John Spellman, the first King County Executive and last Republican governor, died yesterday at 91. Spellman served one term, of which he was sanguine: “You don’t get elected to get re-elected. You get elected to do the job.”
Happening in Olympia
Despite his never-ending push to tax energy in Washington, Gov. Inslee’s Results Washington initiative hasn’t updated the data on the state’s carbon reduction targets…since 2014. “The original intent and design of Results Washington was to drive an aggressive agenda of results with specific targets…From what I have observed this is not happening at nearly the level it could and should. For the governor to achieve the environmental policies he is so passionate about, he has to grab the steering wheel and drive the agenda.” Speaking of Results Washington successes, are there any? (Crosscut)
Despite lacking data from Results Washington, Inslee asserts his energy tax “is about building jobs, including in rural areas.” Interesting perspective…seeing as he still hasn’t done anything to help out the rural families suffering in the face of the Hirst decision. He couldn’t even bring himself to say “Hirst” in his State of the State speech. (MyNorthwest)
Democrats are still waffling on reducing your car tabs. They’re “convinced that there are probably some impacts that are sort of a little bit bigger than [Sound Transit] can handle on their own, ” Sen. Marko Liias (D-Lynnwood) said in response to the tabling of HB 2201. If only they worried about taxpayers as much as they do Sound Transit. (KIRO 7)
Washington law currently forbids the state from having a warning system in place in case of a nuclear attack. A law from 1984 says emergency planning must “not include preparation for emergency evacuation or relocation of residents in anticipation of nuclear attack.” Sen. Mark Miloscia (R-Federal Way) says Hawaii’s system – in the news thanks to a false warning last weekend – shows the kind of system Washington could have. “What happens if all the sudden we hear it over the TV, and your news broadcasts it? What happens there? Panic in the streets? People jumping into sewers? That’s unconscionable that we’re not prepared in Hawaii and it’ll be unconscionable if it happens here,” he said. (MyNorthwest)
Washington’s education plan gained needed approval from the U.S. Dept. of Education, after the federal agency asked for clarification in nine different areas under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), including how our state will measure student progress. (The Seattle Times)
Bill Watch
Renaming the cancer research endowment authority to the Andy Hill cancer research endowment | SB 5375 | Passed through the Senate Rules Committee
Designating apple pie as the official pie of Washington | SB 6451 | Sponsor: Sen. Honeyford (R-Sunnyside)
Reducing charges for driving with a suspended license to a civil infraction | SB 6189 | “Civil infractions are a much more appropriate way to handle those who do not or cannot pay a ticket for whatever reason,” Sen. Joe Fain (R-Auburn) said of the bill – which addresses our state’s “most commonly charged crime.” | Tri-City Herald (H/T)
Allowing nurses or trained staff members to administer opioid overdose medication in K-12 public schools | HB 2390 | KREM (H/T)
Western Washington
Everett’s Paine Field (PAE) will open to passenger jet service this fall, according to an announcement made yesterday, with Alaska Airlines providing flights to eight different cities every day. (The Seattle Times)
“Seattle’s concentration of homelessness is definitely worse than New York or L.A.” The Seattle Times recently compared homelessness across the 30 largest cities in America and discovered that Seattle has 54 homeless persons per 10,000 residents – which ranks it 6th in the nation for a race we definitely don’t want to be leading. (The Seattle Times)
Eastern Washington
National Geographic named Spokane as one of the “Best Small Cities in the U.S.” Ten categories were used in order to come up with the top cities – including Most Dog Friendly, Musically Grooviest and Most Instagrammed. (KREM)
WSU hired Patrick Chun as its new athletic director. Closing out of the last school year, the Coug athletic department was in an estimated $8.5 million budget hole. Additionally, the school was rocked yesterday by the apparent suicide of quarterback Tyler Hilinski. (The Seattle Times)
Notable Tweets
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