Mayor Harrell, new Councilmembers tout alliance on public safety

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.  

The Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska (Tlingit & Haida) and Washington’s Department of Children, Youth and Families have signed an agreement on how to provide support services to the Tribe’s enrolled members — the first formal partnership between that department and an out-of-state Native nation.

Around 23%, or 1,600, Tlingit & Haida tribal children and youth under 18 live in Washington. This agreement specifies roles and responsibilities shared by the tribes and the Department of Children, Youth and Families to administer services under the Indian Child Welfare Act, including child protective services, foster care, dependency guardianship, termination of parental rights and adoption proceedings for those children. The department has similar agreements with a number of tribes based in Washington.

The Tlingit & Haida is the largest federally recognized Alaska Native nation, with 22,000 citizens throughout the United States. In November 2023, the Tlingit & Haida opened an office in Lynnwood with at least 20 staff members to serve more than 8,000 tribal citizens who live in Washington, according to Alaska television station KTOO. These services include tribal court, enrollment and case management of child welfare cases.

U.S. Rep. Marilyn Strickland (D-WA 10) has been elected to serve as secretary of the Congressional Black Caucus, the group announced this week.

Strickland, a former mayor of Tacoma and president of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, served as the caucus’ whip last year. Strickland also serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Strickland, elected in 2020, is Washington’s first Black Congressional representative. She was also one of the first Korean American women elected to Congress.

When Congress starts in January, the Congressional Black Caucus will have a record-high 62 members in the House and Senate. The group was founded in 1971 to advocate for African Americans and other underrepresented communities in the United States.

Strickland will serve alongside chair Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY 9), first vice chair Troy A. Carter Sr. (D-LA 2), second vice chair Lucy McBath (D-GA 7) and whip Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA 37).

As she was formally sworn in as Seattle’s newest City Council member on Tuesday, Alexis Mercedes Rinck pledged to collaborate with her new colleagues, protect the city from the incoming Trump administration and make her new citywide Position 8 seat the “people’s office.” 

Rinck, who in November defeated incumbent City Council appointee Tanya Woo with 58% of the vote, will hold the seat for the remainder of former Seattle City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda’s term, which ends Dec. 31, 2025. 

“With over 250,000 votes, our progressive vision and our vision and our goal for an affordable, safe and welcoming city is one that actually unites our city,” Rinck said, speaking from the City Council dais in front of a room packed with supporters. 

Rinck is a former fiscal policy analyst with the University of Washington. At 29, it appears that she will be the youngest person in living memory — and the first person in their 20s — to sit on the Seattle City Council.

Rinck highlighted her relatives’ experience as immigrants to America, and said she would work to make Seattle a welcoming place for people of all backgrounds under President-elect Donald Trump’s next administration. 

“The specter of a second Trump presidency isn’t just a political challenge, it’s a direct threat to families like mine and so many in this city, and that’s why what we do here in Seattle matters now more than ever,” Rinck said.

During her run for office, Rinck emphasized her support for new progressive taxes to fund affordable housing and social services. One of her first moves as Councilmember on Tuesday was to propose an addition to the Council’s list of priorities for the 2025 legislative session asking state lawmakers to consider progressive taxes to balance the state budget. The amendment passed 5 to 1, with three abstentions.

Rinck was backed by most local labor unions, and aligned herself with the progressive side of Seattle’s political spectrum — a contrast to Woo, who was endorsed by business groups and the Council’s more moderate seven-person majority. Tammy Morales, the Council’s most left-leaning member, was the only sitting member to endorse Rinck.

During her speech, Rinck made a point to mention each of her colleagues by name and highlight the ways she hopes to work with them individually. 

“To each of my colleagues, I’m ready to build with you,” Rinck said.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the vote on an amendment.