Washington State Standard

12/30/2025

Tax hikes on big business and rental cars. Unemployment benefits for workers on strike.

Those are just a few of the changes to state law taking effect in Washington on New Year’s Day.

Some bills passed in 2025 became law earlier in the year, while others will take years to go into effect. The next legislative session, lasting 60 days, begins Jan. 12.

Here’s a look at some of the new laws on the books starting Thursday.

Taxes on big business and rental cars. Unemployment benefits for striking workers. Those are some of the changes taking effect in Washington.

12/29/2025

UNION GAP, Wash. — On a chilly fall morning, farmworkers fanned out through an orchard here to pick rose-hued apples from green rows of trees that flank this central Washington valley’s irrigated slopes.

These Pink Ladies were one of the last varieties to ripen in a harvest season that began in late summer amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

Local farmworkers — many of them immigrants without legal status — were on edge, while growers worried the federal deportation push could worsen chronic labor shortages.

In a harvest that stretched from August to early December, federal agents did not make large-scale arrests in workplace raids in the orchards. Instead, as in other parts of the country, people often were targeted as they ventured from their homes to shop or commute.

These tactics added a new element of risk and a big dose of fear to many workers’ lives. Still, most continued to make the daily trip to the orchards, where skilled pickers can make from $20 to more than $40 an hour.

“Everybody has work. They got to pay their bills. So, it makes it hard to not come,” said Raul Arroyo Rosas, a Yakima Valley horticulturist working in the Pink Lady orchard.

The Trump administration’s deportation push has caused turmoil within the state’s farm workforce as federal legislation meant to improve the situation has stalled.

12/26/2025

About 20 miles of U.S. 2 are set to reopen Monday on the east side of the Cascades, allowing access to the Stevens Pass ski resort, after devastating flooding and debris slides destroyed parts of the highway this month.

U.S. 2, a major east-west crossing in Washington over the Cascades, has been closed for two weeks along a nearly 50-mile stretch between Skykomish and Leavenworth. Parts of the roadway collapsed entirely.

Fully reopening the highway “is going to take time, a long time, and we’re still evaluating the full extent of the damage,” Gov. Bob Ferguson said in a press conference Friday.

The partial reopening will be at 6 a.m. Monday between Coles Corner and Stevens Pass, or mileposts 85 and 64, Ferguson said. A pilot car will shepherd drivers for the final stretch to the pass in one lane between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. This system is expected to last at least a month.

About 20 miles of U.S. 2 are set to reopen Monday on the east side of the Cascades, allowing access to the Stevens Pass ski resort,

12/26/2025

In early August, the leader of Washington’s Department of Fish and Wildlife had become so concerned with alleged behaviors of the citizen panel that he answers to that he asked Gov. Bob Ferguson to investigate.

Kelly Susewind, the agency director, questioned whether conduct by members of the state Fish and Wildlife Commission complied with state laws after poring through a trove of their emails and texts obtained and shared publicly by an advocacy group for hunters and anglers.

The Sportsmen’s Alliance had argued that commissioners violated state requirements for open meetings and records disclosure, and that they disregarded mandates to maximize hunting and fishing. The group was pressing Ferguson to remove four commissioners.

Against this backdrop, Susewind made his extraordinary request for an inquiry into the commission, which oversees his department and has the power to remove a director should it choose.

“I know this is a big ask,” he wrote the governor Aug. 5. Susewind said an investigation could clear up a cloud of uncertainty shrouding the nine-person commission. If wrongdoing occurred, he said, the governor could remove members because each is appointed by the executive.

A few days later, it became public that Ferguson had ordered an investigation. “The governor takes concerns from an agency director very seriously,” Ferguson’s communications director, Brionna Aho, told the Standard.

An investigation sought by Gov. Bob Ferguson into the conduct of the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission may not be done until next year.

12/25/2025

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declared a public health emergency Wednesday over this month’s flooding in Washington state.

The action from Kennedy, the head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is focused on helping meet the needs of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. As part of that, his agency is providing access to HHS emPOWER, which gives data on the number of Medicare enrollees reliant on medical equipment dependent on electricity and other health care services that could make them especially vulnerable to a disaster.

The announcement could be a good sign for the state’s chances of getting a major disaster declaration from President Donald Trump to potentially open up tens of millions of dollars to deal with the flooding’s aftermath.

Gov. Bob Ferguson plans to ask for such a declaration in the coming weeks.

The flooding from heavy rain and overflowing rivers forced thousands of evacuations, breached multiple levees and damaged numerous highways. It still didn’t quite reach the levels some forecasts predicted. One person has been reported dead.

Kennedy’s order follows an emergency declaration from Trump that unlocked federal resources to respond to the storm.

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declared a public health emergency Wednesday over this month’s flooding in Washington state.

12/24/2025

Joe Nguyen is stepping down as director of Washington state’s Department of Commerce and is expected to be named the next leader of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber.

Nguyen told Commerce employees on Tuesday that he is leaving but didn’t disclose his new job. He said he didn’t anticipate taking off “until sometime in January.”

“Although I can’t tell you where I’m going just yet, I will be working in Seattle, closer to home,” he wrote in an agencywide email. “Sometimes opportunity knocks, even when you haven’t invited anyone to your door. Recently I was offered an opportunity outside of Commerce that I have accepted because it was the right thing to do for my family.”

The chamber, an independent business organization with 2,600 members, plans an announcement Monday concerning its chief executive officer position. A spokesperson declined further comment.

Rumors of Nguyen’s selection had begun circulating online and among business lobbyists in recent days. Nguyen did not return multiple phone calls for comment.

The job has been open since Rachel Smith left as the organization’s president and CEO to become president of the Washington Roundtable.

Former state lawmaker Joe Nguyen is stepping down as director of Washington state’s Department of Commerce.

12/24/2025

Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson made a splash Tuesday with his full-throated endorsement of taxing the earnings of millionaires.

The surprise declaration from the first-term Democratic governor nearly drowned out his newly released plan to erase a multibillion-dollar shortfall in the current state budget.

He made “super clear” that if Washington taxes millionaires, the money won’t start flowing into state coffers until 2029 at the earliest. In the meantime, he said, the state must deal with the immediate problem of the $2.3 billion budget hole.

Ferguson proposes to patch it by trimming $800 million in spending, withdrawing $1 billion from the state’s rainy day fund, and making an unprecedented use of nearly $600 million in revenues from the state’s auctions of air pollution allowances.

The proposal also contains $1.2 billion of increased spending to cover costs of inflation in existing programs, greater demand for public services and complying with new federal requirements under Republicans’ so-called “Big Beautiful Bill.”

The budget plan is balanced through June 30, 2027 and does not raise taxes, keeping a pledge Ferguson made earlier this month. The plan does eliminate tax breaks related to data centers and prescription drug wholesalers.

Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson made a splash Tuesday with his full-throated endorsement of taxing the earnings of millionaires. The surprise declaration from the first-term Democratic governor nearly drowned out his newly released plan to erase a multibillion-dollar shortfall in the current state budg...

12/23/2025

Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson on Tuesday threw his support behind a proposed income tax on residents earning more than $1 million annually, and said he’s prepared to sign the policy into law next year.

Some legislative Democrats are eyeing a 9.9% “millionaires tax” on adjusted annual gross income over $1 million. Ferguson endorsed this version of the proposal. Less than 0.5% of Washingtonians would be subject to the tax, and it’s expected to raise $3 billion per year.

The revenue wouldn’t hit state coffers until 2029, Ferguson said. On Tuesday, the governor also released a spending proposal for the remainder of the current two-year budget cycle, which seeks to address a shortfall his office pegs at $2.3 billion through mid-2027.

To have Ferguson’s support, he said the new tax must be used to increase eligibility and payments under the state’s Working Families Tax Credit, which is open to low- and middle-income households. It also has to allow for tax relief for the state’s small businesses. And he wants it to bolster K-12 education and reduce sales taxes.

Ferguson, a Democrat, said it’s too soon to know if adding the income tax would put the state on a sustainable budget path that diminishes the need for further cuts or tax hikes like those approved earlier this year.

He said he is “optimistic” the Legislature will approve the tax next year.

Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson on Tuesday threw his support behind a proposed income tax on residents earning more than $1 million annually.

12/23/2025

Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson unveiled a plan Friday to steer $3 billion into preserving the state’s roads and bridges and building three new ferries over the next decade.

Ferguson would raise the money through borrowing, with the sale of bonds backed by proceeds from a slew of new and increased taxes and fees lawmakers approved this year. This included an increase in the state’s gas tax.

As envisioned, there’d be roughly a billion dollars apiece for paving highways, painting and repairing bridges, and adding three vessels to the Washington State Ferries fleet.

Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson on Friday proposed putting $3 billion more into preserving roads and bridges and building new state ferries.

12/22/2025

Earlier this month, Seattle and Tacoma’s port commissioners gave preliminary approval to a joint clean air strategy for the next five years. The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority has a similar Climate Action Plan and coordinates with its neighbors.

The Northwest Clean Ports emissions inventory shows big cargo vessels are the largest source of air pollution related to the seaports. If the global shipping industry were its own country, it would rank as the world’s seventh-largest greenhouse gas emitter, according to the ClimateWorks Foundation.

The 2026-2030 Clean Air Implementation Plan includes numerous steps to reduce port-related emissions, including the further build-out of shore power so that visiting cargo ships can plug in instead of idling at their berths.

Another section calls for the electrification of trucks and cargo handling equipment on the docks. But then Felleman and the other commissioners had to navigate through the tricky shoals of how to transition ocean-going vessels to cleaner fuels. It may take years for the region to reach safe harbor on that priority.

Before this month’s vote on the air pollution strategy, the port commission offices in Seattle and Tacoma were flooded with more than 100 public comments urging rejection of the marine industry’s current favorite alternative fuel, liquefied natural gas.

Earlier this month, Seattle and Tacoma’s port commissioners gave preliminary approval to a joint clean air strategy for the next five years. The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority has a similar Climate Action Plan and coordinates with its neighbors.

12/19/2025

CONCRETE, Wash. — On Wednesday morning, sunlight glinted off the mud and moisture that still blanketed this small town in the Cascade foothills, hinting at what it had just endured.

Concrete residents held their breath through a spate of natural disasters and severe weather that unfolded over the past two weeks.

Atmospheric rivers dumped rain across western Washington, causing historic flooding in and around Whatcom and Skagit counties.

Concrete, located along Highway 20 in Skagit County, felt the effects.

The nearby Skagit River crested at record-breaking levels last Thursday.

While Concrete’s downtown did not flood, areas closer to the river did. As of Wednesday, some homes on the outskirts of Concrete were still surrounded by water. Since then, the water level has fluctuated and receded to minor flood stage as of Thursday.

12/18/2025

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday to loosen federal restrictions on ma*****na, which Trump said reflected the drug’s potential medical benefits while discouraging recreational use.

The order moves cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III on the Federal Drug Administration’s list of controlled substances. Schedule I, the most restrictive category under federal law, indicates a high likelihood of abuse and no accepted medical value.

Trump said the move reflected that cannabis could have medicinal value, even if abuse was still possible.

The order “doesn’t legalize ma*****na in any way, shape or form and in no way sanctions its use as a recreational drug,” Trump said. “Just as the prescription painkillers may have legitimate uses, but can also do irreversible damage … it’s never safe to use powerful controlled substances in recreational matters.”

Still, the order marks a major step in the decades-long liberalization of cannabis policy.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday to loosen federal restrictions on ma*****na, which Trump said reflected the drug’s potential medical benefits while discouraging recreational use.