Seattle City Council has passed an income tax, applying a 2.25% income tax for “the wealthy.” The tax will cost $10 to $13 million to set up and $5 to $6 million to manage and enforce.

Income tax rates have risen across the country in states that have enacted them. Oregon and Connecticut have both seen sizable jumps in their income tax rates in a relatively short amount of time. (See more here)

The Freedom Foundation will be challenging Seattle’s income tax law, writing in a press release, “in the wake of the Seattle City Council’s vote on Monday to approve an illegal, unconstitutional income tax, the Freedom Foundation is prepared to challenge the action in court – hopefully with a coalition of other freedom-minded organizations.”

Pierce County passed an ordinance to prioritize the fight against drug dens. Sheriff’s Detective Ed Troyer said, “we don’t just want to make the nuisance property go away, we want to send the criminals to jail.”

Seattle’s homeless navigation center opens tomorrow, a homeless shelter that allows pets, partners and, “though it’s discouraged, people are allowed to drink and use drugs there so long as it doesn’t bother others.” The capacity for the shelter will be at 75 and people can stay for a maximum of 60 days.

The University of Washington has been ranked 13^th of 711 public and private schools by Money magazine, coming in the 11^th place spot for public schools, partly because of its low tuition rates and the high average salary rate of graduates in computer science, engineering and business among other measures. Washington State University and Western Washington University have also ranked in the top 200 schools.

Spokane City Councilman Breean Beggs will be facing off against three challengers in the upcoming election, all of whom believe Beggs is too liberal for the seat he currently holds.

Providence Health & Services is preparing for cost-cutting layoffs, as they had an operating loss of over $255 million last year. Providence employees 8,949 people in Spokane and it is unclear yet how the cuts will impact employees in the Spokane area.

Spokane City Council will be voting Monday on their own climate change laws, which intends to, “acknowledge and recognize the overwhelming scientific evidence of human-caused global warming and climate change,” and curb emissions in Spokane.

Ben Stuckart has donated campaign money to candidates for Spokane City Council after dropping out of the congressional race for the 5^th district. Candidates Breean Beggs and Candace Mumm were both given the maximum donation under state law.

Do you like The Morning Briefing? Forward this to a friend! It helps us grow our community and serve you better.

If you feel we missed something that should be covered, email us at [email protected].

If you don’t want to receive this email each morning, click here to opt-out of The Morning Briefing.