a chance to mitigate the confirmed and probable predation deaths of their animals. The bill would allow owners of livestock to monitor a depredation and kill the first gray wolf that returns. The bill lays out the livestock protection plan as a 3-year pilot with a rep...
The $33 billion secret Snake River Dam plan that President Biden and friends cooked up in the White House basement needs to be exposed to the light of day and thoroughly aired by all. It is time to assess how it might work in the real world rather than wait and see what happens once it is implemented. While $33 billion may seem like “walking around” money to a President who tosses around trillion-dollar programs like horseshoes at the church picnic, the amount is equal to the yearly operating budget of the entire State of Was...
Vote ‘Yes’ and support Cheney schools Feb. 13 During the February election, the Cheney School District is asking voters to consider three ballot measures, including replacement Education Programs and Operations and Capital levies, and a much-needed bond to address facility needs and growth within the district. The replacement EP&O levy is a critical local funding source that supports a significant number of staff positions not funded by the state and provides funding for performing arts, athletics, and extra-curricular act...
Aesop’s fable warns against killing the goose laying golden eggs. The tale’s origins date to 600 B.C. and tells of the greedy farmer who foolishly killed the prized goose to get to the gold’s source and ended up with nothing. Skeptics in our nation’s capital today quip that politicians are greedy, self-serving and tone deaf and are cooking their own geese and all of us too. Those controlling the “other Washington” have us drowning in debt. According to the U.S. Treasury, w...
