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2 days ago | 
geekwire.com | Sofia Schwarzwalder
A proposed tax on short-term rentals in Washington state that drew opposition from Airbnb did not move forward in the Legislature last week — but supporters plan to revisit the policy next year. Senate Bill 5576 would have allowed counties, cities and towns to impose a tax of up to 4% on short-term rentals used by vacation guests on platforms such as Airbnb and Vrbo. The bill was not called forward for a vote on the House floor prior to the April 16 cutoff and is dead for the session.
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1 week ago | 
spokesman.com | Sofia Schwarzwalder
Lawmakers spent weeks engaged in fierce debate over how to best balance student privacy and parental rights after Democrats sought changes to a 2024 Republican-backed initiative commonly known as the Parents’ Bill of Rights.
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1 week ago | 
seattletimes.com | Sofia Schwarzwalder
Lawmakers spent weeks engaged in fierce debate over how to best balance student privacy and parental rights after Democrats sought changes to a 2024 Republican-backed initiative commonly known as the Parents’ Bill of Rights.
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3 weeks ago | 
geekwire.com | Sofia Schwarzwalder
Critics of a proposed statewide payroll tax in Washington — including CEOs, startup founders, and venture capitalists — warn it could drive businesses out of the state and inflict long-term damage to the tech sector. The proposal, modeled after Seattle’s 2020 “JumpStart” payroll tax, is one of several new revenue measures Democrat lawmakers in Olympia are considering to address a projected $16 billion budget shortfall.
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1 month ago | 
seattletimes.com | Sofia Schwarzwalder
Senate Democrats are proposing a 5% pay cut for nearly all state employees as the state grapples with an estimated $15 billion budget shortfall over the next four years. Under the proposal, state employees would receive their previously negotiated raises, but almost all would take a significant cut to their base salary from July 1 through June 30, 2026. The proposal from Sen.
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1 month ago | 
tri-cityherald.com | Sofia Schwarzwalder
A bundled up homeless person sleeps on the sidewalk in a folding chair partially under a tarp that also covers a wagon filled with belongings on Columbia Center Boulevard on Dec. 23, 2024 in Kennewick. Bob Brawdy [email protected] Two bills to limit how much cities can regulate homelessness died in the Washington Legislature this session, but could come back next year.
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1 month ago | 
seattletimes.com | Sofia Schwarzwalder
The Seattle Times’ Project Homeless is supported by Campion Foundation, Raikes Foundation and Seattle Foundation. The Seattle Times maintains editorial control over Project Homeless content. Two bills to limit how much cities can regulate homelessness died in the Washington Legislature this session, but could come back next year.
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1 month ago | 
tri-cityherald.com | Sofia Schwarzwalder
OLYMPIA - House Democrats advanced a bill in the early hours of Thursday that will undo several provisions of a popular Republican-backed parents' rights initiative passed by the Legislature last year. The House vote comes after months of intense debate that centers on the balance between the rights of students to privacy, the rights of parents to know what students disclose to school officials and how existing legal frameworks deal with those issues.
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1 month ago | 
seattletimes.com | Shauna Sowersby |Sofia Schwarzwalder
OLYMPIA — Washington’s Republican-driven initiative declaring parental rights for children enrolled in public schools passed with bipartisan support last year despite Democrats’ concerns about its implementation and potential conflicts with existing laws. Initiative 2081 laid out 15 rights that parents of public school students have, including notification of safety, academic, medical and law enforcement matters and the right to examine and request specific records and educational materials.
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1 month ago | 
news-journal.com | Sofia Schwarzwalder
SEATTLE — Concerned about Democratic efforts to modify a Parents’ Bill of Rights passed less than a year ago in Olympia, the conservative millionaire behind Initiative 2081 announced a new effort Tuesday to protect the law’s original language. Let’s Go Washington, funded by hedge fund manager Brian Heywood, was the driving force behind the law commonly known as the Parents’ Bill of Rights.
