WASHINGTON – After months of relative silence since Idaho Rep. Mike Simpson unveiled his proposal to breach the four Lower Snake River dams, on Friday Gov. Jay Inslee and Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell made their clearest statements yet rejecting the Idaho Republican’s plan to save Idaho’s dwindling salmon runs.

WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service will begin sending families monthly payments of up to $300 per child in July, the result of a reimagined child tax credit Congress passed in March, but parents need to file their taxes by Monday’s deadline to receive the correct amount based on their 2020 income.

With COVID-19 cases on the decline, Inslee said current projections show most spaces, including restaurants and businesses, could return to full capacity by the end of next month.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed a measure overhauling the state’s approach to drug possession, after the Washington Supreme Court struck down its previous law as unconstitutional.

OLYMPIA – A Spokane motorist should have the right to a trial over a speeding ticket he received in 2016 from an automated traffic camera in a school zone that he contends wasn't properly set up, the Washington Supreme Court was told Thursday.

In a virtual Northwest Passages forum with The Spokesman-Review on Wednesday, Sen. Patty Murray laid out her vision for remedying the nation’s lack of affordable child care, which she called a “silent epidemic in our country.”

OLYMPIA – After several years of devastating wildfires across Washington, lawmakers this year agreed to make a major investment in wildfire prevention and forest health.

The new law bans open carry within 250 feet of public permitted demonstrations and at the state capitol. It does not apply to concealed-carry rules in the Capitol, which is allowed with the correct license.

WASHINGTON – Inland Northwest Republicans in Congress kept quiet after the House GOP conference voted Wednesday to oust Rep. Liz Cheney from the party’s third-ranking leadership role over the Wyoming Republican’s ongoing criticism of former President Donald Trump.

SEATTLE – U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler will vote to retain embattled Rep. Liz Cheney in Republican leadership, bucking the pro-Donald Trump wing of the party that is widely expected to oust Cheney from her position this week.

Agricultural workers in Washington state would become eligible for overtime pay under a bill signed Tuesday by Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee, drawing praise from President Joe Biden.

Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill into law last week authorizing a tax on the sale of stocks, bonds, businesses and other investments. But if history is any indication, the law is likely to face stiff opposition before any taxes can be collected. 

As a person who went through more than a month in early 2021 trying to get an appointment anywhere within 30 miles for a COVID vaccination, I confess to scratching my head at reports there is currently more vaccine than people willing to sit down and roll up their sleeves.

While it continues to reel from the COVID-19 pandemic, Washington’s restaurant industry is worried about recently approved legislation it fears could significantly increase the cost of takeout, which has become the primary – and for some the only – type of business.

The Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, championed by the late WSU president for whom the school is named, sent its first 121 students into the medical field as part of a virtual and drive-thru ceremony Thursday. Masks and socially distanced photographs took the place of hugs, but for many, the moment was surreal beyond the pandemic. 

WASHINGTON – When Sen. Patty Murray first got to Congress in 1993, one of a then-unprecedented seven women in the 100-member Senate, her colleagues weren’t interested in talking about child care.

WASHINGTON – A feud broke out Wednesday between Northwest Republicans in Congress after public records revealed Idaho Rep. Mike Simpson coordinated with Oregon’s Democratic governor before unveiling his proposal to restore salmon runs by breaching dams on the lower Snake River.

Under the guidelines, which have different attendance caps for indoor and outdoor venues, the number of permitted visitors would be increased if a "vaccinated section" were created in the facility. Such a section would require proof of vaccination to enter, and the operator would have to set up different ticketing lines in order to permit those with proof of a vaccine and those without. In that section, social distancing would not be required, but attendees would still be required to wear masks unless actively eating or drinking.

Of the roughly 1,000 bills introduced in the late, great 2021 session, most of the conversation and conflict right now centers on those that survived the gauntlet of multiple hearings and votes to reach the governor’s desk.