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Washington State Standard, Olympia, WA (2025)

12/08/2025

California in September became the first state to ban law enforcement officers from wearing face coverings, in response to immigration raids where federal agents wore masks.

The U.S. Department of Justice sued the state over the prohibition last month.

Democratic lawmakers here in Washington are now planning similar legislation.

Washington’s proposal, spearheaded by Sen. Javier Valdez, D-Seattle, and Rep. Julio Cortes, D-Everett, resembles California’s law.

The Trump administration says the California policy jeopardizes the safety of federal officers, including those from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and is unconstitutional because it tries to regulate federal activities.

Legislators in other states, including Virginia, Illinois and Michigan, have proposed similar restrictions. Connecticut has prohibited authorities from wearing face coverings inside state courthouses, with limited exceptions.

Washington lawmakers are planning legislation to a California law the Trump administration is challenging in court.

12/05/2025

More than half of violent crimes in Washington state are going unsolved.

That sobering data point, shared with state lawmakers Thursday, comes as violent crime has dropped but remains far ahead of pre-pandemic figures.

Police in Washington solved just 44% of reported violent crimes last year, said Marshall Clement, director of the Council of State Governments’ Justice Center. That amounts to solving 62% of homicides, 51% of aggravated assaults, 31% of robberies and just 25% of rapes.

“How low can this rate go before the entire criminal justice system is rendered useless?” Clement told a state House panel. “Nothing else in our criminal justice can even happen, rehabilitation, deterrence, incapacitation, unless we have a system that actually solves the majority of violent crime.”

More than half of violent crimes in Washington state are going unsolved, including over over 49,000 such crimes since 2022.

12/04/2025

A judge last month once again upheld Washington’s 2023 law banning the sale of certain semiautomatic fi****ms classified as assault weapons.

But the dispute is likely not over. The gun rights advocacy group suing to overturn the ban says it will appeal. And whether restrictions like Washington’s are constitutional may eventually be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Washington’s law doesn’t prohibit owning assault weapons, just their manufacture, importation, distribution or sale. The term “assault weapon” is defined in the law, including with a list of specific firearm models, such as AR-15s.

The Silent Majority Foundation, along with gun sellers in Moses Lake and Ephrata and individuals, sued over the ban in 2023 in Thurston County Superior Court. They say it violates the state constitution that protects the right to bear arms.

The state attorney general’s office countered that policymakers can still regulate uniquely deadly weapons disproportionately used in mass shootings. These guns aren’t suited for self-defense, the state argued. The Silent Majority Foundation disagreed, arguing that the fi****ms in question are widely owned and so should have constitutional protection.

A judge last month once again upheld Washington’s 2023 law banning the sale of certain semiautomatic fi****ms classified as assault weapons.But the dispute is likely not over.

12/03/2025

Gov. Bob Ferguson warned Tuesday that the budget proposal he’ll release this month will rely solely on spending cuts and not higher taxes to overcome what he says is a multi-billion dollar shortfall.

“That’s the plan,” Ferguson told reporters at the state Capitol. “I don’t plan on balancing the budget with revenue.”

“It’s a fluid situation, as you might imagine, but that is our focus right now,” Ferguson said.

The first-term Democrat also said he would not sign any increase in sales or property taxes, two established options lawmakers could use to raise revenue quickly.

Ferguson’s comments offered the clearest insight yet on his approach to writing his first spending plan, due out in about two weeks. It puts him at odds with progressive Democrats clamoring for new taxes on wealthy residents and large corporations.

Gov. Bob Ferguson warned Tuesday that the budget proposal he’ll release this month will rely solely on spending cuts and not higher taxes to overcome what he says is a multi-billion dollar shortfall.

12/03/2025

The Department of Justice on Tuesday sued Washington’s secretary of state over his refusal to provide personal information contained in the state’s voter rolls.

Secretary of State Steve Hobbs told the Justice Department in September that he would be willing to provide voter names, addresses, genders, years of birth, voting records, registration dates and registration numbers. But he wouldn’t give dates of birth, driver’s license numbers or the last four digits of social security numbers. He wrote that information is protected under Washington law.

The Trump administration had requested the voter data from Washington amid its ongoing search for evidence to back up President Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud caused by immigrants without legal voting status.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in western Washington, sets up yet another clash between the Trump administration and the Democratic-led government in Washington state.

The Justice Department is asking a judge to order Hobbs to provide the state’s voter registration list, including either voters’ driver’s license numbers or the last four digits of their social security numbers.

The Department of Justice on Tuesday sued Washington’s secretary of state over his refusal to provide voter roll information.

12/02/2025

Washington State Sen. Sharon Shewmake has announced she will not run for reelection in 2026.

First elected as a state representative in 2018, Shewmake, 45, of Bellingham, served two terms before running in 2022 for the 42nd District Senate seat against Simon Sefzik. Sefzik had been appointed to finish the term of Sen. Doug Ericksen after Ericksen died while in office.

Winning the race by just 905 votes, Shewmake became the first Democratic senator in two decades to represent the district, which comprises most of Whatcom County, minus half of Bellingham and the southeasternmost part of the county.

She said in her announcement on Dec. 1 that she was choosing to prioritize her two sons over another candidacy, but she’ll continue to serve through the end of her term in January 2027.

“Their high school graduations seem far into the future but I know it’ll come fast and I don’t want to have missed the best parts because I was working in Olympia,” Shewmake said.

State Rep. Alicia Rule, a Democrat who represents the 42nd District in the House, said in a statement that she was “seriously considering a run” for Shewmake’s seat.

First elected as a state representative in 2018, Shewmake served two terms before running in 2022 for the 42nd District Senate seat.

12/01/2025

Washington state lawmakers next year hope to rein in law enforcement’s use of automated license plate readers amid revelations federal immigration authorities are using the data.

The readers are mounted everywhere from street poles to police patrol cars. They take pictures of vehicles and use artificial intelligence to analyze the data. Police can use the information, stored in a database, to track vehicles that could be tied to criminal investigations.

At least 16 states regulate the readers. Washington does not.

The technology has become increasingly common in Washington and across the country and is used not only by police, but also businesses and community groups.

Washington’s chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is leading the charge to regulate the license plate readers here. The issue has taken on new urgency during the Trump administration’s campaign for mass deportations, said Tee Sannon, the organization’s technology policy program director.

A report last month out of the University of Washington found several local police departments authorized U.S. Border Patrol to use their license plate reader databases. And in other cases, Border Patrol had backdoor access without express permission. In some instances, police conducted searches on behalf of the federal agency.

The findings raise concerns about compliance with state law limiting cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.

Washington state lawmakers next year hope to rein in law enforcements’ use of automated license plate readers.

11/27/2025

Democratic state lawmakers are once again eyeing a statewide version of a Seattle tax on companies with large payrolls and high-paid employees.

Proposed legislation crafted by Rep. Shaun Scott, D-Seattle, aims to raise more than $2 billion a year. His idea is for this money to go to education, health care and human service programs facing steep reductions in federal funding under the Republican-backed “Big, Beautiful Bill” President Donald Trump signed into law this year.

Scott will discuss his proposal at a news conference Tuesday. Representatives of the Washington Federation of State Employees, Service Employees International Union and pro-tax groups will join the first-term Democratic Socialist legislator.

His is the latest salvo — and likely not the last — in a tax debate expected to dominate the 2026 session that begins Jan. 12.

Democratic state lawmakers are eyeing a statewide version of a Seattle tax on companies with large payrolls and high-paid employees.

11/25/2025

On a dreary November day in Seattle, the U.S. Coast Guard put its past and future on display.

Within sight of the Space Needle, three eye-catching red icebreakers towered over Pier 36. It was the first time since 2006 that the Coast Guard has had three active icebreakers in the same place at the same time.

In the coming years, that scene will become more common, and not just in Seattle. After years of underfunding, the Coast Guard’s icebreaker fleet is undergoing a massive expansion, with almost $9 billion for new ships.

On Tuesday, the U.S. government signed the Icebreaker Collaboration Effort — or ICE Pact — a three-nation agreement with Finland and Canada that will see some of those ships built in Finland, whose shipyards will train Americans to build more.

“It’s an exciting time to be a polar icebreaker sailor,” said Capt. Jeff Rasnake, commanding officer of the Polar Star, America’s only heavy icebreaker.

So many ships are about to join the Coast Guard’s fleet that the agency isn’t yet sure where it will put them all. The Coast Guard has earmarked millions for a port expansion in Seattle to accommodate three heavy icebreakers, plus another $300 million for Juneau to serve as a port for a medium icebreaker.

More space will be needed on top of that, and Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, said his intent is to have as many of the new ships based in Alaska as possible.

“We want home port decisions on these icebreakers sometime in early 2026,” he said. “That is my goal.”

The Trump administration and Congress, seeking to improve security, have approved funding for eight icebreakers and are planning even more.

11/24/2025

Colleen Melody said she’s done interviews for two jobs in the past 12 years. Bob Ferguson conducted both.

About a decade ago, Ferguson, then Washington’s attorney general, chose her to lead his office’s new civil rights unit devoted to investigating and enforcing anti-discrimination laws.

On Monday, Ferguson, now governor, named Melody as Washington’s newest state Supreme Court justice.

Melody, 43, will succeed Justice Mary Yu, who announced her retirement in September.

“Anyone who has had any interaction with Colleen in a legal setting would all agree that she has a brilliant legal mind,” Ferguson said at a news conference in the Supreme Court chambers at the Temple of Justice in Olympia.

Melody said “the toughest question” in the hiring process was why she wanted to leave a job she so enjoyed.

“I never dreamt of being a judge,” she said. She added that working the past decade with individuals and juries, and in courthouses across the state, incited the desire.

Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson on Monday named Colleen Melody, a senior assistant attorney general, to the state Supreme Court.

11/24/2025

If you have ever wanted to own an iconic Washington state ferry, now may be your last chance to buy one until the 2030s. There are two sizes available with no minimum bid — the decommissioned 144-car Hyak and the 87-car Klahowya.

But before you get carried away with dreams of a palatial waterfront fixer-upper, or opening a floating restaurant, or making a quick buck off the scrap metal, be aware of the scrutiny you stand to receive.

“It’s more challenging than most people would have guessed,” said John Vezina, the deputy head of the state ferry system. “We’re not going to sign off on anything that isn’t ironclad that it can work.”

The Hyak and Klahowya have been sitting on the market unsold for more than a year since the state terminated a prior sales contract with an Ecuadorian middleman in summer 2024.

Businessman Nelson Armas paid $200,000 with the intention of towing his purchases to Ecuador for scrapping. The deal went awry when the hired tugboat could not safely connect to two ferries, among other mishaps. The South American tugboat crew ended up deported.

“It’s incredibly difficult to sell decommissioned vessels,” Vezina said in an interview.

The vessels are lingering on the market as Washington State Ferries scrutinizes potential buyers. Past purchases haven't always ended well.

11/21/2025

Damage at the Washington state Capitol from vandalism last month could cost nearly $1 million.

New estimates released Thursday put the total tab for the Oct. 5 rampage at $623,000 to $914,000 excluding taxes. The biggest cost driver is damage to a historic chenille rug nearly a century old in the state reception room, according to the Department of Enterprise Services.

It could cost $100,000 just to move the rug and affected drapes to another location for the repairs, the agency said. It will require storing them in a climate-controlled space at an estimated $750 per month, which doesn’t count toward the total estimate.

Repairing the unique rug, which suffered smoke and fire damage, will cost from $443,000 to $719,000 while estimates for restoring historic mohair drapes that were burned are between $19,350 and $34,200.

New estimates put the total tab for the Oct. 5 rampage at the Washington state Capitol at $623,000 to $914,000 excluding taxes.

Washington State Standard

12/08/2025

12/05/2025

12/04/2025

12/03/2025

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12/02/2025

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11/27/2025

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11/21/2025

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