Washington State Standard

Washington State Standard The Washington State Standard is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news outlet that provides original reporting, analysis and commentary on Washington state government.

Washington’s most endangered congressional Democrat in next year’s midterms sparred openly with her own party for an hou...
11/18/2025

Washington’s most endangered congressional Democrat in next year’s midterms sparred openly with her own party for an hour on the floor of the U.S. House on Monday night.

U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez is pushing a resolution to disapprove of actions by outgoing U.S. Rep. Chuy Garcia, D-Illinois, that resulted in his chief of staff as the only Democrat running to succeed him in 2026. A vote on the resolution is anticipated Tuesday morning.

Gluesenkamp Perez’s Democratic colleagues lined up to oppose her resolution and stand up for Garcia. The Illinois congressman, at one point, spoke in his own defense.

Republicans exited the chamber as the debate unfolded. And no Democrats spoke in support of Gluesenkamp Perez’s move. The southwest Washington congresswoman, now halfway through her second term, was left on her own to defend the resolution.

“If you’re not going to run, you don’t get to choose your successor, no matter how noble the work you have done beforehand,” she said. “That’s what this is about, accountability.”

Washington’s most endangered congressional Democrat sparred openly with her own party on the floor of the U.S. House on Monday night.

Just months after Gov. Bob Ferguson signed a Washington law to keep medical debt off consumers’ credit reports, the Trum...
11/17/2025

Just months after Gov. Bob Ferguson signed a Washington law to keep medical debt off consumers’ credit reports, the Trump administration is looking to block such policies.

The federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau now says federal law preempts laws like Washington’s. The federal agency’s position is a reversal from the Biden era.

Backers of Senate Bill 5480, which stops collection agencies from reporting medical debt to credit agencies, decried the move.

“Overturning safeguards around medical debt is just another indicator that we have a president that prioritizes cash money to special interests over people,” said state Sen. Marcus Riccelli, D-Spokane, the bill’s sponsor. “And honestly, I don’t get this upset typically, but I’m pretty upset.”

The bureau’s new interpretation of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, filed in the Federal Register late last month, doesn’t invalidate Washington’s law, but opens it up to legal challenges.

Just months after Washington passed a law to keep medical debt off credit reports, the Trump administration is aiming to block such policies.

SEATTLE — Democratic state Sen. Noel Frame traces her interest in tax policy to her time as a teenager in the 1990s, con...
11/16/2025

SEATTLE — Democratic state Sen. Noel Frame traces her interest in tax policy to her time as a teenager in the 1990s, concerned about scarce funding for her school district in Battle Ground, Washington.

“There was something there about taxes that I needed to figure out,” she recalled to a room packed with progressives here this week. “Here I am, I’m 45, and I’m fighting the same exact fight that I was fighting when I was 16.”

The upcoming bouts will be high-stakes, with lawmakers vexed by a budget shortfall that billions of dollars of tax increases, coupled with spending cuts, failed to resolve this year.

In the state Senate, Frame, who is from Seattle, is running point for Democrats on tax policy.

“The Revenue Queen.” That’s how Eli Taylor Goss, who leads the Washington State Budget and Policy Center, described her at the group’s Budget Matters Policy Summit, held this week at the Northwest African American Museum.

It was a crowd brimming with the belief that the state’s corporate titans and tech executives are not paying their fair share, and must shoulder more of the financial burden for publicly funded education and human services.

Pressure is building for Democrats to take a big swing on taxes, beyond this year’s hikes. How far Frame and her allies can deliver on that goal in 2026 is an open question. Next year’s legislative session, which begins in January, is just 60 days and happening ahead of an election.

Sen. Noel Frame warns progressives to buckle up if lawmakers move ahead on income tax legislation targeting higher earners.

The task of relocating Marcus Whitman’s statue in the Washington state Capitol is becoming a chore.Whitman was a doctor ...
11/14/2025

The task of relocating Marcus Whitman’s statue in the Washington state Capitol is becoming a chore.

Whitman was a doctor and missionary in the 1800s. His role in the displacement of Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest has been scrutinized in recent decades.

It’s been challenging to find a place inside the Capitol where the 11-foot, 9,144-pound bronze statue won’t damage the historic structure. Moving it outside risks exposure to the elements, vandals or both. Either approach would be an expensive undertaking.

Leaving the towering Whitman where it stands in the north portico appears increasingly off the table, too.

Some state officials envision the foyer as the future home for a statue of Billy Frank Jr., the Nisqually Indian Tribe leader who was an indomitable force in the fight for the protection of salmon and Native American rights. Pairing Frank and Whitman in the same space is a concern in Indian Country.

Officials seek a new home for the Marcus Whitman statue in the Washington state Capitol that is politically acceptable and physically doable.

The city of Spokane swung further left in the Nov. 4 election, with progressives capitalizing on apparent dissatisfactio...
11/14/2025

The city of Spokane swung further left in the Nov. 4 election, with progressives capitalizing on apparent dissatisfaction with President Donald Trump to sweep three City Council races.

This gives progressives a 6-1 advantage on the council, whose seats are officially non-partisan. It will also further cement Spokane’s status as an oasis of blue in eastern Washington, a region where the vast majority of elected officials are conservatives. The city is Washington’s second largest, with about 230,000 residents.

“After the longest week of our lives, today’s count confirmed that we won!” progressive Sarah Dixit, who trailed on election night, wrote on Instagram this week. “I am honored to be your next council member.”

Dixit, on Monday, finally edged out incumbent Jonathan Bingle, who was aligned with the business community. Dixit won by the slimmest of margins, barely surpassing the need for a mandatory recount.

A pro-choice advocate, Dixit attributed her victory to “divisions happening because of the Trump administration.”

Bingle said he would not challenge the results.

“Life goes on,” he told reporters.

In the other two Spokane City Council races, incumbent Zack Zappone and newcomer Kate Telis won by much larger margins.

The wins give progressives a 6-1 advantage on the City Council, and also further cement Spokane’s status as an oasis of blue in eastern Washington.

The shutdown is over.But jousting continues among Republicans and Democrats — including those from Washington state — ov...
11/13/2025

The shutdown is over.

But jousting continues among Republicans and Democrats — including those from Washington state — over who’s to blame for the longest ever shuttering of the federal government. The 43-day political meltdown jeopardized families’ food benefits, snarled air travel and left some federal employees working without pay.

Wednesday evening, the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives passed the resolution 222-209 to fund parts of the federal government through the end of January and other parts through next fall. The Senate acted on Monday. President Donald Trump signed the legislation Wednesday night.

Washington state’s House delegation voted as anticipated: Republican U.S. Reps. Dan Newhouse of Sunnyside and Michael Baumgartner of Spokane supported the measure along with one Democratic defector, U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Skamania County. Gluesenkamp Perez is known for breaking ranks with her party and faces a tough reelection fight next year.

The state’s other seven Democratic House members opposed the package.

The federal government shutdown is over but jousting continues among Republicans and Democrats — including those from Washington state.

The Ballmer Group on Wednesday committed hundreds of millions of dollars for free preschool in Washington, a massive phi...
11/12/2025

The Ballmer Group on Wednesday committed hundreds of millions of dollars for free preschool in Washington, a massive philanthropic contribution amid state budget cuts and federal rollbacks.

The donation of up to $170 million per year for the next decade could fund 10,000 additional slots in the state’s Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program, or ECEAP, for low-income families. The program currently has just over 14,000 slots statewide at over 460 locations.

The Ballmer Group was founded by former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and his wife Connie.

Gov. Bob Ferguson called the funding “truly transformative.”

“It’d be hard to quantify how significant that investment will be for our state,” Ferguson said at a press conference Wednesday, announcing the news at the Denise Louie Education Center in Seattle.

As a condition of getting the gift, the state pledged no further budget cuts to the ECEAP program for the next 10 years.

The Ballmer Group on Wednesday committed hundreds of millions of dollars for free preschool in Washington, a massive philanthropic contribution amid state budget cuts and federal rollbacks.

A security company has dropped its lawsuit over Washington’s new sales tax on services weeks after filing it.It’s unclea...
11/12/2025

A security company has dropped its lawsuit over Washington’s new sales tax on services weeks after filing it.

It’s unclear why.

The development came after Security Services Northwest brought a suit against the state at the end of September. The voluntary dismissal, signed by a Thurston County Superior Court judge Nov. 4, was without prejudice, meaning the company could refile its lawsuit.

The Sequim-based firm and its lawyer didn’t respond to requests for comment. The state’s Department of Revenue and attorney general’s office weren’t sure why the company backed down.

Security Services Northwest’s lawsuit centered on Senate Bill 5814, a contentious measure Democratic lawmakers passed this year to bring in $1.1 billion in the two-year budget that began July 1, and over $2.6 billion over four years. The law was part of a suite of new and increased taxes and fees Democrats pushed through to fill a multibillion-dollar budget shortfall.

It took effect Oct. 1.

The law expanded taxes on a number of services, including security services. Others covered by the tax law include live presentations, information technology and temporary staffing. Over 90,000 companies are expected to pay under the law.

The levy on investigation, security and armored car services makes up $127 million of the anticipated four-year collections, according to the Department of Revenue.

A security company has dropped its lawsuit over Washington’s new sales tax on services weeks after filing it.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday took up a Republican-backed challenge to counting mail-in ballots received after Electi...
11/10/2025

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday took up a Republican-backed challenge to counting mail-in ballots received after Election Day.

Depending how the justices rule, the case could be consequential for Washington and other states that vote by mail.

It stems from a lawsuit against a Mississippi state law allowing mail-in ballots received within five business days after Election Day to still be counted. Roughly 30 states have similar laws, with varying grace periods.

The decision could also have ramifications for next year’s high-stakes midterms, which will decide whether Republicans maintain control of both the U.S. House and Senate. The court will likely hear arguments and rule by mid-2026.

Washington is one of a handful of states that conduct elections by mail and ballot drop boxes. The state accepts mail-in ballots up until the day before certification, which is 21 days after the election, as long as they are postmarked by Election Day.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday took up a Republican-backed challenge to counting mail-in ballots received after Election Day.

Washington’s attorney general is seeking to reduce public record backlogs as concerns grow over transparency and agencie...
11/10/2025

Washington’s attorney general is seeking to reduce public record backlogs as concerns grow over transparency and agencies strain from surging requests.

Attorney General Nick Brown has proposed new advice for locales on how to interpret state public records law, with a focus on providing records faster. The rules Brown is proposing don’t change the state’s Public Records Act. They only serve as a guide for state and local governments on how to comply.

Open government advocates support the changes. Government officials are skeptical.

One of Brown’s bigger recommendations is to triage public disclosure requests so simple asks for one document can be provided faster than complex requests seeking, for example, thousands of pages or hard-to-find records.

Under the current system, narrower requests can sit for months, even years, while records officers deal with difficult ones first-come-first-serve. The newly proposed rules push agencies to provide records within five business days if the request is for a “single, specific, identifiable record.”

Washington is seeking to reduce public record backlogs as transparency concerns grow and agencies strain from surging requests.

Deaths and near-fatalities among children in Washington’s child welfare system have slowed, but are still expected to hi...
11/09/2025

Deaths and near-fatalities among children in Washington’s child welfare system have slowed, but are still expected to hit a record level in 2025.

Through the first nine months of the year, Washington saw 15 deaths and 30 near-deaths among these children, many of them infants and toddlers, according to state data shared Friday. There were 49 total such incidents all of last year, and 51 in 2023.

Over half of this year’s incidents have been tied to opioids, especially highly potent fentanyl, according to the Department of Children, Youth and Families, the sprawling state agency that handles child welfare in Washington. At least some of the deaths and injuries involve parents repeatedly flagged over child welfare concerns.

The latest figures show improvement from the first three months of the year, which saw 22 of these incidents, the department said. In the second quarter, 14 were reported. And preliminarily, there were nine in the third quarter.

“Although the numbers have moderated, thankfully, quite a bit since quarter one of 2025, we do anticipate that 2025 will be a record year,” Vickie Ybarra, an assistant secretary at the agency, told reporters Friday. “We do not expect it to be double or triple, which was a concern in the first quarter.”

Deaths and near-fatalities among children in Washington’s child welfare system have slowed, but are still expected to break a record in 2025.

Eight Democratic state lawmakers in Washington retained their seats in this week’s election, with a ninth on the cusp of...
11/08/2025

Eight Democratic state lawmakers in Washington retained their seats in this week’s election, with a ninth on the cusp of winning.

State Rep. Edwin Obras inched closer to success Friday in the tightest House contest. Sen. Deb Krishnadasan declared victory a day earlier in the year’s most expensive duel among a stack of special elections for legislative seats.

Obras led Kevin Schilling, a fellow Democrat, by a margin of 50.6% to 47.7% in the 33rd Legislative District. More votes will be counted in the days ahead. Located south of Seattle, the district includes Burien, Normandy Park, Des Moines, SeaTac and much of Kent.

Competing in his first general election, Obras trailed Schilling, the mayor of Burien, in early rounds of ballot counting. But the SeaTac lawmaker edged in front by 205 votes Thursday and increased his lead to 641 in Friday’s count.

“If the trends continue and Edwin is victorious, congratulations to him,” Schilling said Friday.

Meanwhile, Krishnadasan, of Gig Harbor, beat Republican state Rep. Michelle Caldier in the 26th District that covers part of Kitsap and Pierce counties. Caldier, who is in her sixth term in the House, conceded Thursday.

Eight Democratic state lawmakers in Washington retained their seats in this week’s election, with a ninth on the cusp of winning. State Rep. Edwin Obras inched closer to success Friday in the tightest House contest. Sen. Deb Krishnadasan declared victory a day earlier in the year’s most expensiv...

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