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Hunters, anglers, and 20 tribes in western Washington are among those pleased with three nominees Gov. Bob Ferguson announced this week for the state’s Fish and Wildlife Commission. In January, shortly after he took office, Ferguson halted two nominations former Gov. Jay Inslee made to the commission, including the reappointment of Tim Ragen, a retired marine mammal expert who had served as the panel’s vice chair since last year and had strong support from wildlife protection groups. Though Ferguson removed him from the nine-member com...
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson has a plan for about $7 billion in budget cuts, but he and Democrats in the Legislature have a ways to go before they solve a shortfall that may be more than double that size. The governor presented $4 billion in new reductions on Thursday and said he supports another $3 billion in savings former Gov. Jay Inslee proposed in December. This scrub is Ferguson’s first step in addressing an operating budget deficit that Democratic lawmakers say is roughly $12 billion over the next four years. Ferguson pegged the number h...
Thursday marks the end of this year’s legislative session. Lawmakers put the finishing touches on legislation, approved budget proposals, and prepared to bail out of Olympia. Barring an unexpected special session, they are not scheduled to return until January 2025. Here are five storylines that shaped what happened this year: Initiatives overshadowed the session Democrats were forced to take a detour after getting pelted with six citizen initiatives they weren’t eager to embrace. They approved three this week and hope to defeat the other thr...
The federal government will plunk down more than a half-billion dollars to help cover the cost of replacing the Interstate 5 bridge across the Columbia River, between Washington and Oregon. A grant of $600 million will go to the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program, the entity overseeing the effort. It's the first sizable slug of federal funding for what is one of the most significant infrastructure projects pending in the region and along the West Coast. Three Washington Democratic lawmakers...