WA Government | The Spokesman-Review

News > WA Government

Lawmakers consider new permit for gun purchases as ammo tax fails to gain support

UPDATED: Fri., March 14, 2025

OLYMPIA – Washington lawmakers continue to consider adopting a permit-to-purchase system for firearms in the state and prohibiting firearms in public areas where children are known to gather, though several proposals – including a new tax on firearms and ammunition – have failed, at least for this session.

News > WA Government

Legislative cutoff marks end for these bills that could have become Washington law, at least for now

UPDATED: Thu., March 13, 2025

OLYMPIA – With the session more than halfway over, Wednesday marked the day most bills needed to pass out of their chamber of origin in the Washington legislature to remain alive.

News > WA Government

$100M plan for police hiring gets greenlight from Washington House

UPDATED: Wed., March 12, 2025

Democrats in the Washington state House on Tuesday approved a revamped plan to provide $100 million in grants to local police departments to hire more officers.

News > Education

Thousands of highly trained WA teachers could have their pay cut

UPDATED: Wed., March 12, 2025

SEATTLE – State lawmakers are considering legislation that would reduce the pay of more than 8,000 highly trained Washington teachers by thousands of dollars annually.

News > WA Government

Gov. Ferguson pledges to limit his emergency powers after bill stalls

UPDATED: Wed., March 12, 2025

Gov. Bob Ferguson is pledging to limit his own emergency powers after a bill he backed to place new limits on that authority hit the skids amid reported tensions with fellow Democrats.

News > WA Government

Senate Republicans unveil budget proposal they say is a ‘third way’

UPDATED: Tue., March 11, 2025

OLYMPIA – Republicans in the Washington Senate unveiled a budget plan Tuesday they say will address the state’s budget deficit without increasing taxes.

News > WA Government

Baumgartner backs bipartisan bill to support fired federal workers

UPDATED: Tue., March 11, 2025

WASHINGTON – Rep. Michael Baumgartner, R-Spokane, gave a bipartisan boost Tuesday to a bill that aims to help federal workers who have lost their jobs as part of the mass firing led by Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service.

News > WA Government

Protesters gather at Rep. Baumgartner’s office over Trump’s elevation of Musk

UPDATED: Mon., March 10, 2025

Kathy Emdresz stood on Spokane Falls Boulevard on Monday evening in protest of the Trump administration, but also in honor of her relatives who fought in World War II – because if they were alive today, they’d “be heartbroken.”

News > WA Government

Washington House of Representatives passes 7% cap on rent increases

UPDATED: Mon., March 10, 2025

OLYMPIA – The Washington state House of Representatives has passed a bill to cap annual rent increases at 7%.

News > WA Government

Washington Attorney General sues Adams County, alleges illegal cooperation with federal immigration officials

UPDATED: Mon., March 10, 2025

OLYMPIA – Washington is suing the Adams County Sheriff’s Office, accusing the agency of cooperating with federal immigration enforcement in violation of state law.

News > WA Government

Controversial permit-to-purchase gun bill clears Washington House

UPDATED: Sun., March 9, 2025

OLYMPIA – Democrats in the Washington state House on Saturday approved an overhaul of the state’s system for buying guns.

News > WA Government

Unemployment benefits for striking workers gain approval from Washington Senate

UPDATED: Fri., March 7, 2025

Workers in Washington moved a step closer to gaining access to unemployment insurance during strikes, after a bill that would extend the benefits passed the state Senate on Friday.

News > WA Government

Second federal judge blocks Trump administration’s funding freeze

UPDATED: Thu., March 6, 2025

A second federal judge has blocked the Trump administration’s attempts to freeze federal funding, writing in his opinion that the plan would have “catastrophic consequences” on the country.

News > WA Government

Rep. Dan Newhouse calls for ‘decency’ after House approves his resolution rebuking Rep. Al Green for protesting Trump speech

UPDATED: Thu., March 6, 2025

WASHINGTON – Rep. Dan Newhouse, a Republican from Central Washington, introduced the resolution to rebuke a Texas congressman who was removed from the House chamber after repeatedly interrupting President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress earlier in the week.

News > WA Government

Mother of school shooting victim testifies in support of school safety bill

UPDATED: Wed., March 5, 2025

OLYMPIA – Seven years after a gunman killed 17 people in a Florida high school, the mother of one of the victims testified in support of a bill in the Washington Legislature that would encourage schools to install panic alert systems to hasten emergency response times.

News > WA Government

WA police academy bans Sig Sauer after reports it could fire by itself

UPDATED: Wed., March 5, 2025

The Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission has prohibited recruits from training with a popular semiautomatic handgun and has banned the pistol from the commission’s campuses after reports the gun could fire without someone pulling the trigger.

News > WA Government

Trump administration to cut more than 80,000 jobs at Department of Veterans Affairs, internal memo says

UPDATED: Wed., March 5, 2025

WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs plans to cut more than 80,000 jobs in the next six months as part of the Trump administration’s effort to dramatically downsize the federal workforce, according to an internal memo sent to staff on Tuesday.

News > WA Government

Washington joins lawsuit to stop probationary federal employee cuts

UPDATED: Wed., March 5, 2025

OLYMPIA – The Washington State Attorney General’s Office has joined a lawsuit seeking to block the Trump administration’s efforts to terminate probationary federal employees. It anticipates more Washingtonians will lose their positions if the plan moves forward.

News > Higher education

Washington lawmakers consider uncapping tax on big tech companies to fund higher ed

UPDATED: Wed., March 5, 2025

A battle is brewing in the Washington Legislature over a Democratic bill that would hike a tax on large technology companies to raise more money for higher education, including student financial aid.

News > WA Government

Grant County districts respond to OSPI immigration guidelines

UPDATED: Wed., March 5, 2025

Mar. 5—OLYMPIA — The Washington State Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction released guidelines in January outlining practices it said are to ensure the protection of immigrant students' rights in K-12 public schools. The OSPI report comes after President Donald Trump's Executive Order 14148 rescinded a policy that limited Immigration and Customs Enforcement's ability to operate ...

Latest Stories