A First Amendment fight over who gets to cover Washington’s Legislature ended with a significant concession: the Washington State Capitol Correspondents Association will stop making recommendations to the House on press credential applications.

The settlement came after reporters Ari Hoffman, Jonathan Choe and Brandi Kruse sued over being denied access. Their attorney, Citizen Action Defense Fund Executive Director Jackson Maynard, said the case raised a basic question: who gets to decide who counts as a journalist?

Apparently, maybe not a club of other journalists.

Hoffman alleged members of the Capitol press corps dug through the plaintiffs’ political activity, campaign-finance records, social media, employers and even income while considering their access. He accused CCA President Jerry Cornfield, also deputy editor at the Washington State Standard, of advocating against credentialing reporters he didn’t like.

Interestingly, Maynard said settlement discussions began shortly after discovery started and plaintiffs began seeking what he described as some “very enlightening” records about the CCA’s communications.

Kruse cautioned that the fight isn’t over. Credentialing authority now rests with the House—meaning government officials still have enormous power to decide which journalists receive access to cover them.

Still, removing fellow reporters from the gatekeeping business is progress. Journalists are supposed to compete over stories, not decide which competitors are allowed through the Capitol doors. Read more at The Center Square.

Washington voters will see the controversial “Public Investment Impact Disclosure” alongside Initiative 645 this November after an equally divided state Supreme Court left the language in place.

I-645 would repeal Democrats’ new 9.9% income tax on earnings above $1 million. Activist Arthur West challenged Attorney General Nick Brown’s ballot disclosure, which warns voters that repeal would “decrease funding” for education and human services.

There’s an obvious problem with that claim: the tax isn’t generating any money yet. Collections don’t begin until 2029, and future legislatures aren’t permanently bound to spend those hypothetical dollars as advertised.

Four justices apparently thought the challenge had enough merit to grant an injunction, while four voted against it. With the court deadlocked, the disclosure survives.

So Democrats passed an income tax Washington voters have resisted for decades, and now voters considering its repeal will encounter government-written language warning them about losing spending that hasn’t even started.

Subtle.

The good news? As West noted, this was hardly a ringing judicial endorsement. Half the participating court was prepared to intervene. Read more at The Center Square.

The Seattle Times wants Washingtonians to relax about Democrats’ new 9.9% income tax because one expert estimates only 1.9% of affected million-dollar earners will leave the state.

There’s a rather expensive problem with that argument: taxpayers aren’t interchangeable.

Washington expects roughly 25,000 households to generate $3.5 billion annually from the new tax. But the state’s capital gains tax already demonstrated just how concentrated revenue from wealthy taxpayers can be. In its first year, just 10 filers supplied $394 million—roughly half of the $786 million collected.

So the important question isn’t whether 475 millionaires leave. It’s which 475 leave and how much taxable income walks out with them.

Democrats apparently understand this when convenient. After raising Washington’s estate tax to a nation-leading 35%, lawmakers quickly retreated to 20% amid concerns about wealthy residents relocating. Yet they now insist imposing a brand-new 9.9% income tax in a state that went roughly 90 years without one won’t produce the same incentives.

And if Democrats’ rosy $3.5 billion projection misses? Washingtonians know Olympia’s preferred solution to revenue problems generally isn’t spending less.

That’s why I-645 matters. Voters get the opportunity this November to repeal the income tax before Democrats become dependent on billions in highly volatile revenue—and inevitably start looking further down the income ladder when it doesn’t deliver as promised. Read more at Seattle Red.

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