State Sen Brian Weinstein, who says he'll step down when his term ends in December, has taken a job as senior counsel with the Seattle law firm Bergman and Frockt. The company specializes in asbestos- and consumer-protection cases.A University of Texas law school graduate, Weinstein…
Attorney General Rob McKenna will tomorrow release the results of a year-long investigation into Washington fuel prices.A Powerpoint presentation will be posted here tomorrow afternoon.The last time the AG's office did a study like this (1991), much of the answer boiled down to...market forces. Here's…
The legislative news service Stateline has a good roundup today on states matching the federal Earned Income Tax Credit.This was a big issue in this year's legislative session, when Washington became the first non-income-tax state to approve a state match for the federal tax checks.A…
Saying that key transportation chokepoints are "a foot on the air hose of the Washington economy," Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi's 30-year, $15 billion plan includes:·Hwy 520, Evergreen Floating Bridge·Widening of I-405, Renton to Bellevue·US 2 Corridor improvements·SR 9 Corridor improvements·Hwy 167 extension and improvements·Widening…
Attorney Michael J. Bond filed amended campaign paperwork with the state Public Disclosure Commission yesterday, spelling out that he's seeking the seat now held by Justice Mary Fairhurst, who recently announced that she's running for re-election.
And now back to work.Gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi will be making the rounds of the state tomorrow and Wednesday, touting what he would do to relieve traffic congestion and kickstart projects like the North Spokane Corridor.He has stops planned in Bellevue, Sultan and Spokane. (Spokane:…
For years, I've wondered why Washington's pick-a-party primary was constantly referred to as "Montana-style," rather than "Idaho-style." Idaho's closer, after all, and both have open primaries in which a person is free to pick the party whose primary they wish to vote in. That's what…
The Dalai Lama is in Seattle for five days, as part of a "Seeds of Compassion" event that's drawing tens of thousands of people.Today, he's joining state Senate Majority Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, Costco's Jeff Brotman, King County Executive Ron Sims and others in an afternoon…
David Ammons, after 37 years covering Olympia for the Associated Press, is stepping down.Ammons, who will turn 60 in September, will leave the AP to become the new communications director for Secretary of State Sam Reed.His departure is a significant loss for both AP readers…
It looks like state Rep. Don Barlow, D-Spokane, is going to get a run for his money this year -- emphasis on money.Republican challengers Kevin Parker and Melvin Lindauer, according to new campaign finance reports, have raised $31,515 and $15,961 respectively. Barlow, who was subject…
The state GOP sounded the klaxons this afternoon, noting that Gov. Chris Gregoire's biodiesel campaign bus has...Oregon license plates. They included photos, which my colleague Jim Camden will soon post here."Gov. Gregoire has been making it harder and harder for businesses to survive here in…
Undeterred by her 33 percent showing against Democratic state Rep. Alex Wood two years ago, Spokane Republican Laura Carder has filed campaign paperwork for a rematch.She said she'd really like to see someone challenge state Sen. Lisa Brown, who's running for re-election in the same…
Via MSNBC comes this AP story about a Kansas video production company that for 30 years was Wal-Mart's in-house recorder of meetings and presentations.Wal-Mart ended the deal in 2006, a move that left Flagler Productions with an awful lot of video that unions and attorneys…
State Supreme Court Justice Mary Fairhurst, a Gonzaga Law grad, is running for a second six-year term."For me, it's not about ideology," she said in a campaign announcement. "It's about making common sense decisions within the letter of the law."The conservative Building Industry Association of…
The battle lines in the governor's race seem pretty clearly drawn already. More from today's paper:Gregoire criticized Rossi, who launched his own campaign months ago, as a doom-and-gloom naysayer “who does nothing but criticize and promote fear across the state.”Rossi fired back, saying that Gregoire…
Catching up...Our Jim Camden, on the decision by Washington's state Democrats to hold conventions to nominate their candidates this year:Democratic State Chairman Dwight Pelz said the conventions are necessary because the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on the state primary initiative took away the influence parties…
LegalNewsLine has a good overview of the race for Attorney General, in which Pierce County executive John Ladenburg, a Democrat, is aiming to oust Republican incumbent Rob McKenna.Among their differences: whether to unionize support staff in the AG's office. Ladenburg also says he supports a…
As a way to discourage the waste spawned by hundreds of millions of plastic and paper bags, the Seattle Times reports today that city officials are proposing making stores charge customers 20 cents for each disposable bag. Customers would be encouraged to bring their own…
In the race to replace retiring state Rep. Lynn Schindler, R-Otis Orchards, local attorney Matt Shea has a big early lead in fundraising.Shea, according to financial disclosure reports filed with the state, had raised about $13,500 for the race by late February. Fellow contenders Diana…
Among the bills signed into law by Gov. Chris Gregoire this week was Senate Bill 6237, a seemingly minor bill to modify eligibility criteria for prisoner-of-war license plates.The bill, however, was the culmination of a decade-long fight by a Korean War veteran named Dean Gehring…
Crosscut's David Brewster has a good piece today about House Speaker Frank Chopp, a behind-the-scenes dealmaker who has amassed a large Democratic majority while wielding tremendous clout over what bills move and what don't in Olympia. He describes Chopp as:a veteran poverty warrior from Fremont…
More from today's paper:Wrapping up the last of more than 300 bills, Gov. Chris Gregoire on Tuesday signed dozens of legislative measures, including a supplemental budget and a controversial bill aiming to limit toxic chemicals in toys.But the governor also wielded her veto pen, cutting…
After using her veto pen to slice off about $15 million (sorry about that $500k for the wastewater treatment plant, Airway Heights), Gov. Chris Gregoire today approved a $291 million supplemental operating budget that leaves $850 million in savings.Here's a handy list that includes some…
Josh Feit, political writer for Seattle's The Stranger, is leaving.I’ve been planning this for a while (I wanted to get in one more legislative session), so I’ve saved enough money to cool out for a bit while looking for a new job. he writes on…
Looks that way. HB 2647, a bill setting state limits on lead and other chemicals on the list of bills slated for action tomorrow at 2 p.m. in Olympia.Update: As Jason Mercier notes, SB 6818 -- creating an easily searchable online state budget database --…
Short takes and breaking news from the Washington Legislature and the state capital.
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