Washington unemployment rate drops to pre-pandemic levels

Rep. Tana Senn, D-Mercer Island, will soon lead the Department of Children, Youth and Families after Gov.-elect Bob Ferguson selected the lawmaker as the new director of the agency. 

“Supporting kids and families has been a longstanding priority of mine,” Senn said in a statement released Dec. 18. “After more than a decade of shaping policy in this critical space, I am honored to be asked to serve as Secretary of the Department of Children, Youth and Families and look forward to creating direct, meaningful impact for our most vulnerable communities.” 

Senn, a lawmaker for the 41st Legislative District which includes Mercer Island and parts of Bellevue, Issaquah and Sammamish, has been a House representative since 2013. 

Currently Senn serves as the chair for the House Early Learning and Human Services Committee. She is also a committee member of the Joint Oversight Board for Children, Youth and Families, and Joint School Safety Summit Committee. Additionally, she sits on the House Technology, Economic Development and Veterans Committee, the House Appropriations Committee, and the Joint Legislative and Executive Committee on Behavioral Health.

During her time in the statehouse, Senn sponsored legislation to enact the Fair Start for Kids Act, a program that invested in making child care and early learning more affordable for Washingtonians. 

Senn will succeed current director Ross Hunter, who said in October that he would not seek reappointment to the position. Hunter has led DCYF since 2017.

Five years after first being spotted near Blaine, the northern giant hornet has been eradicated from Washington and the U.S., the state Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced.

The northern giant hornet was previously named the “Asian giant hornet,” and popularly known as the “murder hornet.”

In a news release on Dec. 18, the two agencies declared eradication after three years of no confirmed detections.

The hornet, which is non-native to the area, could have been a threat to honeybees and other pollinators and native insects. The hornets can kill a honeybee hive in as little as 90 minutes. The hornets also threaten human health as their sting is more dangerous than that of honeybees.

Two giant northern hornets were found in Whatcom County, in late 2019. After the initial detection, state, federal and international agencies, along with community members and groups in the state and Whatcom County, collaborated on a multiyear effort to eradicate the species.

The effort included a community trapping program, in which citizens built and set up hundreds of traps at their homes, and a research program to learn more about the species aimed at improving an eradication strategy.

In 2021, the Entomological Society of America changed the name of the hornet to its current name, the northern giant hornet. The move by the U.S.’s largest entomological society came after concerns from entomologists about the hornet’s previous common name, “Asian giant hornet,” and a popular nickname, “murder hornet.” At the time, with an increase in anti-Asian xenophobia and hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic, many entomologists felt the name would bolster anti-Asian sentiment.

Bellingham and Shoreline took major steps toward eliminating parking minimums for new housing construction citywide this week — the latest Washington cities to do so in an effort to boost housing supply. 

In Bellingham, City Council members voted 5-1 during a Monday committee meeting to support a proposal from Mayor Kim Lund to eliminate the parts of the city code that require developers to provide a certain number of parking spaces when building new housing. 

“Housing the people of this community, providing them choices and options is far better than housing vehicles,” said Blake Lyon, Bellingham’s director of planning and community development, during the Monday meeting.

Most American cities have parking space requirements for new development, but critics argue these restrictions make cities less friendly to pedestrians and add excessive costs to new housing construction. Port Townsend became the first Washington city to fully eliminate parking minimums in March this year, and Spokane followed suit several months later. 

Bellingham City Councilmember Lisa Anderson voted against the proposal. She said she had concerns that the change wouldn’t do enough to guarantee lower housing costs. 

“Things are always market rate,” Anderson said. “And the only way that we’re going to have potentially lower rent for some of these units is if we require it.” 

The one-year interim ordinance will go into effect in Bellingham following a public hearing and final vote by the Council on Jan. 13. 

The Shoreline City Council took similar action on Monday — voting 6-1 to add language eliminating parking mandates citywide to the city’s comprehensive plan. 

Councilmember Annette Ademasu said she had previously opposed the idea, but said on Monday that she changed her thinking “after hearing from residents and organizations and just looking at what our goals are for housing affordability, climate, equity and social justice.” 

A vote to fully remove parking mandates from Shoreline’s code is now slated for mid-2025. 

Gov. Jay Inslee is proposing a new tax on wealthy Washingtonians as part of his last budget proposal, unveiled Tuesday.

The tax proposal comes as the state is potentially facing a shortfall up to $16 billion over the next four years, Inslee said. The increase would affect about 3,400 residents by adding a 1% annual tax on assets over $100 million. He noted that the tax would raise an estimated $10.3 billion in the coming years, and claimed that it would be less volatile than the capital gains tax passed in 2021.

“We are proposing a balanced budget, and that’s important for the fiscal integrity of the state of Washington,” Inslee said. “We have already taken some steps to reduce some of our expenditures, and that’s the first thing we looked at when we were thinking about this proposed budget.”

Although Inslee will no longer be the governor when Gov.-elect Bob Ferguson is inaugurated on Jan. 15, he is still required to submit a budget proposal to the Legislature in December. The incoming governor will release his own budget at a later date. 

Inslee noted Tuesday that the state is already taking steps to close the gap, including freezes on nonessential hiring and expenditures. 

Inslee’s proposal would also call for an increase in the state’s B&O tax, and would temporarily tax businesses with an annual income over $1 million at 20%. According to estimates, the tax would raise about $2.6 billion over the next four years. A 10% B&O tax would also be levied on some businesses in 2027 under the proposal. 

The proposal also includes cuts to programs and services, such as the closing of the Mission Creek Corrections Center for Women in Mason County, three reentry centers, and two residential habilitation centers. 

Proposals to pause board bonuses for educators and to pause expansion of child care assistance eligibility are also included in Inslee’s budget.

In total, Inslee’s proposal would grow state spending to $79 billion for the 2025-27 biennium, an increase from the current two-year $72 billion budget. 

Democratic legislative leaders thanked Inslee in statements Tuesday, and called for building a “responsible, sustainable budget that reflects our shared values.”

“It’s clear we must balance the need to protect essential services with smart, strategic choices that help working families, strengthen our economy, and address growing income inequality,” said Sen. June Robinson, D-Everett, chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. 

Republicans criticized the proposal, saying the deficit was “caused by overspending, not by a recession or a drop in revenue.” 

“The governor could have come up with a budget that lives within the additional $5 billion in revenue that is anticipated. Instead, he wants to spend even more and impose additional taxes on Washington employers to help make up the difference. When the cost of doing business goes up, consumers feel it too. His budget would make living in Washington even less affordable,” said Sen. Chris Gildon, R-Puyallup, Republican leader on the Senate Ways and Means Committee. 

Lawmakers will return to Olympia on Jan. 13 to begin the legislative session, and will have 105 days to hash out the state’s budget as well as pass other new laws. 

Five Native nations in Washington were awarded grants from the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to expand high-speed internet or create digital literacy and technology equity opportunities.

The Tulalip, Swinomish Indian, Lower Elwha and Makah tribes plan to use their awards to provide high-speed internet to households throughout their tribal lands. The Spokane tribes plan to use its award for creating digital literacy and technology equity opportunities for its citizens. The tribes were awarded the following amounts:

• Spokane Tribe of the Spokane Reservation: $1,158,920
• Swinomish Indian Tribal Community: $8,463,607
• Tulalip Tribes of Washington: $10,491,390
• Lower Elwha Tribal Community: $6,052,974
• Makah Indian Tribe of the Makah Indian Reservation: $6,166,003

This funding comes from the Biden-Harris administration’s Internet for All Initiative. The program falls under the $3 billion Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program. This program is funded from the $980 million Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 and the $2 billion Biden-Harris administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

More than 40 Native nations across the United States will receive $276 million in  the second round of funding of the federal program. The first round made available $1 billion to develop internet infrastructure, affordability programs, telehealth and distance learning initiatives on tribal lands.

The number of homeless shelter beds in Tacoma could drop significantly next summer if the city doesn’t secure new state funding. 

The city’s temporary and emergency homeless shelters depend on federal pandemic relief money, which will dry up at the end of 2024. The state Department of Commerce’s $3 million grant allowed Tacoma to keep the shelters running until June 2025, but the state has not identified funding to keep them open after that date. 

Tacoma currently funds five emergency shelters with a combined 367 beds. But in a news release this week, the city said it faces the “difficult decision” of closing most of those shelters in June 2025 because of the shortfall. Under the current plan, only one emergency shelter is slated to remain open past June: Stability Site, a 100-person shelter operated by Catholic Community Services. 

The city also funds three temporary shelters – shelters managed by local nonprofits and faith-based groups on a short-term basis – with a combined 112 beds. Two were already going to close this year as part of a broader shift in strategy, said city spokesperson Maria Lee. The third, Bethlehem Baptist Church, will close in June if the city does not find additional funding. 

Lee said Tacoma officials are planning to meet with state lawmakers next week to ask for money to keep the shelters open through the rest of 2025. 

Caleb Carbone, the city’s homeless strategy, systems and services manager, told councilmembers during a meeting this week that city staffers are preparing for multiple outcomes. 

“Staff is working on a plan to include both being funded to sustain our shelter system, or we can scale our services with partial funding,” Carbone said. 

In addition to the temporary and emergency shelters, Tacoma also helps fund eight permanent shelters with a combined 620 beds. All are slated to remain open. Lee said the city is also investing heavily in “housing and support services over temporary fixes,” and that the city is working to make sure individuals displaced from closed shelters are placed with more permanent supportive options. 

Tacoma counted 2,661 people experiencing homelessness during its 2024 point-in-time count, an annual one-day census of people living outside. The 2025-26 budget approved by the City Council last week includes cuts and plans for layoffs after it grappled with a $24 million budget deficit.

The state Senate will see two more new faces in January after counties filled positions left open by one retirement and one lawmaker leaving for Congress. 

Deb Krishnadasan was appointed Wednesday at a meeting of the Pierce County Council and Kitsap County Board of Commissioners, and will replace Emily Randall in the 26th legislative district. Both counties were involved in the process because the district encompasses parts of both. Randall resigned on Dec. 8 and will assume her new office as a U.S. Representative for the 6th Congressional District in January.

Krishnadasan is a former Peninsula School Board president and Gig Harbor Democrat. In a statement provided Thursday, Krishnadasan said that due to her experience serving on the school board, she knows that “policy must come from a place of listening to my neighbors — to teachers and nurses, parents and every person in our community.”

“I look forward to working with my new Senate colleagues to improve education, advance public transportation and infrastructure, and expand economic opportunities for all Washingtonians,” she added. 

On Tuesday, House Speaker pro tempore Tina Orwall, D-Des Moines, was appointed to the Senate to represent the 33rd Legislative District, encompassing parts of King County and including Burien, SeaTac, Des Moines and parts of Kent, Tukwila and Renton. 

Orwall, appointed by the King County Council Tuesday, said in a statement that she was honored to be able to serve her community in a new capacity. 

“I’m incredibly humbled to earn the trust of my community and will continue to do everything I can to improve the lives of all people living in our district and throughout our state,” Orwall said.

Orwall, first elected to the House of Representatives in 2008, will replace longtime Sen. Karen Keiser, who announced her retirement from the Legislature earlier this year. Edwin Obras, a deputy division director at the Human Services Department in Seattle, was also appointed Tuesday to fill Orwall’s vacant seat in the House.

Washington State Democratic Party Chair Shasti Conrad said in a statement Thursday that state Democrats “were proud to ensure the fifth election in a row” that grew their legislative majorities.

“We look forward to these newest members of the Democratic caucus in Olympia working on behalf of all Washingtonians to address housing insecurity, promote public safety, and look to progressive revenue options,” Conrad added. 

The legislative session will begin on Jan. 13. 

Washington’s carbon emissions allowances reached their highest auction price of the year last week, one month after voters overwhelmingly affirmed keeping the state’s cap-and-invest program.

Carbon-emitting corporations, including oil companies, bid every three months on state allowances for their pollution emissions. The money raised in the auctions pays for programs to decrease or mitigate pollution.

Last week, the state received $40.26 per allowance during the bidding on 7.98 million allowances. The range for the first three quarters of 2024 was $25.76 to $29.92 per share.

Despite bouncing back from depressed numbers earlier this year, December’s auction price was still lower than at this time in 2023, and this year’s range is lower than last year’s range of $48.50 to $63.03 per share.

Meanwhile, the state also sold roughly 2.22 million future allowances at $26 each to be redeemed later this decade.

Critics of the cap-and-invest program claimed that the lower 2024 bids were due to uncertainty over November’s results of a voter initiative to repeal the program. Initiative 2117 failed 38% to 62%.

While program critics have blamed the state’s relatively high gasoline prices on the carbon tax that has been in place for two years, multiple factors have affected gas prices, and Washington’s gasoline prices have been among the highest in the nation for decades.

The average price of a gallon of gas in Washington on Wednesday was $3.95, compared to a national average of $3.02, according to AAA. A year ago, Washington’s average cost per gallon was $4.275.

December’s carbon auction raised $379.3 million for Washington, meaning the state received $1.13 billion in 2024. That money — plus roughly $1.5 billion collected in 2023 — goes to numerous state environmental, health, transportation and other programs. Those programs appear to have been a major factor in Washingtonians’ vote last month to keep cap-and-invest.

Washington has been talking with California and Quebec, which also have cap-and-trade programs, to create a three-party alliance that could decrease and stabilize auction prices.

Correction 10:56 a.m. Dec. 12, 2024: An earlier version of this story omitted the sales future allowances, and incorrectly listed the totals of how much the auctions raised. This story has been corrected.

Washington Democrats picked up another Senate seat in the state Legislature after Clark County elections concluded a machine recount Monday.

Adrian Cortes will become the first Democrat to hold the seat in Washington’s 18th District, encompassing Vancouver, Battle Ground and Clark County, in nearly three decades. Cortes won over his Republican opponent, Brad Benton, by 173 votes. The recount picked up another vote in his favor, Cortes told Cascade PBS in a text Tuesday. 

“In one of the most expensive legislative races in the state, we did what some thought couldn’t be done,” Cortes added. “We flipped the 18th legislative district senate seat after almost 30 years of Republican control. After a free and fair election our message won the day; now I’ll focus on serving the people well in the state Senate.”

The seat was left vacant by Sen. Ann Rivers, first elected to the House of Representatives in 2010. In 2012 she was appointed to the Senate. Rivers announced in April that she would not seek another term. 

The Clark County canvassing board will meet Thursday to certify the recount and forward the signed and sealed certification to the Secretary of State. 

In total, Cortes’ campaign raised more than $473,500 while Benton’s campaign raised more than $237,000. 

In a September interview with Cascade PBS, Cortes said that he wanted to tackle issues of concern from voters in his district such as the high cost of living, reproductive freedoms, and ensuring that taxes “don’t get out of control.”

The legislative session begins on Jan. 13. 

WA-64, a new apple under development through Washington State University’s apple breeding program, will be called Sunflare, the university announced Tuesday. 

WSU apple breeder Kate Evans announced the name during a session at the annual meeting of the Washington State Tree Fruit Association in Yakima.

Sunflare was chosen out of five possible names, which came from more than 15,000 submitted through a name contest the university launched this past spring. 

Ryan Escarcega, a 49-year-old food service salesperson and chef from Centralia, submitted the winning name. In a WSU news release, Escarcega said Sunflare was inspired by the variety’s bright hues as well as the powerful solar storms that sparked northern lights visible across North America this spring.

Three focus groups narrowed the five names to two, said Jeremy K. Tamsen, director of innovation and commercialization for WSU. WSU chose Sunflare after it found the other preferred name would be more difficult to trademark. The trademark is separate from the registered plant patent WSU secured for the apple last year. 

Sunflare was developed in 1998. WSU pursued further development for the apple variety over the past two decades because it showed good eating and storage quality. Research from WSU and the Washington Tree Fruit Commission found that the apple does not brown and, when kept in cold storage, maintains quality even after several months.

Developers describe WA 64 as crisper and juicier than Cripps Pink and slightly less crisp and juicy than Honeycrisp, with a sweetness and acidity that falls between the two varieties. The apple is a bicolored symmetrical fruit with a pink/red blush on a yellow background. 

Trees are expected to be widely available to growers by 2026 and Sunflare is expected to appear in grocery stores by 2029, according to an earlier WSU announcement. The apple will be grown and produced exclusively in Washington orchards.  

It will be WSU’s second new apple launch in a decade, after the 2019 debut of Cosmic Crisp. In just five years, thanks partly to a strong marketing campaign and robust planting, Cosmic Crisp has grown to be one of the state’s highest-volume varieties.