Jim Camden

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News >  WA Government

Washington Senate passes single-use plastic bag ban again

UPDATED: Thu., Jan. 16, 2020

Senate Democrats revive the proposed ban on single-use plastic grocery bags.

News >  WA Government

Bill would make Juneteenth a state holiday

UPDATED: Thu., Jan. 16, 2020

State workers would have June 19 as a legal holiday under a bill proposed to commemorate Juneteenth, the day slaves in Texas learned the Civil War was over and they were free

News >  WA Government

Fight homelessness with a statewide response, Inslee tells lawmakers in State of State address

UPDATED: Tue., Jan. 14, 2020

Homelessness is a statewide problem that needs a statewide response that includes prevention, rent assistance and housing, Gov. Jay Inslee told legislators today.

News >  Spokane

Stripped of party support, Rep. Matt Shea arrives in Olympia amid calls for his resignation

UPDATED: Mon., Jan. 13, 2020

Shea started the 2020 legislative session on a defiant note Monday, continuing to refuse bipartisan calls for his resignation even as he was stripped of his committee assignments and relegated to a seat in the back of the House floor.

News >  WA Government

Legislature opens on historic note amid plenty of protests

UPDATED: Mon., Jan. 13, 2020

The Legislature opened its 2020 season on a historic note with Tacoma attorney Laurie Jinkins, a five-term legislator, sworn in as the first woman and first lesbian to be elected as speaker of the House of Representatives.

News >  WA Government

5 big issues the Washington Legislature will debate in 2020

Mon., Jan. 13, 2020

Some years, the Legislature faces huge issues, spends months in partisan wrangling and needs extra weeks or even months to complete some tasks. 2020 might not be one of them.

Opinion >  Column

Spin Control: How to keep tabs on lawmakers, legislative issues from miles away

UPDATED: Sun., Jan. 12, 2020

The Legislature begins its 2020 session Monday, and while the lawmakers will spend most of the next two months some 300 miles away, there are ways a person with a particular concern, issue or pet peeve can keep tabs on them without making the trip across the state, over a snowy pass and through metropolitan Puget Sound traffic.

News >  WA Government

Rep. Matt Shea wants to call witnesses to prove accusations false

UPDATED: Fri., Jan. 10, 2020

Rep. Matt Shea says he wants to face accusers, call witnesses.

News >  Washington

Calls for Shea resignation continue but House leaders don’t have backup plan

Fri., Jan. 10, 2020

Legislative leaders and Gov. Jay Inslee repeated calls for Rep. Matt Shea to resign. But since he has said he won’t, their next step remains unclear.

Sports >  WSU football

Gov. Jay Inslee, noted Washington graduate, on WSU losing Mike Leach: ‘There may be some who don’t consider that losing’

UPDATED: Thu., Jan. 9, 2020

In Olympia, news of Mike Leach’s departure from Washington State University broke as legislative leaders were discussing issues for the upcoming session.

News >  Washington

Former Grant County judge, Moses Lake businessman face heavy fines for campaign violations

Tue., Jan. 7, 2020

A former Grant County judge and a Moses Lake businessman broke campaign finance laws in 2014 with an unsuccessful effort to defeat a candidate for county prosecutor.

News >  WA Government

Washington presidential primary ballot is set, even as Democratic field remains in flux

UPDATED: Thu., Jan. 23, 2020

Democratic voters will have 13 candidates on their Washington Presidential Primary ballot. Republican voters will have one.

News >  WA Government

House leaders unsure of next step involving Matt Shea

Tue., Jan. 7, 2020

Next step in legislative action concerning Rep. Matt Shea uncertain, but expulsion creates a high hurdle.

News >  WA Government

Washington’s highest court gets chief justice from Spokane, first Native American member

UPDATED: Mon., Jan. 6, 2020

With ceremonial drumming and singing and a bit of poetry, the Washington Supreme Court swore in a “daughter of Spokane” as its new chief justice and its first Native American justice in history.

News >  WA Government

Spin Control: This look at 2020 isn’t necessarily 20/20

Sun., Jan. 5, 2020

All kinds of things could happen in 2020, maybe even some of these.

News >  WA Government

Washington sues Johnson & Johnson over opioids

UPDATED: Thu., Jan. 2, 2020

Washington filed its third lawsuit tied to the opioid crisis Thursday, claiming one of the nation’s biggest companies deceived doctors and patients about the addictive nature of the painkillers it developed and marketed.

News >  WA Government

Welcome to 2020 – and to some new laws in Washington

Wed., Jan. 1, 2020

A new year means new laws. Here’s a look at some of the changes.

News >  Health

Kreidler: Trinity to pay fine, stop selling health ‘sharing’ policies

Mon., Dec. 30, 2019

Trinity agrees to stop selling health “sharing” policies, pay $150,000 fine, insurance commissioner says.

Opinion >  Column

Spin Control: Some mentions – honorable and dishonorable – for 2019

Sun., Dec. 29, 2019

Before 2019 goes away, Spin Control marks its highlights and low lifes.

News >  Spokane

Big changes in Washington in the ‘Teens, most made by voters

UPDATED: Thu., Dec. 26, 2019

Washington voters – not their elected officials – made many of the biggest changes to the state in the second decade of the 21st Century.

News >  WA Government

Spin Control: Like Santa Claus, Christmas Trivia is coming

UPDATED: Tue., Dec. 24, 2019

In the spirit of the Christmas season, Spin Control stays away from political topics and offers its annual 12 Trivias of Xmas

News >  Washington

‘We need each other more than we pretend’: Data contradicts sense of geographic imbalance in state taxes, services

Sat., Dec. 21, 2019

Based on some calculations, Spokane residents get more from the state General Fund – but less from the Transportation Fund – than they send Olympia in taxes. But the formulas used to calculate those numbers have some limitations.

News >  Spokane

McMorris Rodgers says GOP leaders were right to oust Shea from caucus; other officials split on whether he should resign

UPDATED: Mon., Dec. 23, 2019

“I have repeatedly condemned extremism, no matter its source, and have made clear the violence it inspires has no place here in Eastern Washington,” the congresswoman said in a statement.

News >  WA Government

Snake River dam differences run deep, study finds

UPDATED: Fri., Dec. 20, 2019

Study says differences over the fate of Snake River dams “remain deep,” suggests ways to improve understanding.

News >  Spokane

Rep. Matt Shea expelled from GOP caucus after investigation finds he engaged in domestic terrorism

UPDATED: Fri., Dec. 20, 2019

The findings of the four-month investigation are detailed in a 108-page report that was delivered to rank-and-file members of the House on Thursday. Leaders of both parties called for Shea’s resignation and said the findings had been forwarded to the FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office. “He absolutely should resign,” said Republican Minority Leader J.T. Wilcox, of Yelm. “His role as a House Republican is over.”