Voters are on the lookout for “double taxation,” with school levies on Tuesday’s ballot even as state property taxes and education spending rise. Confusion reigns as districts figure out budgets amidst changing state funding and taxing conditions. One district’s business and operations director said, “…We’re going to collect whatever the state says we can collect,” with its superintendent adding, “a lot of the rulebook hasn’t been written yet.” (The Seattle Times)

Washington’s “real fight is rural vs urban.” Local pollster Stuart Elway explained, “we organize our politics by interest but our government is organized by geography…we’re in a state where 54 percent of the voters live in four counties around Puget Sound.” Those counties provide the bulk of Democratic legislative seats. No wonder so many feel disconnected from the Democrats who run Olympia. (MyNorthwest)

Four major airlines are suing Washington State over the Paid Sick Leave Act. “The airlines say the requirements are inconsistent with the way they compensate flight crews.” (MyNorthwest)

622,000 Washington hospital patients paid a sum of $282 million for tests and procedures they didn’t need between July 2015 and July 2016, according to a report recently released by the Washington Health Alliance. “Of the 1.52 million services they looked at, 45.7 percent were either wasteful or likely wasteful.” (The Spokesman-Review)

The union for Seattle school bus drivers and the district’s bus vendor agreed to meet today. “We are hopeful that this meeting will bring us closer to a resolution to this strike,” Teamsters Local 174 said. If no resolution is found, the Seattle school district says the vendor, First Student, faces potential fines of up to $1.2 million per day that the strike continues. (Q13 FOX)

Today is the third time this week we’ve reported on Seattle’s money-costing reversals: This time, paying to remove bike racks under the Alaskan Way Viaduct that the city bought and installed. “Mayor Durkan has made it clear that bike racks should be deployed to support and encourage biking. Last month, SDOT notified members of the City Council stating that the Durkan administration’s policy was to not use bike racks as impediments [to homeless campers]. SDOT plans to remove the bike racks after a location is identified to ensure the greatest use to bicyclists in Seattle,” said a statement from the SDOT. (MyNorthwest)

Seattle has been installing fences beneath overpasses to prevent homeless people from camping out in areas that “just aren’t safe.” Sara Rankin of the Homeless Rights Advocacy Project at Seattle University said the move seems to be an attempt to “control a space so you don’t have to be confronted with visibly poor people.” Erin Goodman, executive director of Sodo Business Improvement Area, pointed out, “there’s a long stretch between a bench with spikes on it to prevent people from laying down and fencing off key infrastructure.” (The Seattle Times)

Diamond thieves still exist, and in Seattle, they just got away with $400,000 worth of diamonds…in the middle of the day. The Washington State Patrol is investigating. (The Seattle Times)

Property taxes increases will vary from 9% to 31% across King County as the state implements its McCleary solution. Bailey Stober, a spokesman for King County Assessor John Wilson, said this is “the largest property-tax increase in King County in modern history.” (The Seattle Times)

Jefferson County commissioners are paying a $50,000 settlement after the county failed to fulfill a public records request from 2016 submitted by Alan Harvey, who lives in Clark County. County Commissioner Kathleen Kler says the incident was “not an attempt to hide or deny; it was a staff error of forgetting, which has consequences.” (Peninsula Daily News)

A WSU task force submitted 32 recommendations for changing student conduct policies. The Associated Press notes, “The process began after a series of incidents involving football players last year.” (Associated Press) 

Along with constructing a new building, EWU is moving three degree programs to Spokane. The programs will be from Eastern’s College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, which has grown rapidly in recent years – granting 60% more degrees in 2017 than it did in 2012. (The Spokesman-Review)

Concerning the collection of a motor vehicle excise tax approved by voters of a regional transit authority in 2016 | SB 5955 | “Taking money away from promised educational programs for kids and giving it to Sound Transit for light rail is an inappropriate and dishonest use of taxpayer money.” (Washington Policy Center)

Addressing prescription drug cost transparency | 2SHB 1541 | 50-48-0-0 vote

Prohibiting employers from asking about arrests or convictions before an applicant is determined otherwise qualified for a position | 2SSHB 1298 | 52-46-0-0 vote

Restricting the social security offset to disability compensation | HB 1336 | 65-33-0-0 vote

Modifying collective bargaining law to authorize providing additional compensation to academic employees at community and technical colleges | EHB 1237 | 57-41-0-0 vote

Concerning access to homeless housing and assistance | E2SESHB 1570 | 51-47-0-0 vote

Revising resource limitations for public assistance | E2SESHB 1831 | 84-14-0-0 vote

Expanding college bound scholarship eligibility | 3SE2SHB 1512 | 54-44-0-0 vote

Adding training on public works and prevailing wage requirements to responsible bidder criteria | E2SSHB 1673 | 65-35-0-0 vote

Regulating the institutions of higher education, including for-profit institutions and private vocational schools, to protect students from unfair business practices | E2SHB 1439 | 65-35-0-0 vote

Phasing out use of the valid court order exception to place youth in detention for noncriminal behavior | SSB 5596 | 26-22-0-1 vote

Authorizing certain public transportation benefit areas to impose a sales and use tax increase approved by voters | ESB 5288 | 34-14-0-1 vote

Concerning the uniform parentage act | ESSB 6037 | 27-21-0-1 vote

Addressing the terms under which tribal schools may participate in the state retirement systems as part of a state-tribal education compact | SB 6210 | 43-5-0-1 vote

Requiring maintenance of minimum essential health care coverage | ESSB 6084 | 25-23-0-1 vote

Education (House)

Requiring teacher preparation programs to integrate Native American curriculum developed by the office of the superintendent of public instruction into existing Pacific Northwest history and government requirements | SB 5028

Preventing harassment, intimidation, bullying, and discrimination in public schools | SSB 5766

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