Washington Senate Republicans are urging Governor Bob Ferguson to call a special legislative session to temporarily suspend the state’s Climate Commitment Act and Low Carbon Fuel Standard, which add roughly 60 cents per gallon to gas prices.

With average prices hovering around $5 a gallon — well above the national average — and global oil markets volatile due to renewed U.S.-Iran tensions, Republicans say the timing couldn’t be worse for families already struggling with affordability.

“It is unfortunate that Democrats appear to be putting their political ideology ahead of making it more affordable to live here,” the letter to Ferguson states. Leaders in California and New York have recently scaled back similar programs over consumer cost concerns, but Washington Democrats remain dug in.

State Sen. Judy Warnick and others emphasize they’re not touching the traditional gas tax that funds roads — they’re targeting the “hidden fuel taxes” from climate policies. Ferguson has so far rejected similar relief requests, preferring to blame external factors rather than his own administration’s policies.

This is the same pattern we see over and over under one-party Democratic control: impose expensive green mandates that drive up costs, then refuse even temporary relief when families feel the pain. Olympia’s priorities are clear — virtue signaling on climate comes before helping working Washingtonians at the pump. Read more at MyNorthwest.com.

A new National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) report paints a bleak picture of Washington’s economy—and it’s another indictment of the anti-business policies pouring out of Olympia.

The report found Washington trails the national average in key measures of economic confidence, hiring plans, and business expansion, with small business owners saying it’s simply becoming too expensive to grow. According to NFIB Washington State Director Patrick Connor, years of Democrat-backed taxes, mandates, and labor regulations have created an environment where hiring another employee feels more like a liability than an opportunity.

Washington business owners reported labor costs as their biggest challenge at more than double the national rate, while the state’s Small Business Optimism Index sits well below the U.S. average. Connor pointed to Washington’s nation-leading minimum wages, soaring unemployment insurance costs, workers’ compensation expenses, paid family leave taxes, the Washington Cares payroll tax, and the upcoming WA Saves retirement mandate as examples of government piling one new cost on top of another.

And just when employers thought Olympia had finally run out of ways to squeeze them, Democrats added a new state income tax on high earners—marketed as the “millionaire’s tax.” Governor Bob Ferguson argued the tax would ultimately help small businesses through B&O tax relief, but many employers aren’t buying it.

Connor says he’s hearing from business owners every week who are throwing in the towel. Some are laying off employees to become sole proprietors, while others are packing up and moving to states like Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Texas, and Florida, where governments view businesses as job creators instead of revenue sources.

The report echoes a recent Association of Washington Business survey showing nearly one in four employers is considering leaving Washington altogether.

The empty storefronts scattered across downtowns throughout the state tell the story better than any government press release. After years of Democrats promising that higher taxes, higher wages by mandate, and more regulations would strengthen the economy, Washington is instead watching optimism fall, hiring stall, and small businesses head for the exits. Apparently, Olympia’s economic development strategy is helping other states recruit employers. Read more at Center Square.

While Washington families continue to struggle with rising costs, Democrat-led Olympia is making sure government officials don’t have to. Governor Bob Ferguson received a 7% pay raise this week, bringing his annual salary to $234,275—about $30,000 more than when he took office just 18 months ago.

The raises weren’t voted on by lawmakers directly but were approved by the Washington Citizens’ Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials, an unelected panel that also handed legislators another 7% raise this year after a 6% increase last year. That means lawmakers now earn more than $72,000 annually—roughly $10,000 more than they did two years ago.

Leading Democrats, including Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck and Senator Yasmin Trudeau (D-Tacoma), publicly pushed for higher legislative pay, arguing lawmakers deserve more compensation and that bigger salaries would encourage more people to run for office.

The timing is hard to ignore. Democrats have spent the past year raising taxes and fees on Washington residents, insisting everyone else needs to pay more, while government officials quietly enjoy hefty raises of their own. Once again, Olympia’s affordability crisis apparently doesn’t apply inside the Capitol. Read more at the Washington State Standard.

Washington State Supreme Court candidate Judge Dave Larson says the state’s judicial appointment system has become a backdoor way for governors to reshape the courts while voters are left on the sidelines.

Larson argues that although Washington’s constitution calls for elected judges, six of the current nine Supreme Court justices first reached the bench through appointment—a trend that accelerated under former Governor Jay Inslee and has continued under Governor Bob Ferguson.

With the court expected to hear challenges to Washington’s new income tax on high earners, Larson says restoring public confidence in the judiciary has never been more important. He argues appointments can reward political allies over the most qualified candidates, creating the appearance that loyalty matters more than judicial independence.

To address the issue, Larson is proposing a bipartisan Judicial Elections Commission to evaluate candidates based on qualifications before presenting the governor with a shortlist of finalists. He says greater transparency and a stronger focus on merit would help restore trust in Washington’s courts and put voters—not political insiders—back in the driver’s seat. Read more at Seattle Red.

The Department of Justice is cracking down on election integrity.

Assistant U.S. Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon sent letters to Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs and Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read, threatening criminal prosecution if they allow noncitizens to vote or remain on voter rolls.

Hobbs and Read responded with the usual partisan script, dismissing the concerns as “disproven claims of rigged elections” and “fever dreams about non-existent voter fraud.”

This is the same crowd that has fought sharing basic voter data with the federal government. The DOJ sued Washington, Oregon, and other blue states last year over their refusal to turn over voter registration information.

Democrats love to lecture about “democracy,” but when it comes to basic safeguards like accurate voter rolls, they treat transparency like a threat. Their reflexive denial only fuels suspicion that they’re protecting a system that benefits from lax rules.

Washingtonians deserve real election integrity — not more deflection from officials who seem more interested in shielding their processes than securing them. Read more at Seattle Red.