Washington state Senate Democrats released their 2019-21 operating budget proposal on March 29^th. Following the example of Jay Inslee and state House Democrats, Senate Democrats proposed – surprise, surprise – a state capital gains income tax. Interestingly enough, Senate Democrats are attempting to garner support by separating their version of a state capital gains income tax from that of their party peers. Senate Democrats claim their version is offset by breaks on other taxes and includes certain exclusions – a “lite” state income tax, if you will. (Shift WA)

“Inslee should recognize the burden he’s putting on the patrol and, by proxy, taxpayers, and offer to reimburse the agency,” wrote the Yakima Herald editorial board. Inslee’s vanity presidential run is costing Washington taxpayers millions in added security costs needed to travel with him around the country. Rep. Drew Stokesbary (R-Auburn) suggested Republicans may try to add amendments seeking security reimbursement to current state budget talks. (Yakima Herald)

Former Washington State Representative Matt Manweller settled a wrongful termination lawsuit against Central Washington University. The settlement, filed last week in Kittitas County Superior Court, came out to $155,000. “We did not want our students to have to relive their experiences through pre-trial depositions and trial testimony,” said University vice president of public affairs Kremiere Jackson. (KING 5)

John Carlson is wondering why more people aren’t talking about government greed. “For government, however, when it comes to setting policy, the recipient of a government service is usually not the customer (witness how Seattle spends its money on “homeless policy”),” he wrote. “The ultimate customers are usually the interest groups that subsidize campaigns of elected officials and then lobby for their agenda.” (Crosscut)

State Representative Andrew Barkis’ (R-Olympia) son is addicted to heroin. That experience is helping shape his approach to solving the homelessness crisis. “It doesn’t make sense to allocate tens of millions of dollars to homelessness when we can’t even allocate $10 million to law enforcement to get after the drugs,” Barkis said. He said he watched KOMO’s “Seattle is Dying” documentary showing how addiction and mental illness contribute to homelessness. ”I literally sat down and realized as a parent, going through this with my son, that I was living what I was watching on TV,” he said. (KOMO)

Newly appointed U.S. Attorney in Seattle, Brian Moran, said he will not allow a safe injection site for illicit drugs to open in the city. “We are all trying to solve a horrific crisis, and these are people whose intentions are well-mannered, well-meaning and in good faith,” he said of officials have promoted the controversial sites. He added that the idea of allowing people to inject toxic substances in a government-sanctioned site, “is fraught with peril,” and would violate federal law. (Seattle Times)

The city of Spokane Valley filed a claim against the contractor responsible for building its state-of-the-art City Hall. The city claims the company breached its contract because soil wasn’t properly compacted under the northeast wall of the City Council chambers. “The investigation by the city’s consultants is currently ongoing. However, the structural engineer retained by the city as part of the investigation has determined that the settling does not pose any risk of structural instability with respect to council chambers,” said Spokane Valley spokeswoman Annie Gannon. (Spokesman Review)

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