A longer version of this story originally appeared in the Washington State Standard.

The Oregon Legislature approved matching funds last week for Washington’s $125 million commitment to replace the 100-year-old Hood River-White Salmon Bridge. 

Combined, the state funding covers about a quarter of the project’s estimated $1.12 billion cost. 

“This project strengthens our entire region’s foundation for growth and prosperity. This isn’t just about new steel and concrete — we’re literally rebuilding the backbone of our communities,” Oregon state Rep. Jeff Helfrich, R-Hood River, said Thursday in a joint news release with Washington state Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima. 

“The combined funding between our two states puts us in a stronger position when we approach the federal government for additional dollars to help pay for the bridge project,” King said. 

The Hood River-White Salmon Bridge Authority also has an outstanding $532 million request for funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bridge Investment Program. 

The current proposal is to replace the existing bridge, which is narrow and has steel decking, with a structure designed to meet modern traffic demands and safety standards. 

Design on the new bridge is expected to begin in September, with the opening targeted for 2030. 

The existing Hood River-White Salmon Bridge was built in 1924. ​​It spans the Columbia River between Interstate 84 in Oregon and State Route 14 in Washington, connecting the communities of Hood River on the Oregon side and White Salmon and Bingen in Washington.

The Port of Hood River, which manages the structure, reports that the bridge is a safety hazard for commuters and slows the movement of goods through the Columbia River Gorge.

While Port of Hood River officials say the bridge is “functionally obsolete” and cannot adequately accommodate large trucks, it is still a primary freight route listed on the National Highway System and is frequently used by trucks transporting fruit, wood products, locally manufactured unmanned aerial vehicles, and other cargo. 

And even though the Port of Hood River says the bridge is “one of the most challenging bridges on the Columbia River Gorge for barge operators,” barges frequently travel past it.

Earlier this year, the Washington Legislature approved $10 million in project funding for the 2025-27 biennium and $40 million in the 2027-29 biennium as part of its transportation budget. Washington previously promised $75 million in 2023. 

The legislation approved in Oregon added $45 million of lottery funds in the 2025-27 biennium, $30 million for the 2027-29 biennium and $30 million for the 2029-31 biennium, for a total of $105 million over six years. 

Oregon previously allocated $20 million in lottery funds to the project in 2023. 

Other funding sources include a $200 million grant from the federal Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight and Highway Projects program and $105 million through a federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation loan that will be repaid with tolling revenue. 

Tolls for the existing bridge increased in 2023 from $2 to $3.50 for cash customers and $1 to $1.75 for those with a prepaid Breezeby account. All new revenue from that increase was put into a restricted fund to be used only for the new bridge.

The Washington State Standard originally published this story on July 7, 2025. Cascade PBS has edited this story for length.

King County voters in November will decide on a six-year levy proposal to continue funding the Medic One/Emergency Medical Service program.

The Medic One system handles all 9-1-1 emergency calls throughout King County and provides emergency medical services countywide. The levy proposal would generate up to $1.4 billion through 2031. The current levy expires at the end of this year. The system has been supported by a property tax levy since 1979 and has passed nearly every time it has come up for renewal.

November’s ballot measure would set the maximum levy rate at $0.250 per $1,000 of assessed value, or $211 a year for a home assessed at the median of $844,000. The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 4.

You could be District 5’s next City Councilmember.  

The Seattle City Council opened its application window on July 2 to fill the coming vacancy when Councilmember Cathy Moore resigns from her post July 7. Moore is departing a year and a half into her first Council term, citing health and personal reasons.  

The Council is accepting applications through July 9 and is expected to choose an appointee on July 28.  

To qualify, you must be a U.S. citizen, a registered Washington voter, be able to read and write English and have lived and been registered to vote in north Seattle’s District 5 for at least 120 days.  

The appointed Councilmember will serve until the November 2026 election, at which point District 5 residents will elect someone to finish the remainder of Moore’s four-year term through 2027.  

Council vacancies are now familiar territory for Seattleites. Former Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda left her citywide Position 8 seat at the start of 2024 after being elected to the King County Council.  

The Seattle Council appointed Tanya Woo to the Position 8 seat, then Seattleites elected Alexis Mercedes Rinck last November to finish Mosqueda’s term. Rinck is running to remain in the seat this year.  

Former District 2 Councilmember Tammy Morales resigned from her position one year after being reelected, alleging that her colleagues had “eroded our checks and balances as a Legislative department and undermined my work as a policymaker.” 

The Council appointed Mark Solomon to the D2 position. Solomon is not among the four candidates running in D2 to represent the district for the remaining two years of Morales’ term.   

A longer version of this story appeared on the Washington State Standard.

For the first time in more than 50 years, Washington State Ferries will contract with an out-of-state shipyard to build new vessels. 

Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson made the final call to accept the low bid from Florida-based Eastern Shipbuilding Group to build three new hybrid electric ferries, each capable of carrying up to 160 cars and 1,500 passengers. The vessels will replace aging boats in the state fleet.

Ferguson passed over a considerably more expensive bid from in-state shipyard Nichols Brothers Boat Builders. Whidbey Island-based Nichols Brothers and a range of allies from around the north Puget Sound region lobbied the governor unsuccessfully to split the contract for the new ferries to secure local jobs and boost the region’s shipbuilding industry.

The state accepted Eastern Shipbuilding’s bid of $714.5 million for three new ferries, with deliveries estimated to begin in 2029. 

However, the total cost to taxpayers will be much higher because the state plans to purchase the hybrid electric powertrain separately and made allowances for construction oversight, early delivery incentives and change orders. Ferguson’s office said this brings the cost of the first vessel to approximately $405 million, the second to $360 million, and the third to $325 million. The cost and risks decrease with lessons learned from each previous build.

Civic and business leaders in Washington urged the governor to choose Nichols Brothers and its sister yard, Everett Ship Repair, arguing that Ferguson should consider the jobs that would be created and economic benefits derived from using an in-state contractor. 

The Washington Legislature previously set aside about $1.3 billion to build new ferries over the next six to eight years. Money is not the only consideration. The ferry system and the state’s Democratic leadership also want to reduce the ferries’ air pollution footprint by switching to battery propulsion as much as possible.

The Panama City, Florida-based Eastern Shipbuilding Group has experience building car ferries for numerous other governments, including in North Carolina and Florida and for the Staten Island line in New York.

Nichols Brothers submitted a competing bid that was considerably higher, even after including a 13% credit authorized by the Legislature to incentivize home state construction.

Nichols Brothers CEO Gavin Higgins said his company would not appeal the contract award to his Florida competitor. But he made it clear in an interview Tuesday that he felt “real disappointment” that the state missed the boat to grow its shipbuilding industry and invest in the next generation of apprentice builders.

“We’ve lost the opportunity to hire over 1,300 people and bring them to work. Who’s going to do it now?” Higgins said.

Jerry Cornfield contributed to this story. The Washington State Standard published a longer version of this story on July 1, 2025. Cascade PBS edited this article for length.

Washington is leading a coalition of 16 states in a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education over cuts to mental health programs at K-12 schools.

Attorney General Nick Brown and 15 other attorneys general signed onto a lawsuit on Monday alleging that the Trump administration’s cuts to Congressionally approved funding for mental health professionals in schools violate the U.S. Constitution.

“School-based mental health programs can be a literal life-saver for our students,” Brown said in a statement. “The Department of Education’s decision threatens the safety and well-being of our youth.”

California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin all signed onto the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

In 2022, a bipartisan Congress approved about $1 billion in funding for mental health resources after the mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. That funding helped hire nearly 1,300 school mental health professionals to serve 775,000 students across the country, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

In April, the U.S. Department of Education announced it was discontinuing that funding, which it said conflicted with the Trump administration’s priorities.

In Washington, those cuts mean that 90 school districts might have to reduce mental health services this fall, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

The lawsuit alleges that the cuts and the generic notices announcing the cuts to grantees violate the Administrative Procedure Act and the U.S. Constitution. The attorneys general are asking the court to rescind the department’s decision to discontinue funds.

“These discontinuances threaten the very purpose of these Programs — to protect the safety of our children by permanently increasing the number of mental health professionals providing mental health services to students in low-income and rural schools,” according to the lawsuit.

A longer version of this article originally appeared in the Washington State Standard.

Washington’s century-old fuel tax is going up again. 

On Tuesday, the gasoline tax will rise by six cents a gallon, the first increase in nine years for the primary revenue source sustaining Washington’s transportation system.

The hike is the most prominent piece of a six-year, $3.2 billion package passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson earlier this year. 

Lawmakers turned to the tax to contend with a projected $1 billion shortfall in the next two-year transportation budget. Officials said this was caused by an inflation-fueled surge in construction costs and flattening gas-tax receipts as more drivers opt for electric vehicles and as cars have become more fuel-efficient.

“This will keep projects on track and ensure the promises we’ve made can be kept,” said Sen. Marko Liias, D-Edmonds, chair of the Senate Transportation Committee. “As you drive around and see those orange cones, that’s where your money is at work.”

Tuesday’s increase will push the state’s per-gallon tax rate on gas and other vehicle fuels from 49.4 cents to 55.4 cents. Starting July 1, 2026, it will rise each year by 2% — about a penny annually — to account for inflation.

Also Tuesday, the state tax on diesel will climb an additional three cents, so nine cents total, to 58.4 cents, then go up another three cents two years later. That additional six cents applied to diesel will be subject to a 2% boost each year starting July 1, 2028.

Washington will have the nation’s third-highest state gas tax behind California and Pennsylvania. Connecticut is currently at 52.4 cents, according to the Federation of Tax Administrators.

Washington’s state tax is on top of federal fuel taxes, which are 18.4 cents for gasoline and 24.4 cents for diesel.

Hiking the gas tax is expected to raise $1.4 billion over the next six years. The diesel tax is counted on to bring in $166 million over that time.

These increases are two of the larger entrees in the transportation package’s smorgasbord of new taxes and higher fees.

Under the legislation, passenger vehicle weight fees are going up a few dollars. The added sales tax for vehicles will climb from 0.3% to 0.5%. 

There’s also a new 8% tax on the portion of the selling price of vehicles above $100,000 and a 10% tax on non-commercial aircraft sales above $500,000. 

There’s a temporary increase in the rental car tax as well, from 5.9% to 11.9%, before moving down to 9.9% in 2027.

And there’s more.

The tire disposal fee will go from $1 apiece to $5 apiece. Washington State Ferries will boost its vessel replacement surcharge by 50 cents in October and start imposing a 3% fee for those who pay with credit cards next year. 

Washington State Standard published a longer version of this article on June 30, 2025.

This article was originally published by the Washington State Standard.

Despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of the Trump administration on Friday, the state of Washington still intends to seek a nationwide block of the president’s order to restrict birthright citizenship. 

“Washington still plans to seek relief for all its harms — that is what we argued for and won in the trial court,” attorney general’s office spokesperson Mike Faulk said in an email Friday.

Washington Attorney General Nick Brown, alongside attorneys general from Oregon, Arizona and Illinois, had argued nationwide relief was necessary while litigation plays out over the order. 

But in a 6-3 ruling in the case on Friday, the Supreme Court imposed new limits on lower court judges issuing nationwide injunctions. 

Under the ruling, President Donald Trump’s order could go into effect in 30 days in states that didn’t sue, raising the possibility that babies born to immigrant parents in Washington would be U.S. citizens, while those born in neighboring states like Idaho would not be.

The high court did not rule on the merits of Trump’s executive order. Further legal battles over the order, including with the lawsuit backed by Washington, still lie ahead.

Brown has argued previously that the state, instead of the federal government, would have to pay for social services for babies born in other states without birthright citizenship who later move to states like Washington.

In his Feb. 6 injunction, U.S. District Court Judge John Coughenour in Seattle agreed, ordering that anything less than nationwide relief is “ineffectual.” Coughenour’s order was one of three nationwide injunctions the Supreme Court considered.

Brown, in a statement, noted that the justices “confirmed that courts may issue broad injunctions when needed to provide complete relief to the parties.”

“We continue to believe that President Trump’s unconstitutional and cruel order must be stopped across the country to guarantee protection for Washington and its residents,” he continued.

Washington’s case currently sits at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after arguments in Seattle this month. Whether the Supreme Court’s ruling sends the case back to Coughenour is unclear. Faulk said the attorney general’s office expects more clarity on this question soon.

Trump’s executive action aims to end birthright citizenship for babies born to a mother and father who are not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents.

In 2022, about 4,000 babies were born in Washington to two parents without legal immigration status, according to the states’ lawsuit.

Elections officials in Pierce County are contacting all voters ages 18 to 26 and asking them to update their signatures in an effort to head off challenges and make sure their votes are counted.

Washington uses signature verification to make sure voters are who they say they are. But that sometimes poses a problem for young people, who are less likely to regularly sign their names, and often evolve their signatures as they age into adulthood. 

Voter registration in Washington happens automatically when people get their driver’s license, so for many voters, the signature they provided when they got their license at 16 is the one used for comparison when they vote. But by the time they turn 18, their signature often looks totally different, said Pierce County Auditor Linda Farmer. 

“Because kids these days don’t need to sign anything,” Farmer said. 

In last year’s presidential election, 2,029 Pierce County ballots were flagged as “challenged” by election workers because the signature did not match the one on file. Voters aged 18 to 26 were disproportionately represented — 51% of the challenged ballots came from that age group. 

Elections officials try to contact voters whose ballots were challenged to help them “cure” the signature issue, Farmer said, but not every voter follows up and fixes it. 

To help address the problem this year, the Pierce County Auditor’s Office is launching an outreach campaign. All Pierce County voters aged 18 to 26 will get a postcard with instructions on how to update their signatures. It takes only a couple minutes online, Farmer said. 

Some voting rights advocates have argued that signature verification requirements disenfranchise voters. A 2023 report from the University of Washington’s Evans Policy Innovation Collaborative project found that in Washington young people and people of color are more likely to have ballots rejected because of signature issues. 

This spring, Washington’s Supreme Court upheld the state’s signature verification system as constitutional, after several advocacy groups had filed a lawsuit arguing that it had unconstitutionally disenfranchised tens of thousands of voters. 

Farmer said technology has in some ways made signatures “a little outdated,” and that elections officials throughout the country have been looking into alternative ways to verify people’s identities. 

“Logistically, we’re still figuring that out and going through a few pilots, so it’ll take a while for the industry to change,” Farmer said. “But for now, signatures are a tried and tested way to tell that it’s you.” 

The Auditor’s Office is planning to mail postcards to young voters later this month. They’re mailing two different versions — one in standard English, and another written in “Gen-Z slang,” Farmer said. 

“We’re running an experiment to see if people who get one postcard respond more at higher numbers than the other one,” Farmer said. 

One postcard starts with “Dear voter.” The Gen-Z one is addressed “Hey Bestie.” 

“Update your signature,” the standard version says. “You can even submit multiple versions to make sure your vote always counts!” 

“Fix it before it flops,” the Gen-Z version says. “Your signature isn’t ugly — it’s inconsistent. Fix it now and thank us later. It only takes like, 2 minutes.”  

A longer version of this article appeared in the Kitsap Sun.

Next month, Washington hospitals must begin monitoring how often they are in compliance with staffing plans, as part of an effort to ease burnout and address worker shortages. 

Each hospital created staffing plans at the start of this year through a committee that included both hospital management and rank-and-file employees. They outline the minimum number of employees assigned to be in each unit at each hour of the day.

Beginning in 2027, hospitals need to submit staffing reports to the Department of Health twice per year. They could face investigations and penalties for being out of compliance more than 20% of the time.

The plans and tracking are part of the state’s expanded hospital staffing law, which was approved two years ago.

Officials are hopeful this model will improve the health of the industry at a time when recruiting and retaining staff have become more challenging. Across the state, industry groups and others have reported major workforce shortages and a dwindling pool of applicants. 

Conor Wilson is a Washington State University Murrow News fellow, reporting for the Kitsap Sun and Gig Harbor Now. The Kitsap Sun published a longer version of this article on June 26, 2025.

Washington’s already strained budget took another hit in the most recent state revenue forecast, released Tuesday.

Over the next four years, the state’s tax collections are expected to be $721 million less than forecast in March. That loss means more cuts are likely for Washington’s state agencies.

Lawmakers are starting the next two-year budget cycle, which begins next week, with about $400 million more than they expected in March. But by June 2027, collections are projected to be about $490 million less than what was expected in March and could fall another $638 million through June 2029.

Dave Reich, executive director of the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council, said slowdowns in employment and personal income growth, along with reduced residential construction, are expected to lead to fewer sales and business tax collections in the next four years.

Impacts from proposed federal funding cuts, tariffs and the conflict in the Middle East are adding to the uncertainty in Washington’s financial future, Reich said.

“While this revenue forecast is disappointing, it is not surprising,” Gov. Bob Ferguson said in a statement. “We knew that things were unlikely to improve in the near term, especially in light of continued chaos from the Trump Administration.”

The dip in revenue follows a legislative session that was fraught with budget woes. Lawmakers faced an estimated $15 billion hole in the state budget over the next four years. They filled that with about $9 billion in new taxes on wealthy residents and businesses and about $6 billion in cuts to government services.

Lawmakers will likely have another tough session of budgeting ahead of them.

Two more quarterly revenue forecasts will be released before the next planned legislative session in January. As of Tuesday, Ferguson said he does not anticipate the need to call lawmakers back into a special session before January, but that could change depending on the next state revenue forecast in September and any impacts from federal funding cuts.

Ferguson has already indicated that more cuts will likely be necessary next legislative session, and he encouraged state agencies to look for ways to limit their spending even more.