Senate Republicans seek to raise K-12 spending to nearly $22 billion, end political gamesmanship in education and finally fully fund education. The proposed Republican budget, “would create a per-student funding model to replace the current overly-complex system of school finance, which is so easily manipulated by unions and other special interests.”

Sound Transit inflating car tab values to increase car tab fees, “has topped the level and degree of concern and anger unlike any issue I’ve had here in the Legislature,” says Sen. Steve O’Ban (R-University Place). Lawmakers have been responding to the outrage over the high car tab fees but there has yet to be a solution agreed upon by both chambers in Olympia.

HB 1611 would require tug escorts and other safety measures for specified oil tankers as well as raise taxes on oil vessels and trains. The bill would raise the tax on crude oil from 2.5 cents to an eventual 6.5 cents per barrel. Rep. Terry Nealey (R-Dayton) has called this an unnecessary tax increase.

If a criminal or a domestic violence abuser attempts to buy a gun but fails the background check, HB 1501 would notify people pertinent to the case. The bill would notify law enforcement if a criminal is denied a gun due to failing a background check and would notify domestic violence survivors if their restraining order prevents somebody from buying a gun, Rep. Drew Hansen (D-Bainbridge Island) explained. HB 1501 has passed out of the House on its way to the Senate.

Seattle City Council votes to avoid contracting with banks backing the Keystone XL Pipeline. If you recall, when the city decided they wanted to end their contract with Wells Fargo in March – the bank offered an immediate and penalty-free severing of ties. Seattle backed down and denied the proposal. It will be interesting to see what bank Seattle will end up using, as many of the most popular banks across the nation have been associated with the pipeline builder TransCanada.

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray gives up city property tax fight, begins one for a county-wide sales tax to fund homelessness. With King County Executive Dow Constantine joining him, the duo wants to increase the regional sales tax in 2018 – which would raise $68 million a year instead of the $55 million estimated to have been brought in by a property tax.

City of Seattle may face millions in fines for not having sidewalks usable by people with disabilities. Three men sued the city for upgrades to sidewalks that would allow for people with disabilities to move around the city. If won, the city would be forced to upgrade sidewalks.

Bertha might actually break into daylight today. It will be another three weeks until the tunnel-digging machine pushes all the way through. If there are no other mishaps (a big if) between now and then, Seattle may finally be free of the troublesome machine.

Firefighting foam used at a former training site may have contaminated groundwater near the Fairchild Air Force Base. Contamination was found in five wells – none of which supply drinking water and all of which were on the base. Fairchild stopped using the foam last year. Testing of wells that may have been contaminated is underway right now.

$4.3 million project to rebuild Sprague Avenue in Spokane will start Monday. The road and roadside reconstruction is an effort to “revitalize the business area into a lively mixed-use neighborhood.”

Walla Walla General Hospital will be transferring ownership to Providence Health this summer, consolidating ownership of hospitals in the area. “This is a time for fresh thinking about what the future of health care could look like in Walla Walla,” the president of Adventist Health Pacific Northwest Region, Joyce Newmyer, said.

Nearly 150 law enforcement agencies across Washington will be adding patrols to crack down on people using cell phones while driving. There will be a two-week focus for the ticketing of people who are on their cell phones while driving as a part of a larger plan, Target Zero, which has been established to reduce traffic accidents caused by drivers distracted by their cell phones – which studies showed make up more than 2/3 of distracted drivers overall.

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